Weekend Trip To Las Vegas

[Chris-LA]

Welcome to Las Vegas

Downtown view from my uncle's yard

Low Income Projects

Do I smell bacon burning?

Glad to be heading home away from the intense heat of 106 degrees

New Las Vegas sprawl as we head back to LA.

Vegas is getting expensive

One last drink before you go home????

[Neo]

Great pictures! I love road trip photos. Also, $500k for a luxury home isn't bad, LOL!

[DruidCity]

Thanks for the photos !

I've never travelled west of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and I've never flown, but I'm flying to Las Vegas in the very near future. I've never been inside a casino, either, so this trip should be quite a different experience.

Any recommendations are welcome, as far as restaurants and sights to see.

[Brickell]

Thanks for the photos !

I've never travelled west of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and I've never flown, but I'm flying to Las Vegas in the very near future. I've never been inside a casino, either, so this trip should be quite a different experience.

Any recommendations are welcome, as far as restaurants and sights to see.

If you're looking to get out of the city, both Red Rock and Valley of Fire are very nice. Especially if you've never been to the desert.

Mandalay Bay is my favorite casino, but you really have to get out and see them all for yourself. Don't miss Ceasars, NY/NY, Bellagio or the Venetian. I found the dining options hit and miss. The buffets are overrated in my opinion. I wasn't real crazy about any of the food I had in Vegas. I'm sure others would disagree though.

Learn to play craps and blackjack before you go and don't waste your money on the slots.

Oh, and nice pics.

[Chris-LA]

Thanks for the replies

But don't forget to visit The Paris Hotel as well. All of these are all within walking distance of the ones Brickell already mentioned. You may also want to take a ride on the Monorail, and visit the Fashion Mall on the strip. If you like outlet malls, I remember seeing one near all the action and close the freeway. Now I'm not a big buffet person, but my cousins(Las Vegas residents) directed us to the Texas Star Casino and I have to say I was very impressed. The food was very good, and there was plenty of choices. The had an Italian, Chinese, American, Mexican section, but a nice salad bar. This casino is not on the strip and is just west of downtown, and its easy to reach by freeway(not very far, perhaps 10 mins). Besides it will give you a chance to see where more of the locals hang out, since many avoid The Strip like the plague. There is a movie theater, bowling, and even a Starbucks, plus other things at this Texas Star. Oh I also heard there is a happening night club at the Rio. I personally don't visit night clubs (unless its something like Jazz), but I figure I give you a tip. Now if you like Jazz, I know Las Vegas has a club called the Blue Note (like the one in NYC) that also suppose to be happening. Its right off the strip, on one of the East/West Blvds. It would be easy to locate as many of the hotels staff, locals, yellow pages, etc can tell you exactly where its at. Besides it's farily new (2-3 years) so many will know how to direct you. Well I hope this helps, I'm sure you'll love visiting Vegas. It's got a lot of excitement all day, and especially at night.

[monsoon]

[DruidCity]

Thanks for the tips. I'm staying a week in the Monte Carlo. This trip looks like it should be a whole lot of fun.

Somewhere, I have some old slides of Las Vegas that my father took in the 1950s when he visited. The city looked a whole lot smaller then.

[wolfdawg54]

Thank you for the tour. Las Vegas is a really cool city!

[ColinSuperCool]

Vegas is an awesome city question there but, it has no real downtown and it is ALL uncontrolled sprawl and just wee bit to brown for my taste. BTW very nice pics, keep 'em coming.

[DruidCity]

I just got back in a couple of hours ago.

I had planned to tour the whole area, but had so much fun on the Strip

that I spent the whole week there.

[Chris-LA]

I just got back in a couple of hours ago.

I had planned to tour the whole area, but had so much fun on the Strip

that I spent the whole week there.

So this was your first time right, how did you like it? Details B)

I'll bet it was pretty hot too.

[DruidCity]

Yes, it was my first trip west of the Mississippi River, in fact.

I had a great time of it. The food was great & not expensive. I'd recommend Wolfgang Puck's Postria restaurant at the Venetian and the brewpub in the Monte Carlo.

I had never been in a casino before this, and ended the week down about $100. At one point, I had been up about $300. It was fun, anyway. I was travelling with my brother, and he ended up about $50 ahead for the week.

The shows were incredible. We usually took in 2 or 3 a night. Man, I really love those showgirls

I think they said the temperature was about 106F, but honestly, it didn't feel as hot there as it had back here the day or two before the trip in the upper 90s with high humidity. The heat really didn't feel bad one bit.

The desert terrain was a new experience, too. I didn't care for it especially, as I'm used to the dense green of places where it rains a lot, but it was neat to see something different.

The Stratosphere tower and the Paris hotel's Eiffel are the two tallest buildings I've ever been in, which was cool.

I enjoy people watching, and there are some pretty odd characters after midnight, though I didn't see that many more weirdos than I'm used to seeing.

To make a long story short, we liked it so well that we're planning to return for a week out there next year.