Love all over the Land: Las Vegas Trip (Day 1)

I have mentioned before my love language is traveling. COVID makes this a lot more challenging, that and opening a new business that can be hard to get away from. However, I kept seeing these cheap flights to Vegas. Now granted, Vegas has never been a destination I was interested in going to, never. However, when I realized how close it was to the Grand Canyon, I re-assessed my earlier judgement. I happened to mention it to our friends and asked if they would be interested in going with us.

They loved the idea, so I started obsessively planning a trip for us. I was all to aware that there were sooo many factors that could go wrong with actually getting there and prohibit such (childcare, sickness, not to mention COVID). We all ended up battling COVID for a second time right before the trip (lucky so much better than the first and over it quicker....I thought I was for sure going down, as the previous time took me over a month to recop). I checked on the last day we could cancel our items, as this was definitely a factor. It littleraly wasn't until we were headed out the door to to to the airport that I thought, "Hey we are actually going to be able to go!"

We had a strait 4 hour flight out of Charlotte to Las Vegas on a Monday night. It turned out great and we were able to sit near each other (we rolled the dice and chose not to pay extra for pre-choosing our seats).

It was fun seeing the strip as we landed and spotting our hotel, the Luxor (pyramid with a beam coming out of the center).

We took a quick Uber (and learned what not to do and what to do with the service) to our hotel, which was pretty interesting and the rooms lined the entire inside.

We took an elevator, which actually moves at a angle and not strait up to our floor.

It was a bit scary looking over the ledge at everything below.

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I was up before the sunrise (thanks to Beach's alarm accidentally going off and the time change) but it was such a glorious surprise watching the sun hit the mountains in the distance. We landed on this location as they were "Stay Well" rooms with air purifiers, Vitamin C shower infusion, and essential oils. To me, this was comforting to know that it would not smell like smoke. Pro tip: going during the week....such a steal at around $30 a night, as it was a decent hotel room. (Side note, all hotels in Vegas ALSO charge a daily resort fee, I think this was $35, so more than the actual room).

It didn't take us to long to learn that the town is a lot less busy in the mornings and during the week. It was a bit eerie not really seeing anyone around when we ventured out for breakfast.

I was not a fan of how we started off, where we found the breakfast place we wanted was closed and ended up at the way more expensive spot at the hotel. I warned our party that we were going to have a large lunch, so may want to pick a lighter item. I, also, unintentionally did not follow my own advice and ordered a breakfast bowl of mac & cheese (where I was confused) and could not even finish it! After that it took us awhile to get our bearings, as the hotels are so large and the casinos look so similar!

Then we were finally able to attend to our itenary. In planning, we decided to get GoCity Passes, which was a fantastic deal, which included trips, museums, and restaurants. The guys were interested in checking out the Atomic Museum, so we Ubered there. Note: our Uber drivers had never been there, so this is definitely not a "hot spot" to visit.

It was, nonetheless, interesting to see bombs and the propaganda that the government told the people at the time (which felt familiar to current times in many ways). They were told to do things, not because it would help, but just because it would make them "feel more safe".

Then we headed to check out the strip and find lunch!

There were so many beautiful things along the way that we had to stop for pictures often (can you spot the photo bomber).

As a side note, I was thankful to have a friend who loves to take pictures as much as I do! The guys were gracious with us (for the most part).

It reminded me of Epcot, and visiting all the different themes and worlds!

If we can't go to Europe right now, at least we can pretend.

We found our restaurant (which we had a Groupon for), Pampas, where they brought around and carved all you can eat meats.

It was a fun delicious new experience for us! Steak was our favorite!

Then we headed to check out the Real Bodies exhibit (part of GoCity Pass).

This was fascinating to me and left me more in awe of our creator!

One section even had all the separate veins that are in our hands and feet.

There is so much that goes on with our bodies that never cross our minds in day to day life.

Next we headed to the High Roller (part of the GoCity Pass).

This was a fun experience, a ferris wheel of sorts, that holds large pods that do not even feel like they were moving. It is even larger than the one in London. While I am not a fan of heights, this was not scary in any way.

It was a great way to check out the vastness of the city with the beautiful mountains in the background.

So a beautiful spot to take pictures...

And take pictures of those taking pictures!

Made it to the top!

Then it was off to explore around as we made our way towards dinner.

We wondered into the flamingo hotel to see the animals in the atrium...

and play around ourselves.

It's hard for the girls to get very far in this city without taking more pictures.

The grandness of it all was pretty amazing.

Can you spot Beach taking a phone call?

We we waited a bit for our tummies to get hungry, and checked out some of the designer stores around. This was a new experience for me, and I was not tempted in the least to get anything.

But we did find a store we loved. We were not in there long before the sales associate had a massage gun on my back. The guys wondered by and took this picture.

"Would you like to try the compression legs? It takes about 15 minutes." Why yes, yes we would! This was a fantastic surprise and blessing. After all the walking we had done, this treatment was awesome!