The Fabulous Las Vegas

Last updated: July 8, 2024

So I don’t really know if my “trip” to Vegas counts because it was really just an arrival and departure destination for my trip to explore Utah’s Mighty Five, therefore I was only there a very limited amount of time with no planned activities. However, I was there, and since the whole “what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas” doesn’t really work when you have a blog, I’m going to tell you all about it!

First things first… when you land in Vegas and exit the plane, you know you’re in Vegas as you will be greeted by slot machines. They. Are. Everywhere. The airport, gas stations, laundry mats… seriously, you can get your gamble on at any given moment. I personally did not gamble while I was there because I prefer not to throw my hard earned money down the drain, but it was interesting nonetheless.

I arrived late afternoon and stayed at the Golden Nugget which I learned is “the old part” of Vegas.

With a little over 2400 rooms, it’s not small. It was built in 1946 which makes it one of the oldest casinos in the city. It’s featured in several movies and TV shows and is a well known hotel in the Vegas area.

After checking into the hotel, I dropped off my luggage in my room, and made a beeline to the designated meeting spot for my GAdventure group. It was around 6pm after we finished introducing ourselves and received next day instructions, so our guide took us through Fremont to Downtown Container Park to eat some Mexican. The walk through Fremont was a great first Vegas experience for a newbie.

As we approached the entrance to Container Park, we were greeted by a giant praying mantis shooting fire from its antennas (I cannot make that up). Pinches Tacos was right inside and we settled in to eat some pretty darn good tacos as the praying mantas’ antennas lit up the night sky.

The next morning, we piled up in a van to explore Utah’s national parks and didn’t get back to Vegas until 9 days later to find Vegas awaiting us in all it’s fabulousness. I had about six hours before my flight so I checked out Area 15 with the sole goal of experiencing Meow Wolf.

What the heck is Meow Wolf? You sound like me the first time I heard about it. It’s basically an extravagant, interactive art experience that allows you to explore and complete a quest. It was a little wild, but from what I gathered about what I did was that I walked into a grocery store, became an entry level employee, got my employee badge and began learning that there was something sneaky going on at the grocery store. I used my employee badge to go through other employees emails, confidential computer files and found secret pathways in the grocery store that lead to a three story lab where I investigated more about the corruption of Mega Mart. Again, I cannot make this up. This was honestly the most perfect and bizarre Vegas experience! In case you’re wondering, I did uncover what was going on at corporate and completed the challenge.

So while I was only in Vegas for about 10 waking hours, I did a little bit of exploring and can confirm that it is indeed quite fabulous and an extremely unique city. I plan to go back so I can actually spend a few days dedicated to exploring and experiencing Las Vegas.

If you’ve been, please let me know what you recommend!