Summer Road Trip: Part 1 "Viva Las Vegas!"

To start our week road trip adventure, I flew into Las Vegas where we picked up our rental car. With only a couple days in Vegas, we tried to hit the highlights and eat some good food too! I'd say it was a success, and we even snuck a show into our itinerary!

It's a good idea to plan some things in advance so you're guaranteed a spot, but it's also fun to just wander around and see what the city's all about! So we did a little bit of both on this trip:)

Things to Do:

Venetian Grand Canal Shoppes

Outside pathway walking into the canal area.

Gondola rides! Italia or Vegas??

Lots of cafés, restaurants, and shops cozied up next to the canal.

We headed over to this indoor shopping area that has canals running throughout. Can you believe that's not a real sky? It's a ceiling! It was absolutely gorgeous, and a great way to escape the August heat indoors! We made sure to really cool off, and embrace our pit stop in "Italy" by grabbing some gelato. There were even Italian artists performing a mini-opera by the canal! This was definitely one of my highlights this trip.

Gelato so good; devoured seconds after this pic;)

Sitting by the canal with mi gelato !

Madame Tussauds

We had to make a stop at the famous wax museum of Madame Tussauds. Fun fact: this was the first Madame Tussauds to open in the US in 1999! We said "hi" to our fav' celebs and even "got married" at the chapel inside...just kidding! 😉

Get Tickets to a Show!

When in Vegas, you have to see a show! For this, we decided to wait till we got to Vegas, see what shows were playing and look for cheap(er) tickets. I'll admit even cheap tickets are a bit pricey! We really wanted to see Cirque du Soleil but knew that was out of the question priced at over $200 a ticket! However, we were able to not splurge too much, and found tickets online (TripAdvisor) for around $50-60 each for a show that got great reviews.
*Note: They also have a deal on Groupon for less, but you can only get 1 ticket!

We saw V The Ultimate Variety Show...think America's Got Talent in a smaller, quaint theater. I'd give the show a 3.5/5 just because some acts ran too long, and some weren't as impressive (plus were a bit cheesy...but it's Vegas hehe). Though overall it was funny, entertaining, and we had a good time. Plus it was located in the Grand Canal Shoppes so we could grab some delicious Italian food after the show😊

The Strip!

Again...Paris or Vegas?

A must is to walk the strip during the day but especially at night! You definitely see those characters in costume trying to sell any and everything, but it's a fun experience! It's all lit up, and full of so much energy! We enjoyed watching the fountain show that runs every 10 minutes or so in front of the Bellagio as well.

Casinos
The one thing we couldn't get over is how many casinos there are! According to Google, more than 104 in Vegas, 45 on the strip alone—wow!! 0_o From right when you get off the plane, there's slots even in the airport! We aren't really gamblers so didn't play, but we definitely walked through casinos to basically go anywhere in Vegas!

Brunch at HEXX 
To end our short trip, we ate a delicious brunch at HEXX Kitchen + Bar right by the Eiffel Tower! It's modern, fun, friendly service, and even has an outdoor patio area! We split an order of delicious, fluffy pancakes and a savory omelet which gave us energy for our long drive to our next stop on our summer 2018 road trip.

Other places we ate at (and loved): Viva Las Arepas, AmeriBrunch Cafe

Other things to do: Stratosphere, High Roller, stroll down Freemont Street, so many shows and casinos

Stay tuned for part 2!

bisous,
Lyndi

Have you ever been to Vegas? What were your favorite spots? Comment below!



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