This was a last minute wild/spontaneous trip with our best friends Kelsey and Tony. We packed our 3 day weekend with gambling, food, drinks, clubs and hockey! The weather was cold but the atmosphere was like no other. Everything was absolutely amazing except for our flight back home, we left 11pm Vegas time and arrived at 6am Jax time…but it was SO worth it! If I can sum Vegas up for you it would be one Giant Adult Amusement Park. Kuddos to Vegas for all the daiquiri/frozen drink stands on the strip and for allowing us to carry drinks on the streets.Pack some comfy shoes because we walked about 10 miles a day YIKES!
STAY.
We stayed at the Aria Resort & Casino…STUNNING! Our room was great and views were even better. I’ve stayed in my fair share of hotels but never in my life have I seen hotels/resorts as big as the ones in Vegas. Every hotel has a different theme and they’re open to everyone. We explored many other hotel casinos and shopping centers. My favorite ones would have to be the Venetian and New York New York. The Venetian was the perfect depiction of little Italy. They had an indoor shopping center with a canal servicing gondola rides, it was as if you were walking through the streets of Venice. Italian restaurants at every corner and cute little cafes with gelato at the windows. In my opinion this hotel also had the best casino…because it had bright lighting and didn’t make you feel like you were gambling in a dark basement.
PLAY.
Well let’s see there’s a lot to do in Vegas and we didn’t get to touch all the bases but we certainly tried! Aside from the multitude of casinos and games they also have shows and clubs. Vegas puts on some of the best shows in the world and if you have a chance I suggest to try them out! I was most interested in the Backstreet Boys, Cirque du Soleil, and Magic Shows, but they have many many many more!
During these 3 days we played Black Jack, Roulette, Slots, Sports Betting, and Casino War (my fav). I learned how to play Black Jack while in Vegas. As fun as it was, it was very intimidating and required too much thinking for me when I’m on vacation, so I drifted more towards the Casino War. Yes you guessed right, casino war is the same War you played when you were younger…biggest card wins. Now this was my kind of game, no thinking required, 100% luck and zero strategy. The one thing we all enjoyed about playing these games were the free drinks that came with it hehe! My tip for you if you’re going to gamble is to set a strict withdrawal limit and go into the game thinking “This is the casino’s money” that way you aren’t so butt hurt when you don’t win.
Now we aren’t the biggest “clubbing” kind of people, but we thought we had to try it out especially in Vegas. We were able to get a hold of a few promoters and get on guest lists which is a must if you don’t want to spend $50+ on entry fees. You might also get lucky and have free drinks! I would always suggest pre-gaming heavily before heading out to a club because the drinks are outlandishly priced ($20- Vodka Water) and a club atmosphere is pretty uncomfortable when sober. We went to the club in our hotel Jewel because it was freezing cold outside and clothing wise we didn’t prepare. It was fun but not our cup of tea. After a couple drinks we dipped out and played some Black Jack and called it a night.
One club/party place I do suggest visiting is Lavo Brunch Party on Saturday's. Kelsey and I tried it out without the guys because there was free entry for girls and free drinks for two hours (can't say no to FREE). Which is also why Vegas is a great spot for bachelorette trips. We got on the guest list and enjoyed comp glasses of rose on the balcony and took pictures in front of the cutest mural. Once doors opened we all flooded into the two story bar that had ladies dancing and fanning themselves with large feathers on top of the tables. With great musics and of course more free drinks, Kelsey and I loaded up on Red Bull vodkas, took in the scenery and dipped out to get ready for what I think was the best part of our whole trip...
GO KNIGHTS GO! GO KNIGHTS GO! We had an absolute blast at the Golden Knights Hockey game. It was really like no other sports game I’ve ever been to in my life. Hockey is just so fun and fast pace to watch. All the fans are wild and crazy. This was me and Zach’s first time at the T-Mobile Arena and our first time watching the Knights play in person. It was an epic win! We had the opportunity to grab drinks in the center ice bunker where we had the chance to watch the players walk out onto the ice through a long hall of glass windows. I’ve never been so close to an NHL player like that before! I really can’t describe how amazing and awe struck we were as they walked out in front of us. Kelsey and I wore matching flashing gold jackets to the game and were asked to dance with the Knight DJ at the top of the castle to kick-off the game, safe to say we made it on the jumbo Tron!
EAT.
Cabo Wabo- Well we ate here 3 times during our stay so there’s that. We stumbled on this place when we were walking down the strip looking for breakfast. Mexican is the way to our hearts so when we saw bottomless mimosas and queso we quickly acted! I ordered an omelet –it was alright, nothing mind blowing- but everyone else ordered the breakfast skillet and fell in love with it! The skillet included potatoes, sausage, eggs, and QUESO! The best part about this restaurant was that they don’t jip you on your drinks, both times we ate there we left with a giant souvenir glass filled with mimosa. You definitely get your money’s worth.
FiAMMA- Fancy fancy I'd say! This quaint Italian restaurant is located in the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino. Really nice place for a classy dinner. We made the OH SO smart choice of skipping lunch this day so we were starved when dinner came around, safe to say we devoured or bread basket minutes after it was dropped off at our table. The bread was served with two types of butter -one regular and one tomato basil- the latter was phenomenal and I really wish they sold it in stores because it was such a great compliment to the toasted bread. We all shared a flavorful bottle of Cab while our pasta orders where cooking. I had the Pesto Shrimp Pasta with Sun-dried Tomatoes. It was very GOOD, just needed a tad touch of salt which we did not have on our table and I felt too rude to ask so I suffered without. Make sure you have slightly deep wallets for this romantic restaurant...scratch that you want deep wallets for all restaurants in Vegas if you really want to enjoy yourself.
Sake Rok- This was my absolute favorite dining experience from our trip. Located outside of New York New York and the T-Mobile Arena we ate here before the hockey game. The restaurant was filled with Golden Knights fans pre-gaming. We ordered ROK Shrimp Tempura which is very similar to Bone Fish Grill’s Bang Bang Shrimp, a Tiger Roll- Shrimp, cucumber, Avocado, Spicy Tuna, Spicy Dynamite Sauce as well as the Tempura Roll- Salmon, Avocado, cream cheese, eel sauce, spicy mayo. We all enjoyed dinner with a classic Japanese Kirin Light Beer. This food was so delish and very filling! It was the perfect amount of food before a night of drinking
What’s great about this restaurant is the entertainment factor. The master of ceremonies kept the energy up and sake flowing. What do I mean by this? Well we were entertained by impromptu dance parties and lip-sync serenades LOL! And the sake let me tell you about that, Sake Rok is known for their Sake Bombs. Yes, everyone was ordering this fun shot and many were competing on who could take it the fastest. If you don’t know what a sake Bomb is, here is wiki’s definition which covers it to a tee- “two chopsticks are placed parallel on top of the glass of beer, and the shot glass is carefully balanced between them. The drinker ‘yells, SAKE ROK, SAKE BOMB and’ slams the table with their fists, causing the sake to fall into the beer. It should be drunk immediately, and works best with warm sake.” As for our table…we didn’t indulge in this beer and wine shot mixture, so I can’t tell you how that tasted. Sounds gross to me, but the table next to us seemed to love their shot as they ordered 5 rounds….
IN-N-OUT Burger- Wise words of Kelsey Watts "It doesn't live up to all the hype" and she was spot on. I wanted to love this popular Instagram novelty so bad but I really think I only enjoyed it because I was severely hungover, and everything taste amazing when you're hungover. They only have two type of items on their menu (Burger & Fries) which helps me tremendously because I'm terrible at making decisions. BUT little did I know there was a "secret menu" that you could only access online...#lame. I ordered the Animal Style Fries which were pretty tasty with a double cheese burger which was average. I definitely recommend going because it is only a west coast specialty but don't get your hopes up! Chick-fil-A will always be #1.
Have you been to Vegas?! Have you taken a Sake Bomb? If so what was your most favorite part? And how did it taste?
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