As I was looking through my old blogs, I was more than a little surprised to find I haven’t ever blogged a single Vegas trip. In the “aughts.” it wasn’t unusual to go multiple times a year- including at least three times in 2008 alone. Turns out I took very few pictures on ANY of those trips. They were before the days of social media when I eve considered doing things like that. I know that at least three of my early Vegas trips were with Heather- including my VERY first one. Although I do ALL my blogs primarily for myself, this one is probably the MOST “just for me” of any I’ve ever done. Not a whole lot of tips and tricks in this one, folks. It’s really just a trip journal.

That picture of Heather and I under the Bellagio isn’t our first trip, but it was the only old one I found of us in Vegas, so I went with it! The first time we went, my brother and sister-in-law decided to just take us on a trip! We stayed at the Venetian, went to Auerole for dinner and saw Blue Man Group and Zumanity. It was a trip of drunken debauchery for two 80s girls in their early 30s. In the decades since then, I have stayed at The Hotel at Mandalay Bay, Bellagio, Vdara, Venezia Tower, and Paris. The only ones I’ve repeated are The Hotel and Vdara. I THINK this trip was trip number nine for me- about half of them with Heather. We are now two 80s girls in our mid 50s, so our days of drunken debauchery are behind us.

This time around I chose to stay at MGM Grand because my credit card told me they’d pay for it. Who am I to argue? A few weeks before the trip, Heather texted me to tell me that she got her own room. I argued at first, but the thought of my very own room and own bathroom for three nights to myself sounded like a pretty good idea.

Flying during Spring Break can be a cautionary tale. For me, out of Austin, everything was fine. For Heather, out of Houston- not so much, but she used her feminine wiles to convince a gentleman that she needed to get on that darn plane. Ultimately, we both made it to Vegas on time. She took a bus to my terminal, and we Lyfted to MGM together (again, thanks credit card! I do LOVE my Chase Sapphire reserve).

Once there, we asked the front desk clerk if we could get adjoining rooms. The answer was, “no.” Apparently, I was a “high roller.” (ha! NO chance, but thanks credit card.) My room was on a high floor in the tower. Still, both of us had perfectly comfortable places to sleep. That was all we were doing there, anyway.

So, I don’t know that we’re your typical Vegas goers. Like I said, we’re no longer partiers. I drink, but Heather barely does. (She probably had her yearly intake of alcohol over three days with me.) I’m a HUGE foodie who loves expensive tasting menus, but Heather is not into that. Although Heather does like to bounce between some penny slots and gamble, I BARELY do and hate losing money… Still, we chose Vegas because we had both read so much about the Sphere. We wanted to experience it, and we decided going to see The Wizard of Oz was enough reason to go to Vegas.

But we got there on Wednesday and the Wiz was not until Thursday, so we headed off for our first adventure. I told Heather that I wanted to go see the the Arte Museum. She was totally game, but hungry. I told her we could just cross the strip to city center, to to Park MGM and Eataly for a snack and then go to the museum. I said this with TOTAL confidence, like I knew exactly where we were going. I mean, I FELT like I did. I remember taking a tram TO Park MGM and that Crystals was over there somewhere by the museum, so all would be good. Still, we ended up wandering around MGM for so long looking for a tram. Ultimately, we found the Monorail and bought tickets. When I looked at the map, though, I decided that was wrong. (I wasn’t- but I didn’t find that out until the NEXT day.) So, by then, we were BOTH starving, so we went and at at the MGM food court before walking across the strip to New York, New York. I love that hotel so much! It’s so cool on the inside.

We spent the next couple of hours walking in circles. From NYNY I declared that I KNEW there was a tram in Excalibur! THAT one would get us to Aria and Crystals. Once in Excalibur, I realized I was wrong… that one would only get us to Luxor and Mandalay Bay. So, back to NYNY we went. Then, I remembered, the OTHER tram goes from Vdara to Park MGM, but by that time we had already walked over to Aria, so there was no point. At least we were winning on the way! I was up by $100.. Heather had won $700. Another machine called to her at Aria. When she was up by another $100, she decided to cash out. As we continued chatting she grasped my arm… Not $100… We had missed a comma! $1,000!!! This was definitely the most exciting of our trips.

After all that winning, we thought it would be a good idea to go to the 23rd floor of the Waldorf Astoria (formerly Mandarin Oriental). So glad we did, the Peacock was LOVELY. Great view of the city and great cocktails. The food menu looked really good, too.

After that, we continued walking around in circles through Crystals and Aria trying to find the museum. Finally a security guard sent us the right direction. It really was a good way to spend an hour or so! The lantern room was likely my personal favorite, but it was all really wonderful. I had been to the Opera Garnier in Paris this summer, so it was especially fun to see the interpretation at this museum. The real highlight, though, was the tea at the end. Even the tea was interactive! (You’ll have to go yourself to see what I mean.)

By the time we walked out of there, it was dark. We’d been walking so much that we decided to grab a cab back to MGM Grand. “Across the street” in Vegas isn’t the same as across the street everywhere else. (If you’ve been to Vegas, you know…) We had a quick dinner at Crush in the casino, and were ready to call it a night.

The next day, I realized the 24 hour Monorail passes didn’t have to be a waste. It WAS another way to get over to the City Center, but ALSO to Paris. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the Paris Le Village breakfast buffet. I’ve been to many others, but it was always the best. So on the monorail we went to Horseshoe and walked through to Paris. I really think the interior of Paris is one of the most underrated hotels. I love wandering the streets there. But we really were wandering and starting to get hungry, so we asked a security guard how to find the buffet. I was devastated to learn that it was a COVID casualty! We had, however, planned to go over to the Bellagio later anyway, so we just went there first. The breakfast buffet there was fine, but expensive. I hadn’t eaten there since 2016, and it wasn’t as good as I remembered. Still, it was food, and we needed it. And no trip to Vegas is complete without a tour of the Bellagio gardens.

Following that, I had read so much about Chandelier in the Cosmopolitan, that we decided to see what all the fuss was. It couldn’t have been more perfect for me! I love all thinks pink and sparkly- and to be ensconced in it? Heaven on earth! I had to try the not-so-secret Verbena drink from the not-so-secret menu. It was fun, but not mind blowing. But the best part of THAT portion of the trip HAD to be the people watching!!! I had forgotten that it was the first day of March Madness and the bros were definitely broing out everywhere we went.

We had seen signs before for the Princess Diana exhibit, so we made our way back over to Crystals to see that. It really was very interesting to see a little bit more of who she was as a person. We also so A LOT of her dresses and fashion, including a replica of the wedding dress. I will say that the replica LOOKED like a replica, but the other dresses were really amazing.

After that, it was time to embark upon our reason for actually being in Vegas. It was the Wizard night! We took a Lyft over to the Sphere. Heather had bought us VIP passes for the bad witches we are, so we got in early and had a small buffet with some snacks and a cocktail. We got to keep the souvenir cup, and got a poster, too. At Heather’s suggestion, I gave my poster away to a little girl, who responded with an adorable, “I’m so lucky!” It was a nice way to start the night.

I purposefully had tried to hear as little about the whole Sphere experience as I possibly could. I wanted the whole thing to be a surprise. I’m not sure what I was expecting. I loved it, but I wasn’t expecting it to be so much like just watching a movie on a really big screen. It was beautiful. The sound was incredible. The tornado part was amazing!!!! I had heard about the apples being “thrown.” (They actually fall from the ceiling.) Heather did get one and she gave it to the girl next to her. The whole thing is only a little over an hour long. But it was really great. I heard they are adding a few more things to it in the next few months to make it even better. I have some ideas of what they MIGHT do. it would be worth going back to see.

We were early to bed again, and the next day I had planned ANOTHER thing I’ve never done before in Vegas: a pool day. Another credit card perk was to rent a cabana, so I got one by the lazy river. I actually could have had up to ten people, but it was just Heather, a local Vegas friend and her daughter, and I. The lazy river was wonderfully refreshing and a lot of fun! It ran through a few waterfalls and went in a relatively big loop. The cabana was MOSTLY good, but they were very busy so they forgot to bring water for a long time, food service was very slow, and they didn’t bring us innertubes until it was time for us to leave. Still, it was a worthwhile way to spend a day in Vegas for people who don’t really want to spend the day drinking or gambling.

Then, just as fast as it started, it was about to be over. We did have one last show: Michael Jackson’s One at Mandalay Bay. There is some kind of weird “story” to it that I couldn’t figure out at all, but the performances were SPECTACULAR. I’d say “Thriller” was probably my favorite, but the whole thing was good. I’d say to get an aisle seat if you can because there is a lot going on right beside you. We had a quick dinner at House of Blues before calling it a night and calling it done.

The next morning it was off to the airport for a non-eventful flight back home. (My favorite kind.) I did still have two “presents” left from my credit card. I get A list on Southwest, so I was able to check my bag for free and choose my seat with extra room. As a VERY large girl, I love the one right in the exit aisle where I only have ONE person beside me, and I can lean away so I don’t have to take up too much space. The OTHER “present” is lounge access in a lot of places. The new Chase Sapphire lounge was very small, but VERY nice. Great service and good amenities. When I walked up, they said that there would be a wait and took my phone number to text me. The wait was actually only about 10 minutes. I walked back; they handed me a glass of champagne as I entered, and I got to sit there for almost two hours.

So, that’s my first blog of a Vegas trip. This one is actual pretty typical for me (minus a fancy restaurant). My next big trip plan is to go to the New York wine experience in October! I can barely wait! But so glad to have another quick trip before then.

Back to reality tomorrow, but it’s always good to live a little fantasy in Vegas.