The Hubby and I had been there many times – but it had been almost 6 years since our last visit. When our older boy turned 2, my parents were generous enough to stay with him for the weekend so we could get away for 2 nights. In the past {almost} 8 years, that was the only time we were away together for 2 nights…in a row! For those of you without family who lives in town, you know what I’m talking about!
We had never driven to Vegas…ever. Not even from Phoenix. I don’t think we really knew that was an option until some good friends said, “Why are you buying 4 plane tickets to Vegas when it is less than a 6 hour drive?” Good point. Let the driving commence.
Our lodging was just a block off of the strip at a timeshare we own. Yep. We bought this sucker 8 years ago when I was pregnant with my first boy and haven’t visited it since! We had a 2 bedroom, 2 bath condo at the Holiday Inn Desert Club in one of their Signature Collection rooms. This room was dialed in complete with a full kitchen, wine refrigerator, Xbox, Blu Ray player, and motorized curtains. We were set. Night one was a quick dinner out in The Linq at Flour & Barley.
On our first full day, our resort shuttle dropped us at the Tropicana and we headed to Mandalay Bay to check out the Shark Reef Aquarium at Mandalay Bay. This was an amazing experience which the entire family enjoyed. We continued down the strip, enjoying lunch at one of the delis in New York New York.
Onto the M&M store we went. The Hubby and I had never ventured into this store. Wow. Four floors of M&M stuff. We walked out with enough purchases to score a free M&M blanket courtesy of the store. That day we also hit the Bellagio Conservatory & Botanical Gardens, the Fountains of Bellagio and all the way down to Caesars Palace to look around.
The night before, we purchased tickets for The High Roller. This is a brand new attraction that is part of Caesars and is the world’s largest observation wheel. That evening, we headed to The High Roller and timed it perfectly so that we would be at the top of the 30 minute adventure right at sunset – it was awesome! For dinner, we stayed in the area and enjoyed the fun at Margaritaville.
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| The High Roller |
Our next day consisted of hanging out at the resort and swimming in the pools. Later that afternoon while at The Flamingo, we were given free passes to The Auto Collections located in The Quad Resort & Casino (formerly the Imperial Palace) and the boys LOVED it! My dad owned a classic Corvette and had a GREAT love for classic cars. We spent quite a bit of time here looking at the cars, taking pictures of our favorites, and talking about Grandpa.
That night we headed out for our “fancy” dinner of the week at The Mirage by dining at Portofino by Chef Michael LaPlaca. No kids menu here and the boys were excellent. Shirts with collars and all. Afterwards we headed to the 8 pm volcano show – not big fans of this one…I don’t think they knew there would be so much fire!
Our final day we did a whole lot of nothing again and then enjoyed dinner at Casanova in The Venetian. This was a nice dining experience with an excellent wine list. They even had a kids menu!
We finished the night with a quick trip to the Godiva store and an indoor gondola ride. Try taking a selfie with the gondolier behind you – they are constant photo bombers!
Before heading back to our resort, we stopped at Bellagio for one final fountain show at night – the boys loved it!
On our way back to Phoenix we decided to stop by Hoover Dam. We did a self-guided Dam tour in our car. The boys were ready to be back home so we drove over it, jumped out to take a couple of Dam snapshots, and headed home.
What road trips are you taking this summer with your family?
jumped out to take a couple of Dam snapshots, and headed home.
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