Viva Las Vegas

So I finally have some time to tell you all about our Las Vegas Vacation over Memorial Day. There was really no reason for our trip to Vegas. I use to make the trip to that city 2 times a year but hadn't been in quite some time. Kieras Aunt and Uncle (Crystal and RJ) go every year over Memorial Day. They asked if we wanted to come so we figured why not. It will be nice to get away for a few days.

We booked our Hotel on the Strip at the Luxor. RJ and Crystal would be staying at the Mandalay Bay so we decided we wanted to stay as close to them as we could. We actually really liked the Luxor. It was a nice hotel with a great location on the strip. To add to it we originally booked a room in the Piramid but they gave us a free upgrade to the tower rooms. Then they credited us back $20 after our stay. We would diffenitly stay there again.




Our first day in Vegas wasn't anything too exciting. After the drive down and after check in we decided to head to the North Strip to find some dinner and so some shopping at the Fashion Show Mall. However with it being a Sunday the mall closed very early so we decided to wonder the North Strip to find food. We finally did in the Venetian where afterwards we walked thru the canal shops and ended the night by watching the Mirage's recently revamped Volcano show.

















Our second day in Vegas consisted of sleeping in and relaxing with family. We went over to the Mandalay Bay to use the pool facilities there. I must say the Mandalay Bay pool is amazing. Its not just a pool but a giant wave pool with a sandy beach surrounding it. They also have a lazy river. We had a lot of fun hanging out the pool and playing in the waves. Later in the day we went to the Premium Factory Outlets to do some shopping. We bought a bunch at the Quicksilver Outlet which pretty much was my Birthday Presents. Our original Plans after shopping were to go see the Wax Museum at the Venetian. However we decided to go with RJ and Crystal and the kids to the Rainforest Cafe instead. The atmosphere was excellent and fun but the food was just average. Nothing too exciting and it was very expensive so keep that in mind. Afterwards we walked around the South strip where we checked out New York, New York and made stops at the M&M store and the Coke Store where I finally tried the "Sodas from around the world". Some of the sodas were good. Some were very nasty. But it was still an interesting experiance none the less.















































Our third day in Vegas was another relaxing day. We went and chilled at the pool of the Mandalay Bay again where RJ and I figured out how to ride the waves. This ended up providing much fun to the day at the pool. Later in the afternoon we decided to head back out to the strip where we made our way down to the Paris hotel and went to the top of the Eiffle tower. This is something I always wanted to do in Vegas and it was well worth it. The views were incredable. It also provided an interesting vantage point to watch the Bellagio fountains from. Its not near as high as the Stratosphere however with it being located in the central strip the views are much better in my opinion. We also browsed thru the Mall at Planet Hollywood before making our way back to our hotel to get ready for the evening. This night we got tickets to go see the Lion King at the Mandalay Bay and the show was excellent. I highly recommend checking it out. I really enjoyed it and it was fun taking the time to go see a show. I hope to go see another show next time we are in Vegas again. To end our evening we had dinner at the House of Blues. We ate here when In Orlando as well last year and they have very good food. Its a pretty fun atmosphere as well.













































For our final Day in Vegas we got our stuff packed and checked out of the Luxor. To our suprise the Luxor actually credited us back $20 so with this in addition to our free upgrade we were pretty happy with the hotel. The rest of the afternoon we just did some final touring around the strip. We went to the "Welcome to Las Vegas" sign, the Bellagio, the Crystals mall at city center, and the forum shops at Ceasars Palace. I was pretty dissapointed though with the forum shops. I knew that the FAO Swartz toy store had been removed. A place that we loved to visit when we went to Vegas. However they also removed there exotic car collection and store. Oh well though. After finishing up looking at what we wanted to see we hoped back in the car and we were on our way back home.















































Well thats the end of this recap of our Vegas trip. We had a blast and I must say that it was finally nice to go to Vegas once and actually sit back and relax instead of running frantically like I would do back in the SEMA and NHRA days. Thanks for taking the time to check our blog out.