Travel: Las Vegas 2018

If you follow me on any of my social media accounts, you will have seen that over the past 2 weeks (3rd to the 19th of August), I have been on holiday to Las Vegas. I have been twice before with my family and it’s one of my favourite places to visit. Many people were shocked when we told them we were visiting for 2 weeks as it is often seen as a ‘long weekend’ type holiday but we always find a lot to do and also appreciate the hot weather so have chilled days by the pool. This post will sum up the whole trip and include some of my favourite photos!

The first time we visited we stayed in the Cosmopolitan hotel and the time after we stayed in the MGM Grand, the MGM was our favourite and meant we could have an apartment-like hotel room and as there are 4 of us, this was ideal so we stayed here again!

On day 1, we simply arrived at the airport after what felt like the longest flight ever (10 hours and 50 minutes) and as our hotel room wasn’t ready yet we took a trip to Walmart to pick up some essentials for breakfast as we didn’t want to eat out for 3 meals everyday. Then we unpacked all of our cases and went out for dinner.

On day 2, we had a pool day as after the long flight the day before and getting used to being 8 hours behind of UK time we all needed it. This day was slightly eventful because myself and my sister almost fainted from over-heating as we are not used to 40 degree heat in the UK, we were absolutely fine though and this proved to us that we needed to be more careful and stay hydrated. On this evening we went to our favourite restaurant from the previous times we had been there which was called Ocean One Bar & Grille and I had their amazing flatbread pizza, we couldn’t believe it was still here 5 years later!

On day 3, we took our first proper trip to the strip which luckily, was not far at all from our hotel. We love looking around all of the hotels and seeing how much they have changed since the last time. As there are so many, you only get a few done in a day and we like to space them out to appreciate them. This evening we went to Chili’s for dinner and I had quesadillas which were amazing!

Day 4 was spent doing some shopping and also looking around some hotels. This day we went to the Bellagio which is the hotel famous for its amazing fountains, inside it also has the worlds largest chocolate fountain!! We were out quite late this night so I loved seeing all of the signs lit up and of course had to take many photos!

On day 5, we hired a car so we drove to the outlets and spent way too much money but it was so worth it and i’m very pleased with everything I bought! I also managed to pick up some great presents for my friends:) On this day we also visited the Vegas sign and took some photos as you 100% have to do this if you visit there! If you do visit there however, be warned that the queues are massive and its boiling hot.

We also had a car on day 6 so we visited the Hoover Dam which wasn’t too long of a journey away. I loved doing this and it was one of my favourite days of the holiday. I love the history behind it and its crazy thinking by just crossing it you are in a different time zone so I can officially say I’ve also visited Arizona! That morning we had IHOP for breakfast and it was incredible but so so filling, I think I managed to eat 3 our of the 5 pancakes I was given!!

On day 7 we had the car for the final day so we decided to hire out a boat on Lake Mead for a few hours, this was such a good experience and my family all really enjoyed it, its also very weird to think that this is the drinking water for many states in America. As you can see in the pictures, the mountains have a lighter section nearer the bottom/about half way down, this line actually shows where the water levels used to be and how it has stained it, last time I was there is was not that high up so its crazy to see how much water has been used in 5 years.

On day 8, we went to the Venetian hotel which is known for its Venice theme, when you are inside you actually feel like you are there. We went in to a few of the shops but they were all very expensive and designer which you’d expect in the hotels, we also ate at Buddy’s Ristorante which has all of Buddy’s recipes (the owner of Carlo’s Bakery from the show Cake Boss), this was one of my favourite meals of the holiday so would definitely recommend if you visit Vegas but be warned there is a big wait as its very popular.

Day 9 was spent looking in more hotels like the Flamingo and the Wynn hotel. These were both amazing as the Flamingo hotel actually had a big garden where you could go and see real flamingos and the Wynn was full of big flower arrangements with built in carousels and hot air balloon statues made of flowers. That evening we ate dinner at Denny’s which we loved and then came the biggest drama of the holiday… the sand/dust storms.  We came out of a shop and we just thought it was water coming from a fan but as we looked behind us there was a massive cloud of sand and strong winds were pushing it towards us. As I looked back I couldn’t even see the people behind me and everyone was running and shouting to get inside so we managed to get in to Marshalls on the strip and the woman behind the counter said that she had never witnessed one her whole life living in Vegas which shows how rare they are! After waiting for about 30 minutes it had calmed down enough for us to walk back to the hotel and then there was thunder and lightening all night but I felt safe as we were in the hotel, it was an eventful evening to say the least…

On day 10, we needed another chill day so spent it around the pool and topped up our tans. The hotel has quite a few pools and a lazy river so we don’t get bored and I also read ‘All The Bright Places’ which I really enjoyed but it was very sad.

Day 11 was spent doing the open top bus tour as we had never done this before and its a great way of seeing the things you haven’t before. We got off in ‘old Vegas’ which was so interesting to see as it all seemed so under developed compared to the strip. From here we went to the outdoor light museum which I loved and I took so many pictures here. In the evening we went out to the Cheesecake Factory which was another of my favourite meals.

On day 12 we had another pool day and went for dinner in the evening. We also stopped of at Blizz on the way back to our hotel room (as it was in the main part of the hotel) to get frozen yoghurt, mine was cheesecake flavoured and tasted so good.

Day 13 was spent by the pool again and in the evening we went for dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings which was a sports themed restaurant, this was another favourite meal of mine and then my dad surprised us with show tickets to see the cirque du soleil of KÁ which I really enjoyed.

Day 14 was another pool day as I was shattered staying up all night nervously waiting to find out my AS results, then we went out in the evening to the Cheesecake Factory (again) to celebrate. Me and my dad shared an Oreo slice and it was incredible.

On day 15 we stayed around the pool and then packed in the afternoon ready to come home the next day.

I loved every minute of this holiday and am so grateful that I was able to go and experience it all and can’t thank my parents enough for every part of it!

I hope you enjoyed reading this post and all of the pictures and if you made it to the end then thank you so much for reading, I know it was a very long one haha.

If you would like to follow me on Instagram or Twitter then you can find me at @bethxkate.

Beth X