I traveled to Vegas with one of my coworkers and we got in around 9:00pm (which was midnight to us!) We checked into our rooms at Treasure Island and went to find some food, we were STARVING!
We ended up settling on Gilley's BBQ which is part of the hotel, and features a large dance floor (think Nashville honky-tonk vibes) and bar along with a quieter back area if you're just there to dine. I was so hungry I would've eaten just about anything at that point, so luckily they served Impossible burgers for me and my fellow vegetarians.
After dinner, I hit the hay after a long day of flying. Luckily, we didn't have to be to the conference center the next day until 11:00am.
The conference was in the Mandalay Bay convention center, about 2.5 miles from Treasure Island. That place is HUGE! We arrived a little early and got our bearings, and I grabbed breakfast at trusty ole' Starbucks. I also talked myself into getting one of their custom Las Vegas mugs. I had to have a souvenir to commemerate my first trip to Vegas, right??
Once it was time for lunch, we decided on Fleur, a French bistro in Mandalay Bay. I got avocado toast and it was absolutely delish.
When the conference was done for the evening, my coworker and I headed back to the hotel to change and rest a little. We were right across from the Venetian, so we decided to spend the evening there. We walked around, window shopped, people watched, and observed the indoor gondola rides. So cool!
We tried to go to dinner at Buddy Valestro's restaurant, but they had live music playing and it was crazy loud in there, so we settled on sixth + mill. That ended up being my favorite place we ate! I got a gorgeous glass of prosecco and some homemade gnocchi. The restaurant is designed beautifully, and it's laid out so that you feel like you're eating on an outdoor patio.
After dinner, we hit the slots. I bet a whole $2 and end up with $0.25, ha! I came out better than my coworker though; she blew about $60.
Before heading back to the hotel, we grabbed some gelato. It was SO beautiful, I wish I had photos of all of the flavors before they scooped it! I got the cappuccino flavor, which was decorated with espresso beans and even had little espresso cups stuck into it.
The next night after the conference, we decided to walk the strip down to the Bellagio. It was such a cool experience to see the strip at night and really experience it!
The next day, they fed us at the conference so we didn't get to go anywhere fun for breakfast or lunch (darn!) We wrapped up at Mandalay Bay around 6:30 and decided to head to the Bellagio to walk around and get dinner.
The Bellagio was about a 25-minute walk from our hotel, and what an amazing walk it was! It was right up the strip, so we got to see all of the lights, Elvis impersonators, and men advertising for - well, you can guess what. It was truly everything I had imagined the Vegas strip to be (this pic is so janky, but I just had to get one in the moment)!
The Bellagio had an extremely impressive Dale Chihuly piece adorning the ceiling of the lobby, I had to get a photo! Kenny loves him, and we had seen some of his pieces
We made our way through the casino, past all of the amazing luxury shops, to the conservatory to see the current seasonal display.
It was breathtaking! The displays are made of flowers and plants, and move and rotate.
This may have been my favorite feature, I love that it's a "painting!"
For dinner we decided on going to Fix, which had a great atmosphere. We got to sit near a window and people watch in the casino while we ate. I got a veggie flatbread which was okay but not great, I wouldn't get it again.
After dinner, we caught the fountain show outside and it was SO cool! It's about five minutes long and stops everyone walking the strip in their tracks. The show we saw was to "All That Jazz," but it's different every time.
That was our last ~crazy~ night in Vegas! The next day, I got packed up, hit one final session at the conference, and then traveled home for the rest of the day. We had a bit of a delay during our layover that caused us to get home around 2:00am, so by then I was exhausted.
Las Vegas was just as fabulous as I imagined, especially after walking the strip after dark and seeing all of the lights in all their glory, I would love to bring Kenny back there one day so we can truly experience it together.
That's all from me today! On Wednesday I'll be back with another travel-related post, I'll be talking about everything we did on our HONEYMOON in Aruba, so stay tuned for that!
xoxx, Laura
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