First ever trip to Vegas! 7/21-7/24

Well, we just got back so I'll get this trip report up over the next few days. My wife and I have been married for almost 12 years now and never had a honeymoon. We were too poor when we got married so we just put it off. Well, things have changed and we are now in a much better place so we figured it was time to go to Vegas. The stars and the moon aligned and we were able to get the kids off to church camp, get the dogs into boarding, and then it was wheels up to Las Vegas!

We've been planning this trip since about February. I work with a bunch of guys who frequent Vegas and kept hearing "Aria" and "Cosmo", so we ended up picking Aria. We went with a Tower Suite and it was amazing. We ended up on the 51st floor.



Our whole stay there was great, the staff was very polite... everyone from the limo driver for the airport shuttle service, to the Tower Suites check-in people, to the maids, bellmen, etc. I wish we could say that we would stay here again, but there are too many other places to stay... what a dilemma!


Getting off track... we hit the airport and got our shuttle, got all checked in, and then hit the street.


We were starving, so we went to hit Bacchanal Buffet for dinner before doing a little shopping and then going to the Beatles Love at Mirage. We had high expectations for Bacchanal and came away severely disappointed. It was really underwhelming... the food, the service... not sure what happened. We got there about 5:30 and were able to enjoy it for about 30 minutes until the lines started getting longer and longer. Our server was hardly ever around so plates piled up and drinks remained empty. Once we were full, we hit the road and went over to the Forum Shops to browse for a bit.

We looked at quite a few shops and couldn't resist blowing some money in Victoria's Secret.


Talk about selection! Wife had a great time... wallet did not have a great time. We walked around and looked at more stores. As we walked over to Mirage, we watched some street performers... also a huge disappointment. Some guy claiming to have been on "America's Got Talent" did an 'interactive' dance number... total snooze-fest.

We had time to kill before our 9:30 Love show, so we hit a bar in the Mirage. My wife was thirsty so she just got water while I had a Crown and Coke and started smoking it up. I don't smoke, but in Vegas the allure of smoking inside and drinking outside was too much for me to resist.



Oh, comfortable shoes go a long ways in Vegas! We then went and saw Love. I'm a huge Beatles fan so I really enjoyed it. My wife thought it was just OK... she enjoyed it but not as much as I did and I don't think either of us enjoyed it enough to justify the $300 we spent for section 206 ( I think that was it) tickets. Oh well, we can cross it off the list now.

After that, we were both pretty tired as we were still on Houston time. We walked back to Aria to call it a night.
This concludes day 1 of our trip report.

 

great start!

 

Vegas virgins. I always love to hear what they think about sin city. I will continue following and I hope you had a great trip

 

Lol at the smoking! That's pretty funny. Have fun!

 

Off to a great start! BTW, congrats on marrying up!

 

Looking forward to reading more

 

Love a non-smoker smoking just cuz he can do it inside!

 

Great TR so far, excited to hear more!

 

Happy Honeymoon!

 

Awesome start! Happy honeymoon to you!
RICHARD

 

So for day 1, we hit 14,723 steps... not bad. I should state that our main goal in Vegas was just to have a great time and try and see as much of the city as we could. We wanted to hit a little gambling, eat some great meals, and just relax and unwind.

To start day 2, we got up pretty early. I usually don't sleep well in hotels and the first night in Vegas was no exception. I couldn't get comfortable and the bed was a bit too firm for my liking. Oh well, the city was calling and adrenaline was flowing so now was not the time to be tired. We went down to the Aria Cafe for breakfast and had a great meal. This was consistent with our experience at Aria... memorable service. A little spendy for just a simple breakfast but my wife reported that the French Toast was the best she had ever had. I'm a sucker for taking pics of my wife so here was her in the elevator on the way down. Also, a picture of my iced tea for breakfast... love not having to fish the lemon out of my drink so I can squeeze it. Subtle touches...




Ok, time to hit the road. I'm an aviation junkie and so of course I had to go to the Airplane Store, home of an impressive collection of Gemini Jets. We caught an Uber and were there in a few minutes as it is just over by the airport. Our Uber driver was great... really love this service. My wife was as patient as she could be as I spent twenty minutes browsing before I bought a couple of planes. Hopefully not too off topic, but as a child of divorce, I flew frequently as a kid. I made many flights on Northwest Airlines, so finding a NWA plane was a big deal for me. Very happy!



While looking for the Airplane Store on Google Maps, I saw that the Carroll Shelby headquarters was just a block away. What amazing fortune! We walked over and went through the location. I'm glad it was free because it was disappointing. The cars they had on display were a bit sad looking. We didn't stay for the tour which might have been better than just looking around on our own. We only spent about 15 minutes here and knew that it was time to head back to the strip!



We got another Uber and again, he promptly arrived and had us to the Miracle Mile shops in a few minutes. The wife didn't bring any shorts and the heat was getting to her so we wanted to grab a few things. The mall was ok... typical offerings. She got some cute things at H&M and then while walking, we stumbled upon Tatyana Boutique. They sell pinup style clothing and were having a 50% off everything sale so my wife found a beautiful dress. It will be in a later picture and will make reference to it when it comes up. After that, we returned to Aria and my wife changed clothes. We then decided to try some slots. We brought about $6,000 with us in cash for the trip and hadn't really set aside any specific amount for gambling.

We played for an hour or so and quickly found out that my wife is lucky and I'm a perpetual loser when it comes to slots. I lost about $60 and my wife broke even. I forget the name of the slot she was playing, but it was a lot of fun. I returned to it many times over the next few days and had pretty good luck getting the bonus spins. More about the slot on the next day.



Touristy-time folks! We headed to Paris and did the Eiffel Tower. It was fun and the views were great. There was a Paris employee at the top who was like a living, breathing Wikipedia about all things Las Vegas. He knew how many rooms each hotel had, when the opened, who owned them, etc, etc. It was a real treat hearing him spew out facts and field questions with ease. We spent about twenty minutes up there and had enough of the heat.



We enjoyed our time in the Paris casino... very well lit and laid out. Didn't do any gambling but it was fun to look around. We then headed to the Coke store to do the international Coke sampler. Ugh, what a waste of $8. Out of 16, we were only able to finish 3... sad. We bought a few magnets and looked around a bit. I was surprised to see cans of Surge. I remember in high school... around 1996, when Surge came out. They had a vending machine that only sold Surge at the school and it was $0.25 a can. As much as I love the tingly feelings of nostalgia, I didn't buy any.


My wife was staring to get some serious sunburn, so we popped into a store and bought some sunscreen. Our room had a nice bar setup, including a separate fridge so I bought a bottle of Ciroc Apple to help with our pregame for later. We then headed back to Aria as we had a 5:30 dinner reservation at Mastro's Ocean club. We stopped in the casino for a few minutes on the way up and my wife turned $20 into $232 in about 5 minutes. Not a huge win, but we were happy. She cashed out and took the $200 to put towards bills.



So we got cleaned up and ready to go. Here is the dress that my wife got from Tatyana earlier... she looked amazing!


We then walked down to Mastro's Ocean Club in the Crystals. We had reservations at 5:30... I know, a little early but we wanted to go out later that night. We got there and there were only a few other people there and even when we left, it seemed really slow. We had a good meal but we really weren't blown away by it. I had the Clam Chowder, followed by the panko-breaded Chilean Sea Bass and my wife had the Big Eye Tuna. We split the Gorgonzola mac and cheese and we had the sea salt and vinegar fries. We finished it off with their signature butter cake. Everyting was good but not great. I guess I just expected a bit more for $200. The service was pretty good, but not exceptional. Oh well, we still had fun.



Back to the Aria. We planned on going to Fremont and then to a strip club later in the evening. Well, we both laid down for a quick power nap and then that was it. Woke up at 9:30pm and didn't have the motivation to get up, so we just called it a night. Total steps for Tuesday was 14,656.

 

Nice report. Keep it coming!

 

Enjoying your report & pics. Looks like you two were doing LV right for a 1st trip!

 

How exciting, taking your first trip to Vegas. Have a great time!

 

That view from the Eiffel Tower is great. Almost feel weird looking at it though

 

Sounds very fun. I love Tatyana! Your bride is smart to wear tennis shoes for all the walking. Thanks for sharing & have a great time

 

The deadly early evening Vegas Nap! Fun times so far.

 

Enjoying reading your report. Seems like you're both having fun.

 

Your Eiffel Tower pic is terrific...enjoying the report.

 

Enjoying the report!