Fabulous Forty Vegas- Day 1

Welcome to Sin City

Wednesday, May 9, 2018 

As a gift to Chris for his fortieth birthday I planned a trip to Las Vegas to celebrate. This was a mid-school year trip, which is very rare for us, but we enjoyed every minute. This would be our 2nd time to Las Vegas as we traveled with Chris's family in 2009 for Thanksgiving just days before we found out we were pregnant with Natalie Grace. We wanted this trip to be all about celebrating Chris and we wanted to be sure to hit the "Vegas Highlights" but also the tourist areas we didn't get to see last time as well. 

Travel Info- We flew United from Houston to Las Vegas and stayed on the Strip at a budget friendly hotel, The Excalibur. I was not really sure what to expect but The Excalibur was actually quite nice and we enjoyed it. We were in town for a total of 3 nights and about 3.5 days. 

Evening 

We both left school early to get back to the house and review everything with my sister, Allison, who would be taking care of the kids while we are out celebrating in Vegas, plus we knew Houston traffic could be AWFUL so we wanted to get to the airport plenty early for our 8:10PM flight. 

We arrived at George Bush International Airport (IAH) before 6PM with little to no traffic during our commute, which is VERY RARE. Security was a breeze, which we did NOT expect, and we were sitting down eating great Asian and Sushi by 7PM. Tip- IAH airport was very modern and better than ANY airport I have ever been to. It had iPad/tablets at EVERY GATE and chair and even at EVERY restaurant. This was so neat and I know my kids, and kids of all ages, would LOVE it and it certainly would help the parents keep their kids entertained while they wait for their flight.

By 7:45PM we were told that our flight crew had not arrived and there would be a 10 minute delay. This 10 minutes turned into over half an hour as the crew never showed and United sent a back-up crew, who forgot their luggage. Finally at 8:45PM we were on the plane, the last 2 to board (hello claustrophobia... gosh I HATE flying) and ready to get this party started.  

We're FINALLY getting on the plane! 

The flight was uneventful but the TVs were not working and the air was not working 100% either. Chris told me after we touched down that the plane was having electrical issues. On the plane the flight attendants gave us coupons for the Venetian. We later learned that United has a partnership with The Venetian/ Palazzo and hands out these coupons on EVERY flight to Las Vegas. These coupons included $25 match play (tables or slots), FREE resort credits ($35/ night for up to 4 nights), BOGO free appetizers at a select restaurant within the Venetian and BOGO Free cocktails at a selected bar within each casino. More on that later but THANK YOU UNITED! 

Once we arrived around 9:45PM Pacific time we immediately got a STARBUCKS, as we knew we would be staying up late. Then we collected our luggage and made our way to the taxi stand to get a cab to the strip and our hotel, The Excalibur. We made a stop for some necessities at a local store and then checked into our hotel. That morning I called the guest services and explained our trip and celebrating Chris's 40th Birthday. When we checked in I learned we were upgraded to a "resort spa" suite with a view of the strip. Thank you Excalibur. This just goes to show that it never hurts to "ask" and let the hotel know of your plans or celebrations. I never dreamed we would get an upgrade!

A view of The Excalibur from the MGM walkway bridge!

We have arrived!

Once we got settled in our room we had a few cocktails and then made our way out to the strip to enjoy our evening. We first stopped at Shake Shack outside New York New York Casino. This New York fast food burger chain did NOT disappoint. The burger was great and the shake really hit the spot. And at less than $20 for 2 it was a bargain meal in Las Vegas! 

New York New York... one of my absolute FAVORITES! 

Walking the Las Vegas Strip at Midnight! It doesn't get much better than that!

Our 1st look at Bellagio!

Vegas Selfie!

Bally's and Planet Hollywood!

We ventured into the Monte Carlo (now known as the Park MGM) and found the FREE tram between Monte Carlo and Bellagio. This is BEHIND the casinos but worth it in the HEAT of the day and it is completely FREE. We got off at the Bellagio and started giving Vegas our hard earned money. Actually I lost and Chris won, and we went back to the room up a "little" but it was a great few hours of Blackjack. Of course it was $25 a hand so it was great when you're winning but DREADFUL when you're not! 

The entrance to the Bellagio!

Golden Night's Goalie made completely out of chocolate!
Our cab driver from the airport went on and ON about this thing! It was pretty neat! 

More of the all chocolate store inside the Bellagio!

Bellagio Botanical Gardens!
It smelt AMAZING in here!

Took me forever to figure out what this was! 

This FLOWER... EPIC! 

We left the Bellagio and purchased a 72 hour bus pass on the "Deuce". There is a 24 vending ticket machine outside the Bellagio and many other hotels. This is a local DOUBLE DECKER bus that carries tourists up and the down the strip and even into DOWNTOWN Las Vegas. It is $20 per person for 3 solid days and was PERFECT for us. Best recommendation I could suggest of our trip! 

We decided to ride the "deuce" all the way to the south stop, which passed the "Welcome to Las Vegas" sign. We took a few pictures and ventured on to the southern most stop. This was an interesting situation as there were several homeless people on the bus and Las Vegas police had to come aboard and get them off. It was a little scary but I love memories like this! 

It is going to be a GREAT trip! 

The bus turned around and we made our way back to our hotel, which was a designated stop on the bus route. and we got back to our room after 3AM Las Vegas time, which was 5AM our time. 

A view from our hotel room! See you tomorrow VEGAS!

It was a GREAT start to our trip but we were two very tired teachers. We had been up for over 24 hours at this point. We showered and then fell asleep fairly quickly. 

Thank you Allison for keeping our kids! And thank you Lord for Chris Davis! I love you Chris and LOVED celebrating you in Las Vegas! 

Thanks for following along! Next up... DAY 2! 

God is good... ALL the time!