Okay, I’ll admit it – most of this list is copied from my old blog. But hey, I have more Vegas trips under my belt…and another one coming up soon. So here’s my Vegas bucket list so far!
Also, I apologize for some minor formatting issues. Sometimes WordPress hates me ::sigh::
1) Stay up all night
This is one that I’ve actually accomplished several times over 😉 I’d say the most epic time, though, was in May 2011 – when I woke up at 9:30 AM and somehow stayed awake until my 2:30 PM flight the next day! Those last several hours were rough to say the least, but I made it! (That said, probably the second most epic all nighter was with my best friend Jenna, because we both caught flights on the east coast at like 6 AM and stayed up until 7:30 AM Vegas time the next day…and a lot of those wee hours of the morning were spent hanging out with a guy who just hangs out on the Strip playing the saxophone and hearing his crazy decades worth of Vegas stories.)
2) See a show
Another one I’ve experienced more than once! I saw the Cirque du Soleil Beatles show, LOVE, and Peepshow back when Holly Madison was in it. Both were epic, though Peepshow was a lot more, you know, Vegas 😉 However, they were trumped by Absinthe, which I saw on my New Year’s Vegas trip 2014-2015.
3) Spend someone’s 21st birthday in Vegas
This was actually my second trip to Vegas – I took my baby sister there for her 21st! We were joined by our other sister Christy, our cousin Katie, and our good friend Lauren, and to this day it is still one of my favorite trips ever (yeah, not just one of my favorite VEGAS trips – one of my favorite trips EVER 😉 )
4) Visit Vegas over Halloween
Some day…some day…
5) Visit the Hoover Dam
When I took my baby sister to Vegas for her 21st birthday, the Hoover Dam was the one thing we did to prove to my parents that we weren’t just in Vegas to party…haha.
6) Get a tattoo
I finally accomplished this on my last trip to Vegas! My friend Natalie and I had quite the adventure finding a tattoo parlor that had been suggested to us and that turned out to no longer be open…but we tracked down one of the artists at another shop and I finally got my number 13 on the back of my neck 😉
7) Stay in a suite
This is another two-timer! Most recently we had a suite at the Mirage for my 30th birthday, but it was definitely most exciting the very first time 😉 That said…I’ll be doing it all over again next month with some amazing friends, many of whom have never even been to Vegas, and I can’t wait!
8) Spend New Year’s Eve in Vegas
Thanks to my lovely friend Natalie (who convinced me to meet her, our other friend Natalie, and their friend Gabby in Vegas for New Year’s), I finally accomplished this over New Year’s Eve 2014-2015. I don’t think I’d do it again (it was a bit crazy even for me), but I did have an amazing time!
9) Visit Red Rock Canyon
Kind of a random decision, really – but another time where I thought, “I’ve seen so much of what Vegas has to offer, maybe I should get outside of the city and explore a little bit.” And what better time than during my 30th birthday trip? (Well, minus the fact that it was freezing cold that day…)
10) Get a table/do bottle service at a club
This activity has become kind of a staple, because I’m old now (heh) and like to be able to, you know, sit down once in a while. Even when I’m out clubbing in Vegas 😉 I got hooked on this the first time I did it, for sure.
11) See a Vegas wedding
Okay, so *technically* it was a vow renewal, but since it was a full-blown Elvis-themed vow renewal at one of the infamous Vegas chapels, I’m counting it! I actually attended this just this past weekend – the cousins of my good friend Natalie did it – and it was hilarious and a blast and such a cool way for them to celebrate their 15th anniversary!
12) Go to one of the big pool parties
So I had attended a sort of pool party at Bare at the Mirage many years ago – but I wanted to check out one of the named ones! Though we went on a Thursday and it wasn’t nearly as insane as it is on the weekends, we rented a bungalow at Wet Republic and it was amazing…and after my upcoming trip I’ll be able to say I did a cabana at The Linq pool party as well!
13) Spend MY birthday in Vegas!
In 2010 I went the week after my birthday, but in 2012 I planned a big 30th bday trip with some awesome friends. It was my best birthday ever and the perfect way to spend my 30th…I’d do a Vegas birthday again in a heartbeat, for myself or anyone else!
14) Rent/ride in a limo for no reason
Since I’ve visited Vegas with sizable groups of friends several times over the years, we’ve actually taken a lot of random rides in limos – often doing so ends up being the same price as (or cheaper than) taking a cab, when you’ve got 8 or more people and you’d have to split up anyway. But there was one time when five of us outright rented a limo for the evening kind of “just because” – visited the Vegas sign, and downtown Vegas, and then had it drop us off at Encore so we could go to XS for the night. Champagne was included (well, a bottle of it was) and it was a blast! (Not surprisingly.)
15) Go on one of the helicopter rides/tours over the Strip
16) Get a picture with the Las Vegas sign
I’ve actually visited the Vegas sign twice, but honestly it’s hard to get a decent picture there! I hope to return to it on my next visit, for sure 🙂
17) Two words: Champagne Brunch.
Seriously, if you’re in Vegas on a weekend there is no reason to NOT hit up one of these. They have them at most hotels, though some have better food (Mandalay Bay) and some have freer-flowing champagne (Planet Hollywood).
18) Visit Lake Mead
(Okay, *technically* I’ve done this, but I’m not really counting it as I just went to an overlook. One day, when I’m in Vegas and the weather is nice, I’d love to go out here and boat on the lake for a day!)
19) Check out “Old Vegas”
I mean, why not? Cheap[er] drinking. Cheap[er] gambling. It’s kitschy and while you don’t need to spend a ton of time there, it’s fun!
20) Play blackjack!
To me this is just the quintessential Vegas game – so again, this almost always happens when I visit. Sometimes I even win 😉 (Okay, USUALLY I win if I’m at a table with the right people. If you’ve ever played Blackjack you know what I mean. I prefer Binion’s because hey, $5 buy in, but I’ve won the most money at Planet Hollywood. Twice.)
21) Introduce Vegas to someone who’s never been before.
Out of the 11 times I’ve been to Vegas, at least four of them, I got to show this ridiculous and amazing place to friends who’d never before visited, and honestly, that makes the experience even better than it already would have been 🙂 (And since I’ve never had a bad trip to Vegas, that’s saying a lot!) As a special note, the following picture was taken on the last morning of my second Vegas trip, and I was the only one of the five of us who’d been there before…
Not-So-Honorable-Mention
People who’ve thought/assumed that I was a prostitute. One time a guy who I thought I’d just been having a polite chat with asked me how much I went for (“$1,000 an hour?” Hey, I guess he aimed high?) and another time I was playing computer poker at a casino bar at 5 AM and this guy was offering to pay me more money than I care to mention to go back to his room with him. It got to the point where the bartender had to ask him to leave because my increasingly firm refusals weren’t making any difference. Oh, Vegas. (Also, if you want to know what one guy’s idea of a $1,000 an hour prostitute is, this is me the night I got that little “compliment” ::rolls eyes:: Oh and the person behind me is my friend, not the guy who thought I was a prostitute. Heh.)
Like I said, I’ll probably add more to this list as I finish the last few goals that I have yet to accomplish…but these are my general suggestions for awesome things to do in Vegas. I could never live there, but obviously it’s one of my favorite places to visit…and I already can’t wait to go back!
