Been a LONG time since I posted any sort of trip report, so since I'm feeling chatty I thought I'd share some thoughts from last month's trip to Vegas.

My husband and I traveled via Southwest Airlines from Chicago and arrived super early, like 9 am local time. We were staying at The Flamingo. The luggage porter told us we couldn't check in til 10:00 am at the earliest, so we went across the Linq Promenade to Chayo Mexican Kitchen for some food. It was okay, kind of pricey, plus they are one of the Vegas restaurants to charge the dreaded CNF tax.

When we went back to The Flamingo to check in, the line was not too long, maybe 5-6 persons in front of us. I was told that the only room they had available was a suite, which was more expensive, I think maybe an additional $65 total over 4 nights, so not bad. The suite was beautiful and was on the 28th floor with a view of the High Roller. Sweet!

We spent that first day with family, first at the fantastic adults-only SLS pool (which we traveled to using the monorail) and then at our nephew's wedding at Caesar's Palace, followed by a great meal at Carmine's. The grub never stopped coming at that wedding dinner, and I nearly slipped into a food coma. I was actually so full that I did not have a piece of wedding cake, which if you knew me, would make you go

As an aside, I'm so happy we checked into our room when we did. When we returned from SLS pool to get ready for the wedding, the line to check in was obscene. Maybe 50-75 people for a Microsoft convention.

On Sunday I found out what happens when you are so worried about getting sunscreen on your DH that you forget to apply it to yourself There was aloe vera gel for sale in one of the Flamingo shops, but it was $16.00!!! So I did some research and decided to go to the ABC Store at the Miracle Mile shops. Definitely recommend visiting an ABC Store for anything you need while in Vegas. The prices were really reasonable. Randomly, we also liked the store Attic Salt. DH bought two t-shirts there. Before shopping, we had brunch at Alexxa's, which I think is in the Paris? I recommend the bubbly sangria.

Sunday afternoon we gave the Flamingo go pool a try. I'm no prude, but my eyes saw things they've never seen before WOW. That night we went to see Mat Franco at the The Linq (pretty good, still wish we had been able to see our original choice of Penn & Teller) and then had dinner at Gordon Ramsey's Fish and Chips on the Linq Promenade.

Monday morning we had breakfast at the Flamingo buffet and then picked up our rental car using the Hertz location right in the lobby and headed off to Hoover Dam. I had pre-purchased two tickets for the power plant tour. Bring water with you if you go! We paid the $10.00 (I think) to park in the parking deck as it was too hot to contemplate walking over from the AZ side where parking is free. Lots of people were doing so though.

After Hoover Dam we drove to the aptly named Valley of Fire. The car's thermometer said that it was 117 degrees outside. We just took turns here getting out of the car to take photos and were happy to get back in the a/c. This is definitely worth the drive, though I would recommend going at a time other than mid-July so that you can actually shut your car off and get out and walk a bit.

Dropped the rental car back off, and was disappointed to see that our Flamingo suite had yet to be cleaned. It had not been cleaned since we checked in Saturday AM. I called and spoke to housekeeping and they did send someone up right away. That was the last time we saw housekeeping, as they did not return the following day. I emailed Flamingo about this issue but surprise, surprise never heard back.

Dinner on a whim was at Buddy V's at The Venetian. Amazing food, but I was mostly just glad that we were able to get to the Venetian. After dinner I picked up a few cookies ($7 for two cookies!) at the Carlo's Bakery that is across the hall from Buddy V's. That was our breakfast on Tuesday. Yummy.

Tuesday was our last full day in Vegas, so after doing some research I decided that Bally's pool (available to us since it is another Caesar Entertainment property) might be the best option for us. This did work out pretty well. There were some kids in the pool, but it was a more quiet scene than both SLS and of course Flamingo.

We had dinner that night at the Seafood Shack at Treasure Island, which was pretty standard, and then went to Mystere, our first Cirque du Soleil show. So weird, and so beautiful. I'm glad that I took advantage of their summer special and so two tickets were about $115.00.

Wednesday AM saw DH taking an Uber to the airport to head back to Chicago, but since I was headed to San Diego for Comic Con and my flight wasn't until the afternoon, I decided to do something that DH had no interest in- The Titanic Exhibit at the Luxor. A co-worker had recommended this to me, and I am so glad she did. I absolutely loved it and it ended up being one of my favorite things from Vegas. I did get my ticket from the Tix4tonight location close to The Luxor at Showcase Mall. I think it was discounted around $6 or so.

A few random comments/thoughts:

The Starbucks on the Linq promenade is REALLY expensive, and they wouldn't let me use my rewards/stars to get a free drink because it wasn't a corporate store. This really annoyed me, but not enough to keep me from going there at least twice

Sunscreen and flip flops are a must if you go poolside. Concrete gets really, really hot (shocking, but true).

The Welcome to Las Vegas gift shop is a great place to pick up inexpensive souvenirs. Avoid the hotel shops at all costs. I learned my lesson quickly when I had to buy purified water at the Flamingo for my husband's CPAP machine for $8.00. Ridiculous!!!

Finally, we spent (and lost) a grand total of $15.00 gambling, and still had a great time in Vegas!

If you had to go there in the summer, it sounds like you made the most of Avery hot place. Thanks for the report.

Two men were kissing in the pool???

We were in Vegas in February and we were shocked at how expensive it has become. First I've heard about the CNF tax, but can't say I'm all that surprised. We actively avoid hotels that charge that bogus resort fee, but its getting harder and harder to do. We too were surprised at the cost of a coffee at Starbucks, and at the cost of a food court type meal in one of the casinos ($30).

We love Cirque shows - finally got around to seeing O. Fantastic.

Thanks for reporting back!