LAS VEGAS — We’ve written about events and activities everywhere in the High Desert and beyond, from the Apple Valley Air Show and Hollywood, to Big Bear and SeaWorld San Diego—but we’re going to an out-of-state High Desert area for this next adventure.
When people first learn they’re coming to Fort Irwin, many try to entice them by letting them know they’re just a few hours away from San Diego, Los Angeles, the mountains and Las Vegas. Many are enamored with the gambling and libations of Vegas, but it’s also a great family-friendly trip. I won’t be able to get into much of the kid stuff this time, but over the Valentine’s Day/President’s Day weekend, I decided to do a girls trip to the Entertainment Capital of the World. I planned a comedy show at the Laugh Factory, Cirque du Soleil show at New York New York and then Sunday was open for either an Escape Room, Top Golf or a spa day.
Two of my friends flew in from the East Coast and I had a great line-up of things to keep us busy. It helped that one of my friends had never been to Sin City, so I got to explore it all over again from scratch.
My family has been stationed at Fort Irwin for a year and a half now and in the first six months alone, we traveled to Las Vegas 10 times (25 plus times in just one year). We’ve done everything from performances and concerts, to buffets and fancy restaurants. In all of my family’s trips to the city, we’ve never, even gambled.
When it comes to lodging, my friend booked the MGM Signature, which had a 25 percent off deal for the Valentine’s Day/President’s Day weekend for all MLife Rewards card holders. A reminder that military members receive that card, as well as the Caesars Palace Total Rewards card, which grants them all kinds of amenities, including discounted hotel rooms and free parking.
My other friend and I stayed at my grandmother’s home—she just relocated to Las Vegas and we opted to save some money (plus I never miss a moment to spend time with my grandmother).
Friday
Our adventure started on Valentine’s Day—a Friday. My friends got in early and we had planned to eat lunch outside at the beautiful Mon Ami Gabi restaurant at the Paris Hotel but after snacking on other items, we pretty much skipped lunch.
We began at the famous Las Vegas sign and took photos posing at the landmark. The line to take pictures wasn’t bad—maybe 15 minutes, even though it seemed long. Fortunately, it moved quickly.
We then rode around “Old Las Vegas” and Fremont street and drove around the Strip, before parking at Caesar’s Palace (for free with our rewards card). We planned on just walking through this resort to get to the Strip but as many know, these resorts are massive and finding an exit is not always easy. It took us about 45 minutes to find our way around—then we stumbled upon the shopping area and “got lost” in the Gucci store for nearly an hour.
We then stopped at a cute gelato shop, not far from the shopping area inside Caesar’s. Our (not so) small gelato treat of three flavors costs $10 and it was delicious!
Finally, we were determined to find the exit and we made it— nearly three hours after we began searching for it! Those casinos really seem to trap you and we lost track of time
We walked the Strip, taking photos and enjoying sites like the Bellagio water show, before we decided to enter the Bellagio and take a look around.
We introduced our first-time visitor to Dale Chihuly’s “Fiori di Com,” the stunning canopy of hand-blown glass flowers that line the ceiling in different colors at the entrance. The artwork spans 2,000 square feet and took two years to complete, before it debuted in 1998. Towards the back of the entrance, there is always an extravagant display at the Bellagio. During the Christmas holiday, there was Santa Claus, surrounded by a Winter Wonderland of a presentation. On this weekend, there was a luxurious Chinese New Year display. The robotic dragons, fountains and bold, vibrant colors were a site to see.
We did a quick tour of the rest of the hotel, then finally got hungry and decided to eat at one of the hotel restaurants—Sadelle’s Café. One of my friends ordered a blackened ribeye and my other friend and I ordered grilled branzino, which came with spinach and mashed potatoes. All of our meals were about $40 each.
Once we were done eating, we headed off (by Uber) to the Laugh Factory at the Tropicana hotel. I’ll take this time to note that I think this time of year is the best time to visit Vegas—the weather is beautiful—not too hot and sweaty, just right during the day. But at night, keep a jacket with you. We were quite chilly waiting for the Uber.
I bought our Laugh Factory tickets on Groupon a few weeks before the weekend. Three, VIP seats were $42. Regular admission was $38, I believe. There are still no reserved seats, though—your VIP seats are based on arrival, so get there early if you’d like something up front (and the possibility of being roasted LOL).
We were pretty tired after a full day of Vegas exploring and late-night comedy, so we turned in after the show Friday night.
Saturday
Saturday morning, one of my friends wanted to try her first In-N-Out burger, so we had a late start to the day and went by one sometime between 11a.m. and noon.
We then parked at the MGM and walked through to get to M&M World and all of the other mischief on the Las Vegas Strip. M&M World is fun for all ages. There are four floors, each full of excitement.
The bottom floor has many knick knacks and candy gadgets. The second floor is a chocolate factory heaven, as you get to mix and match your choice of dozens of different kinds of M&Ms. Visitors have the chance to pose with a giant, life-sized M&M and a candy-themed NASACR car on the third floor. There are also photo backgrounds to add to the fun. The last four gives guests the opportunity to personalize their M&Ms. You can add text or even photos to your M&Ms, depending on the pricing chart—pretty cool souvenirs.
As you continue to walk the strip, there will be plenty of solicitors, introducing you to deals and steals for the Las Vegas shows, parties and events. My advice is to have a plan but be open to just having a good time and going off the beaten path. Be open to exploring.
We received party and event invites (both free and costly) and decided to stick to our plan, since two of the three of us had visited and experienced much of Vegas in the past.
After getting photo ops along the Strip at CocaCola, the skywalk ways and the Hershey’s store, we went in and decided to try a Hershey’s chocolate martini, because, why not?! We also wanted to get off of our feet for a bit, since we’d been walking and standing all day.
We’d worked up quite an appetite, so we moseyed along to the Aria hotel, which is near New York New York hotel, Hershey’s and T-Mobile Arena.
Before we ate, we realized we hadn’t even really hit the slots or casinos, so we had to introduce my first-timer friend to just a touch of gambling. She set aside about $100 to play with, while my other friend enjoyed her favorite spot—the Poker Room.
We tried out the roulette tables first. The Aria has one of the highest “minimum bidding” rates, so she bet $15 and lost quickly but we hung around awhile to observe the big winners at the table. We then moved on to the nickel slot machines that were beside the Poker room where my other friend was playing. Those slots may only cost a nickel, but they certainly go quickly.
After we were all out of money (and my Poker friend had won money), we finally decided to eat. The Lemongrass restaurant at the Aria was the choice for the night. I got the sesame chicken (was a tough choice between that and the sweet and sour chicken meal), one friend got the crab-fried rice and baked barbecue pork bun, my other friend got a yellow curry soup. The meal was delicious and prices were pretty reasonable.
With our full bellies, we were ready to head over to our show for the night—Zumanity, which is a Circque du Soleil show at the New York New York hotel. We walked over and were about 15 minutes, but fortunately, it appears half the audience was late!
Zumanity is a resident cabaret-style show that has a seductive twist on reality that is a provocative, playful, forbidden and electrifying burlesque-type of show. Our seats were great. It is not a PG-rated show, so just remember it’s adult only. There is a lot of audience participation, comedy, cool costumes, bright colors, and flashing lights. Our only complaint was the lights. At times, they were blinding. The show was a little less than an hour and half but an unforgettable experience.
There’s not a bad seat in the house, but ours were on the first level, Row J and costs about $60 each. With the additional fees that Vegas charges, the tickets can get pretty pricey but it wasn’t too bad.
After the Zumanity show, we were set to go to Drais Beachclub and Nightclub at the Cromwell Hotel and Casino. It’s one of the most popular hangouts on the Strip and Wiz Khalifa was the scheduled performer. Two of us still had enough energy after Zumanity but one of us was out for the count and too tired once we returned to the hotel room.
You can buy tickets to the club for $40, VIP entrance or you can stand in line in get in free before midnight as a woman. We arrived by uber about 11:30p.m. and stood in line for less than 30 minutes, so we were able to get in free.
Drais is spacious, swanky rooftop oasis, complete with stimulating party lighting, enchanting Vegas views and, to top it all off, a pool—all while you’re wrapped in a multi-sensory environment.
There are VIP tables and areas you can pay for but we walked around, mingled, danced and observed, mostly. The pool doesn’t open until March usually, so no one was actually jumping in and swimming—it was actually chilly, so the heat lamp areas were pretty crowded in the outside portion of the club. Both adult and other beverage prices were about the same as any other venue on the Strip.
Wiz Khalifa didn’t end up coming on stage until about 2:30a.m. and performed for exactly an hour. We consider ourselves old, so we took an Uber back and hit the sack, right after his show.
Sunday
Even though we had a late night, we were up and moving before 11 in the morning on our final, full day in Las Vegas.
My grandmother and aunt live in Vegas, so we has breakfast with them at a Denny’s near their house. Sunday was definitely a recovery day. While my friends and I had planned a day at an Escape Room or Top Golf, we ended up finding a few, good Groupon deals for massages and turned it into a spa day. It was definitely needed after the long weekend of walking, dancing, walking, running and more walking!
There were several deals on Groupon. One tip—call each spa before booking on Groupon—each of the four we called (two were already booked) provided even more of a discount than was on the site. We chose Essence Spa on Flamingo Road, about Each of us paid just $35 for an hour-long hot stone, full body massage and foot scrub. The massage parlors are adamant on hefty tips, so be prepared to pay $20 or more for a tip— although we all paid $10. It appeared as if that was frowned upon.
Just before our massages, we went back to the Aria for a quick snack at a little café they have in front of all of the casino games. We got some delectable slices of cake that melted in our mouths as we chatted and people watched. I also got two, neat Cookies ‘n Cream and Rocky Road Rice Krispy treats for the road.
Next up after our massages, was a final dinner in Las Vegas. We chose a spot off the Strip and not far from the spa. It was a Cajun seafood restaurant by the name of Urban Crawfish Station on Spring Mountain Road. It has all of your traditional Cajun seafood, including the crawfish boil and crab legs. The portion sizes and prices were both good.
At that point, it was actually time to head to the airport. One of my friends was actually taking a red-eye back to the east coast that night.
Our three days of Sin City were definitely jam-packed. Don’t forget to check out the “Fort Irwin – 411 Travel Page” on Facebook for more tips and advice on all the great things to do in the city.
My husband and I have planned trips there with our 9 and 12 year old girls, as well as adult-only trips with just the two of us and found new things to do each time.
Also, don’t forget to sign up for Vettix.org. It’s a site that offers free tickets for veterans to events around the world, especially in your area. There are tickets to Vegas performances, sporting events, like March Madness games and, of course, boxing.
