Category: Las Vegas

My long awaited second trip (this year) to Las Vegas was last week (November 30-December 3).  The flights to/from Las Vegas were surprisingly on time (considering Newark Airport was involved).  I got there about 20 minutes before Derek (aka “Kared”) and by the time I got off the plane he had landed.  We met at the Westjet carousel and took the short taxi ride to the Excalibur Hotel.  Once we got settled in, we started walking.  With the complex array of crosswalks to keep pedestrians off of Las Vegas Boulevard (aka “The Strip”) it was like walking through a giant maze (and we were the rats).  We lost track of time and before we knew it, it was dark and we had walked from one end of the strip to the other and caught the Mirage Volcano show.

On Tuesday we went to a nearby Outlet mall.  The mall is owned by the same company that owns the Flemington and Jackson outlets in NJ.  Derek was very excited because of the deep discounts on clothes (Nevada sales tax is low and the USA does not have a VAT).  Discounts were as high as 70% off.  Afterwards we went back to the strip and had a good evening that involved some drinks, bars and music.

Wednesday we took it kind of easy (Derek was a bit hung over, I was fine).  That night we saw Cirque De Soleil’s “O” at the Bellagio.  What an amazing show.  It was 90 minutes of amazing acrobatics, dance, water effects and acrobatics.  Afterwards we did some more walking around and some window shopping and checked out the Apple Store.

On our final day we took it easy.  Walked through the shops at the Venetian and did some shopping at the Coke and M & M store.  As the rodeo was coming into town we headed out.  Around 5:30 Derek & I said our goodbyes and went our separate ways at McCarran.  I know I had a great time and I’m pretty sure Derek did too.  For me, the best part was meeting someone in person who I’ve known online for almost 6 years.  Derek is as nice a guy in person as he is online.  I’m sure I’ll get to meet up with him and hopefully get to meet his wife Lori at some time in the future.

Here is the video I made of my trip to Las Vegas.  Enjoy.