VIVA LAS VEGAS ….I’m going to break the bank!

I have a pocket full of money and I’m ready to set the town on fire. Thinking I will hit that big jackpot worth thousands. But as a friend ‘says they have to pay for all those lights somehow’. That still doesn’t stop me from thinking I have a chance and I have just as much of a chance as the next person.

The airport in Las Vegas is easy to get around and is very close to the Strip where are the flashy hotels are. From the airport you can rent a car, take the shuttle bus or a taxi. Each have advantages the shuttle bus is cheap but you do have to go to the other hotels to drop off other passengers till they get to your hotel. A taxi will take you straight to your hotel but will cost more. If you rent a car you travel around the city and explore outside the city but you will have to deal with traffic and buy gas.

 Here is a very helpful tip on rent cars and hotels. When using a debit card check with the rental car company and hotel to find out how much of a hold they will put on your debit card. I have found out the hard way that they will charge to full amount of the car or hotel plus as much as $500.00 security deposit. 

I have traveled to Las Vegas many times but will go back in a hear beat given the chance. I have stayed at hotels on the strip, off the strip and downtown. If you have never been I recommend staying on the strip in the middle of all the action. Here again talk good walking shoes in you plan on see all the sights. One of the first things you notice when you get to Las Vegas, the many themed hotels that loom over the strip and the hordes of people walking everywhere. But in minutes you will be one more person out there making your way to the next free show out front of many of the hotels.

After checking into my hotel I like to go check out the casino, I like to play the themed slot machines. What every it is you like to play always make sure to sign up for their slots club. This is a reward type program based on your gaming you earn points. Once you get enough points you can trade them in on a list of things from free gifts out of the gift shop to free rooms. Once you have you card make sure to use it every time you drop money into a machine or play at any of the tables. Each hotel has their own club so if you go to a different hotel make sure you sign up for their club.

Now that I have my card in hand I find that perfect slot machine that I’m going to win enough money to retire on. In Las Vegas like all the other gaming cities you get free drinks as you play. Once you have given them you drink request stay in your seat, it can take some time for them to come back with your drink and you don’t want to miss it.  When you are thru playing at the machine that has eaten your life saving in 3 minutes don’t forget to take your slot club card. I have found to never put hundred dollar bills into machines always twenty’s or less. Because what happens you are not winning, but because you still have money in the machine you keep playing till you have lost the hundred dollars.

Las Vegas is full of buffets and every one of them say they have been voted the best the town.  They are all good buffets and a few really stand out. Make sure you keep some money put back so you can eat at one of the seafood buffets. I like the one at the Rio All Suites Hotel, I have almost made myself sick eating snow crab legs.  

Back on the strip I need to walk off all the seafood I stuffed down. There are many hotels that have a free show. The Treasure Island has Sirens of IT, Dancing Waters at the Bellagio, Fountain Festival at the Forum Shops at Caesar’s Palace and downtown has the Fremont Street Experience. After making my rounds on the strip I take the bus downtown to check out the Fremont Street Experience.  The only way I know to explain it is a large computer screen that covers four blocks. It is like no other screen you will see anywhere else in the world.

One more must you need to do while in Las Vegas is to see Hoover Dam, the dam is about 30 miles from Las Vegas. Take the tour of the dam it is well worth it. Here are a few fun facts: the dam is 726 feet high, 45 feet thick at the top and 660 feet at the bottom, it is filled with 3.25 million cubic yards of concrete, enough to pave a strip 16 feet wide and 8 inches thick from San Francisco to New York City, and the lowest wage for workers on the dam was 50 cents and the highest was $1.25 an hour.

Well my time in Las Vegas is over and the only bank I broke was my piggy bank. I didn’t win big but I had a great time. I love Las Vegas and have been many times, I always find new and fun things to do besides gaming. Take a weekend off and see what fun you can have in Las Vegas and maybe you will be the next BIG winner.