What Happens in Vegas ... Goes on the Internet


At almost 60 years of age I had never been to Las Vegas. My friend Mike, who had been there several times, planned to go and asked me to join him, so this was a perfect opportunity to go with someone who knew his way around there. I told another friend, Mark, about it, and since he'd never been there either, he decided to go as well. So, a few weeks before spring 2022 the three of us flew to the land of hookers and gambling.

Monday March 7. We left Chartridge at an ungodly cow-milking hour, dropped my car in BWI's long-term lot (which is about the size of Rhode Island), caught the shuttle bus to the terminal, checked our bags, and went to our gate. A lot of people were traveling that early. Coincidentally we ran into our friend Shonna, who was taking the same flight, but she was going on business so she wouldn't be hanging out with us in Vegas.

Las Vegas's Harry Reid International Airport (formerly McCarran Airport) has slot machines because God forbid anyone should have to wait to gamble. We got our bags, Ubered to the Linq Hotel, dropped our bags there (it was too early to check in), and walked around. The Linq has a self-serve beer station called Beer Yourself. I'm a beer geek, so naturally it was the very first photo I took on the trip.

Here is a YouTube video (not mine) explaining how it works:


Then we went outside, where it was sunny, cool, and windy. Next to the Linq is the world's largest ferris wheel, the High Roller, which takes you on a 30-minute ride. (We didn't ride it but you can watch a promotional video.) Below you see Mike and Mark in front of it. The vertical lines in front of the High Roller are cables for the Fly LINQ zipline.

The Linq is located in the heart of the "Strip", which is the most upscale/touristy/busy part of Las Vegas Boulevard. (Due to zoning, the Strip is not actually part of Las Vegas -- it's part of Paradise Nevada.) The sidewalks were crowded with tourists, street performers, and people handing out coupons for various establishments. The street performers are amateurs, not the professionals you'll see in some touristy areas. Here is one:


We smelled weed, as it is completely legal to possess and use it in Las Vegas. (Technically it is legal to use only on private property, but no one gets arrested for using it on the streets.) There are weed dispensaries there too.

We walked to the Ellis Island Hotel and Brewery. Yes, it has its own brewery. Woohoo! We went to their biergarten, called the Front Yard, and sampled some of the beers, which were pretty good (I liked their Belgian Triple best). Pints were $3 or $5, while flights were $10 or $12, so Mike and Mark each got a pint. I didn't because I had little appetite for alcohol at 10:00 in the morning (even though it was 1:00 in the afternoon at home).

We walked through Bally's, the Eiffel Tower, and Planet Hollywood, which all have casinos, bars, and restaurants. Different casinos have different rules about taking photos and videos. Some allow photos but no videos, and others don't allow either.

Café Hollywood.


Further along we stumbled upon what used to be Sin City Brewing Company, which opened in 2005 but closed in 2020.

Then we encountered some interesting apparel for sale.

We walked through the MGM Grand and checked out their buffet. I'm a huge fan of buffets not only because I can eat a lot but also because buffets allow people to sample many different dishes. At a normal restaurant you get one dish and if you don't like it, you're stuck. Of course, not all buffets are good. MGM Grand's buffet did not look good, so I made a mental note not to eat there.

By the way, there are a lot of Fat Tuesday locations on the Strip that sell many flavors of daiquiris. They're expensive, but mixed drinks are expensive in the hotel bars too. We're talking $17 apiece on average, which comes out to more than $20 each when you include tax and tip. Only some of the bars have happy hours, and even then the prices aren't reduced by much. Plus, a typical mixed drink consists of 9% alcohol, 15% juice, and 76% ice, so it's one of the biggest rip-offs in town. Your cheapest option if you want to drink is to go into any CVS or Walgreens and buy cold beers to go. We did this several times throughout our trip. For less than $3 you can get a tall (19.2-ounce) can of craft brew (Stone and Lagunitas are easy to find), or an even larger (24-ounce) can of macrobrewed swill if that's your preference. It is perfectly legal to drink in public there.

Across Las Vegas Boulevard we saw the replica of the Statue of Liberty.

We took one of the free trams down to the Mandalay Bay Hotel. There are lots of bars and stores there.

There is a neat Prohibition-type bar. The "bookshelf" on the left is actually the door.

Mandalay Bay is connected to the Luxor, which also has lots of shops. It is a pyramid-shaped hotel that is tallest pyramid in the U.S. and has the largest atrium in the world. We went up to get a bird's-eye view.

We walked through the Excalibur, which is connected to the Luxor, and perused the buffet, which looked much better than the MGM Grand's. Then we walked up the boulevard to the New York New York Hotel. One of the bars had a good tap list, which is rare in Las Vegas. You can get any kind of mixed drink, champagne, or wine, but most places have very limited beer selections.

Outside the New York New York is a replica of the Brooklyn Bridge.

Then we walked through the Shops at Crystals.

Does Mike look better as Ken... ...or Barbie?

Then we went over to the Cosmopolitan and saw the Chandelier Bar.

We walked back to the Linq, retrieved our bags, checked in, dropped our stuff in our rooms, got a quick bite at In-N-Out Burger, walked to the Monorail, rode it down to MGM Station, walked to the tram, took it to Mandalay Bay, and trekked over the highway to Allegiant Stadium for the Academy of Country Music Awards. After all that walking I was happy to sit because I have a running injury in my knee, which was getting swollen and painful. It was a nice show but rather short considering ticket prices. It started at 5:00 and was over by 7:00. They gave us wristbands that lit up in unison in different colors at different times, I suppose via some kind of wifi. The stadium lighting changed often, as you'll see in the photos below.

My wristband. One of the food vendors.


After the show, we were fortunate to find a courtesy shuttle that took folks over the highway to Mandalay Bay. Then we made our way back up the boulevard via a combination of the tram, a bus called the Deuce, and walking. There were a LOT of people out and about -- way more than in the daytime. There are a jillion restaurants on the Strip, and all of them were packed. Here are a few random photos:

Here are some interesting whirlpool decorations:


In front of the Bellagio is "Lake Bellagio", which features the famous Bellagio Fountains. It does shows every 15-30 minutes. Here is the one that happened when we stopped by:


Here's a much better video that I found on YouTube:


We went up to Gilley's Trading Post, a country western bar located at the Treasure Island Hotel.


We watched people ride the mechanical bull.


We walked back to the Linq, which has an Irish bar called O'Shea's. People were playing beer pong.

Then we went back outside for a while.

Mike and Mark tried to find food but because it was the wee hours of the morning most places were closed. My knee was hurting from all the day's walking (17 miles according to Mark's Fitbit) so I went up to the room while they went in search of food.

Tuesday March 8. It was warmer and less windy than the day before. Around noon we rode the Deuce down to the Excalibur for the buffet. There was a wide selection of food, most of which was good.

After laying a base we took the Deuce up to Brewery Row, which is located in the Arts District. The photo on the left is our view from the top level of the Deuce.

Brewery Row has six breweries as of this writing, and we hit five of them. Our first was Hop Nuts Brewing. Overall the beers were good. We tried:

We walked to Neon Desert Brewing, which was originally called Beer District Brewing but it opened right around the time the pandemic started so it never got off the ground. The beers were almost as good as the ones at Hop Nuts. We tried:

On the way to our next brewery we found this van on the sidewalk. Take note of the driver.

Next was CraftHaus. Their brewery, which opened in 2014, is located outside of town. This taproom opened in 2019. We sampled:

Our next stop was HUDL Brewing. Overall the beers were so-so. We tried:

We got some good food from SoulBelly BBQ (located right outside), and won a 4-pack of their Vanilla Oak (a cream ale) playing classic rock bingo.

On a tip from the assistant brewer at CraftHaus named Danny we went to the Silver Stamp, a bar with 60s/70s decor and about 20 taps. Well, wouldn't you know, we ran into Danny sitting at the bar. We drank some Jester King El Cedro, Wild Barrel Weiss Blueberry Cherry, and Heinrich Reissdorf. With all the old paraphernalia you'd think that the place was more than half a century old, but it actually opened in 2021.

I thought this sign was kind of neat.


We walked past Nevada Brew Works but didn't go in because we heard that the beer wasn't very good.

I don't know why but we walked into a place called Horse Trailer Hideout. We didn't stay or drink anything but I took some photos.

Our final brewery of the evening was Able Baker Brewing. They had a lot of beers, and most of them were good, so this was a good brewery to end on. We tried:

Then we rode the Deuce up to Fremont Street, or as it's known, the Fremont Street Experience. We got there around midnight; not sure exactly. In contrast to the Arts District, which is rather quiet, Fremont Street is loud and busy, with lots of people and music. It's covered with the largest video screen in the world, called Viva Vision. Here's a short clip of what it's like:


Every hour on the hour from 6:00 PM to 2:00 AM there is a digital 6- to 8-minute show featuring music from a different artist. Here is the first 5 minutes of a show we caught, featuring Shakira (my phone ran out of memory so I didn't get it all):


Here is a full show (not my video) featuring Imagine Dragons:


There are two or three stages with entertainment, such as live bands, and other acts such as this one:


The place attracts some interesting people, like this woman (well, I assume it's a woman):


One guy was letting people kick him in the nuts for $20. Mike handed me a $20 bill and told me to do it. So I did.


Many of the women working the casino tables were scantily clad, with their cleavage on full display. There were also scantily clad women dancing right next to the tables. I didn't take any photos because that wasn't allowed. But I did get a bunch of photos on the street.

The Fremont Street Experience was one of my favorite parts of the trip, and when you add 5 breweries to that, this was my favorite day. We rode the Deuce back to the Linq and turned in around 3:00 AM.

Wednesday March 9. A beautiful, warm, sunny day. My old friends John and Camille, who had flown into town a few hours after we had on Monday, met us for a late breakfast at a food stand in our hotel. Then the five of us walked around. First we went into the Mirage...

...which has a restaurant called Diablo's Cantina. It had skeletons at some of the tables.

Then we walked into Caesar's Palace.

Below is a video of the Fountain of the Gods. Directly above is a photo of the five of us in front of it.


John and Camille went off to do their own thing and the three amigos Ubered to the Golden Tiki, which is located across the highway in Chinatown. The decor is very cool. We ordered three drinks, which tasted quite good:

They were expensive as expected, and, just like drinks on the Strip, mostly ice. They do have a happy hour where some of their drinks cost a little more than half the regular price, but we were there too early for happy hour.
Bathroom stall handle.


Here's a flashy thing they do when they serve a Navy Grog:


After we left I had to snap this photo.

We walked to a place called Xiao Long and had some good dumplings and other Chinese foods.

Then we Ubered to the Venetian Resort and its attached Palazzo. The decor was great, and there were canals with gondolas.


Everything in the Venetian is posh. We hung out in one of its bars, called the Yardbird, which was packed. We got a few overpriced drinks and then had dinner next door at an expensive signature restaurant called Chica. It's associated with Chef Lorena Garcia. I don't know whether she owns it or they just use some of her recipes. Las Vegas has a bunch of signature restaurants, and their associated chefs include Guy Fieri, Gordon Ramsay, Bobby Flay, and others. I think it's just a ruse to fool people into paying 30 times what the food is worth. For example, my main course, Ember Roasted Cauliflower, was a slab of cauliflower about the size and thickness of my palm. A head of cauliflower would yield at least 3 of them, so that each slab would cost under a dollar. The entree's price was $29. And that was the LEAST expensive entree on the menu. Anyway, the food was very good. We splurged on drinks, appetizers, and desserts, so that our total bill could have bought 4 nights in one of the hotel rooms.

My yuuuuge entree. Dessert designed to look like corn.

Then we walked around town a bit.

The Mirage has a volcano that erupts every hour on the hour from 7:00 to 11:00 each night. We could feel the heat from the flames a hundred yards away. Here is what I recorded:


Here is a video I found on YouTube that gives a better view...


...and here's another good one:


Inside Harrah's is a bar called the Piano Bar, which has two pianos facing each other. Twin sisters put on a nice show called Dueling Pianos. The crowd was very into it, singing and dancing and giving the ladies lots of money to play requests. People were paying $20 to $50 in order to get them to play a song or even to stop playing a song. The photo doesn't show the dozens of people to the right and left of the pianos.

I watched the show until the end, then hit the sack a little after midnight.

Thursday March 10. Cool and windy. We checked out around 11:00 and schlepped our baggage nearly a mile to Ellis Island Hotel and Brewery to start our day with beer and some nice healthful pork belly and fries covered with cheese. John and Camille met us and we hung out in the Front Yard biergarten, sampling many of the brews on tap. I particularly enjoyed the amber. We also tried the stout, witbier, hefeweizen, hazy IPA (which was crystal clear), and IPA (which was hazy).

Everyone would be flying home that evening. John and Camille's flight was later than ours, plus we wanted to hit a buffet beforehand, so we said good-bye...

...and trekked to the Strip to catch the Deuce southward. Next to the bus stop was this little garden:

After reaching the end of the bus line we Ubered to Sushi Mon Maryland (it's on Maryland Avenue, not in the State of Maryland) for all-you-can-eat sushi. It was very good, and we pigged out because we just hadn't eaten enough on this trip.

After that we Ubered to the airport for our evening flight. Between traveling and the time change we got back to Chartridge at 3:00 AM on Friday.

So that's my story and I'm sticking to it. We all had a great time, and managed to keep most of our money and dignity.