Last week, I blogged about my first night in Sin City. If you spent the week fretting for my soul, fret no more. You’ll be happy to know I spent the rest of the week tending to my usual daytime hobbies of hiking and sight-seeing.
I also had the pleasure of hanging out with old friends I had known for years online, but never met in person. I’ve been planning a trip to Vegas to see them since 2015, and after several cancellations, I’m glad I finally got to meet the Vegas gang.
Solo Adventure Time
But though the day would end in good company, I was ready to unwind alone. I’m an only child, so that’s my natural default setting.
That’s my excuse, and I’m sticking to it.
I had breakfast at MTO Cafe, less than a mile from my hotel. The staff was pleasant, the food was good, the ambiance was nice – the bill slapped me in the face. I left with a full tummy and had got some reading in though, so it was well worth it.
After breakfast, I visited the shopping district across the street from my hotel. I wish I had taken pictures when I had the chance, because the opportunity was lost, by the time I got back.
There were two guys begging for money in that area, and the signs were hilarious. Thankfully, I was able to find a picture of one of the guys and his signs online.
Once I had grabbed gifts for my family, friends, and team mates, I headed back to the hotel to enjoy a day by the pool.
Pool Day
I ordered this bathing suit specifically for my trip, and I was itching to test it out. It’s been a while since I owned a one-piece, but I much prefer them.
Unfortunately, the pool at the Plaza Hotel wasn’t very impressive, though you probably can’t tell from the pictures!
It looks great, but the pool was only 3″6, and the hot tub was already occupied by a large group. I swam a few laps, picked a shaded area, and then spent the rest of my pool time reading.
After the pool, I got some work done (I confess!) and then got ready for an evening out with the boys. Boy, was I excited!
The Ambush
Back home in Jamaica, I balanced my social life between one female friend and all my boys.
We would go to the beach, take road trips, go snorkeling, eat out, watch movies, train together, run 5K races, hang out at the park… and they were such good bodyguards at the club.
In America, I don’t have a group of guys I hang out with. If I’m not out with family, and it’s not date night, there’s a 90 percent chance I’m out by myself. So having “boys” again was everything this girl could ever ask for!
They ambushed me at Hot Topic, and then we went to Maggiano’s for dinner. It was hilarious reliving our Skype and Twitter moments in college. But good food soon shut us up.
Yes – it was as delicious as it looks. I sampled them all except the one with meat. I’m a pescetarian, which is an unnecessarily fancy way of saying I have a vegetarian diet with the exception of seafood.
Bellagio Gardens & Fountains
After dinner, we drove to the Bellagio Hotel to see its gardens and watch the water show. I had never heard of the Japanese Gardens before, but I was glad to see it.
You’re probably wondering by now, where are these boys I speak of? Well, we struggled for quite some time to get a group picture, before someone finally pitied us and took one.
After our group shot, we hightailed it to the Bellagio Fountains to see the water show. I was not disappointed, though it took some time for us to find a good spot.
The water show is beautiful, but after we had watched it two or three times, it fell into the background, and we returned to our usual chatter.
That was as much of the sinful night life as I got to see. We retired early to rest up for our big plans the following day. What plans do I speak of?
Why, going hiking in the desert, of course!
But that’s a story for another time..
I got a lot done on day two of my trip, but the days we spent hiking are still the best days I spent in Sin City. My last two posts will cover those two hiking trips to:
- Red Rock Canyon
- Lone Mountain
In the meantime, check out 5 Tips for Hiking in the Vegas Desert, to see some of our pics from the hiking trips.
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My Vegas trip was sponsored by Alexis Chateau PR and booked by our in-house travel agents. Is there a country or city you’ve always dreamed of seeing with your own eyes? Then stop dreaming, and start traveling.
Email us for details!
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Great…now I gotta go back to Vegas (purely for research purposes of course;) ) Looks like you had an amazing trip. Cheers!
Haha! Yeah, it was awesome. I had a blast. I loved the hiking best of all. The trails there are brutal compared to the trails in Georgia.
When was the last time you visited? Are you back in the states now?
Hey Alexis! Made a brief trip back to check in with family and friends, but we’re bouncing around Europe again for (Italy, Austria, Transylvania, etc).
My last trip to vegas was a few years ago. Although the Bellagio is normally my go-to home base, I’m beginning to love the Cosmo. The balconies are HUGE and having a few friends over to wind down (or up) before the next thing is perfect. Cheers!
Bellagio is expensive! Are you secretly a billionaire? Lol
Its great that you guys are back in Europe. I bet the wife is always happy to be closer to home.
What happened with all those riots in Romania?
Surprisingly, the protests quickly resulted in the peaceful resignations of several instigating leaders (and a two prison sentences for the most heinous). It’s amazing to see democracy work here in a country that is plagued by a deeply entrenched oligarchy.
And you have a wonderful memory Alexis! With all these fans and followers, to remember trivia I shared several months ago is very impressive.
My best friend jokes that I have “elephant memory”. She claims I never forget anything haha. I do forget, but not the people I hear from often.
It’s good that the protests died down finally, and that they achieved their goal. Democracy, indeed!
What exactly were those leaders doing? I don’t believe I ever got a proper explanation of what was going on.
Love the suit. Sounds like a fantastic trip.
Thank you! It was.
love MTO so much! glad you went there when you were here! 🙂
Thank you! The food was pretty good. 😊
Oo! That is a gorgeous swimsuit! Trying to find one piece swimsuits nowadays is near impossible!
And great pictures of the Gardens! I don’t remember going there, but now I wish I had! 😀
Thanks Melanie! I bought it off eBay! Can you believe it? I plan to get more like it as summer approaches.
I’m not sure how long those gardens have been there. Did you see the water show too when you visited ?
I think I saw a water show, but don’t know which one. I was too young during my trip to be allowed out late on the strip. *sigh*
And that’s awesome! Good luck swimsuit shopping. 😊
I can understand that. Well hopefully you get to visit again soon. You may have told me this before, but where are you?
I live in Michigan. Not very close to Las Vegas. 😉
Not very close at all, haha. Close to Canada though. If anything goes awry this year you can escape quickly lol
Haha! And I have multiple Canadians on standby who are ready to adopt me. 😂
LoL. See if you can carve out some space for me too, if necessary! 😂
It seems that you had a great time when you were there! Much love. 🙂
I did, thank you! Have you done any traveling lately?
Sadly, I have not. I am currently too busy with study and work. But, I am planning to travel once I am done with my studies by the end of the year.
That’s great! Where do you plan to go?
I have no plans just yet. So I’ll see how it goes then 😁
Love that swimsuit. You are smoking hot in it 😉
Thanks Cynthia! I don’t clean up too bad sometimes. Haha
Oh, you’re always stunning. That pic just confirmed it,😊
Thank you! 😊
Thank you for taking us along with you Alexis. The pictures and narration helped us share in the excitement. So glad you got back to hiking and sight-seeing. We are sure you saw a lot there.
Yes, I definitely enjoyed the desert hikes. I much prefer the woods, but the desert was a great change of scenery. Can’t wait to share those pictures next week.
Thanks for dropping in on me. 😊
We’ll be waiting for the story and pic’s.
That sign was great. He really needed some help! Do you remember what the other signs said?
Glad to see you’re now able to travel and are having a good time!
Yes, it was hilarious! I do remember what the other sign said actually, word for word.
It read, “My ex-wife had the better lawyer.” 😂
I was extra careful for the trip, and will write a post about that for the firm.
Thanks so much for dropping by! 😊
Love that swimsuit, Alexis! Never mind the pool: you would have looked stunning anywhere! I am totally with you in hiking alone: I am one of 10 children, but I still love my own company, even though I don’t think I am unsociable; there are times when solitude is just perfect to enjoy things just how we want.
Thanks Fatima! It’s my favourite at the moment!
I’m sociable in public, but at home (which includes a hotel room) I love my own company. The only exception to that would be my spouse.
I realise this is common in first born children and the only child. Alone is a wonderful default setting to have haha
So true!
High five on the default setting! I’m gonna borrow that line, if you don’t mind 😁😁
Haha borrow away, and thank you!