Oops, I did it again! Remember how I mentioned in my last post about An Evening with Silk Sonic that I wanted to go again and was trying to recruit people to go with me? Well, I was successful in that quest to find someone! I know you're probably thinking, "Really?! Another trip to Las Vegas"? Yes, it's another post about a trip to Las Vegas. Like I've said before, it's cheap and there's always something different to do there. And, yes, I did do a repeat activity by attending the same show I just saw a couple of months prior. However, my stay was longer this time and I had the opportunity to explore other activities. Since I wrote extensively about the show previously, this post will focus on the other fun activities I did on this trip. As a reminder, you can find additional, exclusive content about this trip on the new Kimi's Travel Thoughts account on Instagram!
This time instead of hanging out with my brother and his talented photographer, I went to Vegas with my childhood best friend, Madelyn, who is also a talented photographer! We first met in pre-school and have known each other for over 20 years, but this was the first time we've ever taken a trip together. If you're new to my blog, I like to tell the stories of trips I've taken and weave in travel tips throughout. So, let's go over the details of this trip to Sin City:
Flights
We didn't realize we would be traveling so close to Memorial Day weekend (we didn't realize that about our travel dates) and flights were getting booked very quickly. Southwest had the best times and prices when we booked back in April and only had a couple of seats left for departure and return flights. Our flight to Las Vegas was delayed by about 20-25 minutes, which eventually became 45 minutes because there were people confused about what flight was leaving and were accidentally attempting to get on the wrong plane. Otherwise, it was smooth flight (save for the typical turbulence over mountains).
The return flight was on-time and we got to the airport a few minutes after checking out of the hotel. Security lines were longer than I was used to, but still moving very steadily. By the time we finally made it to our original gate (they changed it shortly before boarding began) we had a little more than an hour before boarding was set to begin. My plan was to get Popeye's for a late lunch, but that was a long walk since we were at the far end of the C gates and we both ate Burger King instead.
Resort Hotel
Like I did last time, we stayed at Park MGM to be in the same building as Dolby Live Theater. I highly recommend using the MGM Resorts app if you want to skip checking in at the lobby and just head up to your room as soon as you arrive. It also makes it just as easy to checkout when you conclude your stay. Plus, you can begin earning points for MGM Rewards which has been revamped recently. If you're traveling and your flight or hotel accommodations have rewards programs, definitely consider signing up for them! You never know when special deals will be offered to rewards members and it can make booking your stay somewhere more convenient –– even if you won't be traveling very frequently.
The Park MGM staff were very friendly and would greet us with warm welcomes as we passed them in hallways, looking for certain products in the hotel shops, and making various purchases! Unfortunately, the reservation system malfunctioned. However, Madelyn was able to receive assistance from the concierge desk to clarify and fix issues with charges that ended up checking us out of room automatically at a very early morning hour on our last day. The lady at the desk resolved everything and we were able to keep our late checkout time. It wasn't great having to wake up at 6:00am and my friend having to go downstairs to figure out what was going on and then again a couple of hours later, but everything was eventually sorted out.
Ground Transportation
On this trip, we traveled by Lyft and by foot. We took Lyfts to and from the airport and to our activities in Downtown Las Vegas and back to the Strip. On the Strip, we strategically planned our the times we would be walking to earlier in the day and as the sun was setting. It was 104 degrees Fahrenheit and we couldn't be out when it was too hot (for obvious reasons). Summer is a convenient time to travel for most people, but it does get very hot in Vegas. Remember to wear sunscreen, stay hydrated (especially if you're drinking alcohol), and take regular breaks in the A/C or shaded areas!
Food
The food was very good at the different restaurants we tried during the trip. We wanted to avoid the major chain restaurants that we can go to back home and focused on food unique to the Strip or general western United State region. Overall, I'd say we selected some great options!
Day 1
Once we settled into our room after arriving, we looked at restaurants in and around Park MGM before deciding on The Crack Shack for dinner. I know, interesting name. The food was really good and perfect for a casual dinner after a long flight! I hadn't eaten Southern California-style fried chicken before, but it was crisp, juicy, and delicious! They have a variety of sauces to choose from. I only got ranch and ketchup though because there were a couple of people taking their time trying to get an entire tray of the unique sauces. The fries and biscuits are perfectly cooked, and that really means a lot to me as someone that is not much of a fan of biscuits. The were not dry and perfectly fluffy. Oh, and I would've asked for a large order of fries instead of regular had I known earlier how delicious and fried to perfection they would be! If you're looking for a restaurant to bring a large or small group with options for indoor, bar, and outdoor seating, this is a great spot. For my fellow sports fans, they have several TVs (both inside and outside on the patio) to catch any major sporting events happening during your meal.
Day 2
After a tiring first day of our vacation, we chose to sleep in before heading downstairs to Primrose for brunch. It's specifically a South of France inspired brunch café in the lobby are of Park MGM. This is the restaurant that provides the menu for room service in case you want an idea of what to expect if you ever decided to have room service at this resort. There was about a 20-30 minute wait, so we walked around outside at The Park and took a couple of pictures before returning to grab our table. We were seated in a nice corner by the patio door and took some pictures to enjoy the great lighting. I had steak and eggs while my friend ate the Primrose classic and we both sipped on passionfruit mimosas. Everything was very tasty and made for a lovely brunch and relaxing start to the day.
We had some snacks in our room in the afternoon between activities. During that time, we discussed dinner plans and chose to eat dinner a little further down the Strip near the Bellagio. Madelyn did some searching as I played a few bucks on a slot machine at Fremont Street and we ended up at Flamingo for frozen margaritas, queso dip, and chicken enchiladas from Carlos
'N Charlie's Tacos y Margaritas. The frozen margaritas were $5.90 each and I had a strawberry marg while she had raspberry. They had a patio in the back, but we chose to be inside where it was a bit quieter with some unique décor and upbeat music in the background. It was was a nice way to wind down a bit before moving on to our next activity for the day.
Day 3
Given the interesting morning that was discussed earlier when we had to figure out being incorrectly checked out of our room, we slept in for a while. We didn't want to get brunch again and decided to just go downstairs to Starbucks. Madelyn got a strawberry refresher and a lemon loaf slice while I ordered a mango dragonfruit refresher and bacon gouda egg bites. For those of you who like Starbucks, the one at the resort has prices that appear to be able 25-30% higher. Just wanted to warn you in advance so you know how much you can expect to spend. This does make it faster to collect stars for your Starbucks Rewards though! This was our final meal on the Strip before getting Burger King at the airport –– which was also slightly more expensive than usual.
Activities
One thing that you may not know about me just by reading other posts about my trips is that I carefully plan my itinerary –– down to the minute in some cases. Madelyn insisted on playing things by ear and just going with the flow. The only thing we had set to do at a specific time was attending the Silk Sonic show. I normally feel very anxious when I don't have an itinerary, but a more spontaneous trip was just what I need! Here's what we did:
Day 1: An Evening with Silk Sonic
This was the primary reason for taking the trip to Las Vegas in the first place. Once again, I was not disappointed! Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak appeared to be having even more fun on stage than the last time and it was great to share their joy with one of my best friends. The crowd was possibly even more engaged than before with non-stop dancing and singing throughout the show. There's more dates for the residency in August that were recently added, so there's still an opportunity to go if you would like to! If you don't have plans set for this August, maybe you do now! Yes, it is still a phone-fee experience and it makes the concert so much better than you could ever imagine –– I promise. Don't forget that you can read about my previous experience attending An Evening with Silk Sonic for more show details. Madelyn absolutely loved Anderson's wig and said that Bruno "bounces across the stage" the entire show!
Day 2: Exploring Las Vegas
I woke up early to get dressed and went downstairs to find a quiet spot in the hallways of the conference center for my bi-weekly appointment with my therapist on the phone before heading back upstairs to wait for my friend to finish getting ready for the day. We took a few pictures at The Park before brunch as we waited for a table to become available at Primrose. While we were are brunch, we decided on a few nearby places to walk to and check out while it was still somewhat cooler outside. First stop was Haus of Gaga because it was in the casino area of our Park MGM. I visited the mini museum before when I saw Enigma back in 2019 and I was excited to see that there were some new items added since then! After Haus of Gaga, we returned to The Park to walk to the Hershey's store at New York, New York. I've actually been to the Hershey's store in New York City before, but don't have much memory because I was in and out rather quickly. At the store in Las Vegas, I was in awe of the many brands Hershey is the parent company to and the vast amount of products that were available for purchase. There was a counter for milkshakes and Jolly Rancher slushies, multiple shelves in the center of the store with fresh baked chocolate-themed desserts, scented candles, shot glasses, key chains, chocolate of all flavors and sizes, and so much more! I decided to get the birthday cake Hershey's bar to try something new and a giant (that's the actual name of the size) cookies and cream bar because that's my favorite. It's about twice as big as a king size bar!
Because we got chocolate first, we had to try to move quickly to other nearby stores across the street. Pedestrian bridges were helpful for making that happen, but the sun beaming down with no clouds in the sky meant our chocolate wrapped in foil being carried in plastic bags would for sure be melting at least a little bit. My recommendation is going to buy chocolate when it's cooler or when you know you're going directly to your room after shopping. Once we left the Hershey's store, we stopped by Aerie to see what was available and then walked over to the Coca-Cola store that had even more unique products than the Hershey's store. I had never been up to the second floor before and there's a little concession counter where you can get sodas and other treats that can be made with soda. We only took time to walk around the store, but it was cool to see what was available.
We walked back across the street to Park MGM and went up to our room to cool off, hydrate, and eat some of the chocolate we bought. Sadly, the chocolate did melt slightly even though we tried to avoid be out in the heat as much as we possibly could. I ate the birthday cake chocolate bar and it wasn't my favorite, but not terrible. It's a white chocolate bar with rainbow sprinkles. Unfortunately, the sprinkles made it a little bit too crunchy and I wasn't a fan of the texture as a result. It did taste like traditional vanilla birthday cake though. We also discussed our plans for the later afternoon and evening. At 3:30pm, we made our way to the Mob Museum and learned about the history of organized crime across the United States and around the world. This was something I had been hoping to do since my trip to Vegas back in January and it was a wonderful recommendation from my Lyft driver at that time! I recommend going and they offer student and military/veteran discounts. Since I'm still in graduate school, I was able to use the student discount and my general admission ticket was around 50% off! You'll need at least a couple of hours to explore the museum. If you add on any of the additional interactive exhibits, then you'll need extra time. There's also a speakeasy in the basement (you'll learn why at the start of the first exhibit) and that means you'll need even more time to spend at the Mob Museum. If you like to learn about history like I do or maybe you love movies about mobs or the mafia like my mom, then this will be a fun experience for you!
Our next stop after the museum was the Fremont Street Experience which was only a block away. We could actually see the center of Fremont Street from the steps of the Mob Museum and walked directly over to see what interesting street performers were there. Going on a Thursday afternoon was very different from going at night. I remember the street being so crowded on my first trip to Vegas, but there was hardly anyone out on the street this time around and everything is much more subdued because it was still daylight and very hot. We walked down one half of the street before slipping into a very empty Golden Gate Casino Resort to make dinner plans. I decided to do some light gambling and played $10 on a slot machine while Madelyn searched for restaurants near the Bellagio. I'm still surprised that nobody was in that area of the casino at Golden Gate, but it was kind of nice and very peaceful. However, the Wheel of Fortune 4D game is trippy and I wouldn't recommend it if you don't like to experience difficult to read screens or sensory overload.
Note: When I say "light gambling" I mean only playing a small amount of money. I picked up on a $20 rule that my mom uses. The goal is to see how much you can win with about $20 or less. This is something I recommend for people who only want to gamble just to say they did it or people who don't have much money to gamble. Playing $20 on the penny machines gives you a good opportunity to play for several minutes (at least) on a machine and win most of your money back if you want cash out early. I don't like gambling, but I like to be able to say I did it when I go to casinos.
After eating dinner at Carlos 'N Charlie's, we walked across the street to the Bellagio to see the fountain show. We caught the tail end of the 7:30pm show when we arrived (it's only a 5-minute show), so we walked through the Louis Vuitton, Chanel, and Gucci stores before getting a good spot on the sidewalk to catch the 8pm fountain show. That actually worked out well because the sun was just setting at that time and it made for some beautiful photos and video (check it out on my Instagram). I had never seen the show before even though I visit the Bellagio nearly each time I visit Sin City. The main reason for this being I had never looked the schedule. The show runs every 30 minutes until 8pm. Then, the show runs every 15 minutes until around midnight after that. We decided to make that the end of our day and walked back to Park MGM, briefly stopping by CVS along the way for refreshments.
Day 3: Soaking It All In
It took multiple hours, but we did get everything resolved with the strange charges from the hotel front desk and accidentally being checked out of our room early. After sleeping in and slowly getting dressed and packing up all of our belongings, we went downstairs to Starbucks and found a nice area in the conference center to sit and chat for a bit as we ate breakfast. Then, we went into the casino for some light gambling before scouting out a spot for one last picture. Madelyn wanted to take a picture with a Silk Sonic poster and we found one by the ride share pickup doors, but there was a group sitting there. So, we went back up to our room to collect our belongings and then took pictures just as the Lyft was arriving when the group finally left. Once we had our pictures, we were off to the airport to return home!
Wrap-Up
This was my first time getting to travel on a trip like this with one of my friends without having to also plan for family or chaperone presence. This was strictly a much needed getaway on a girls trip to Las Vegas! Our focus was taking our minds off of work and simply having fun. I was looking forward to having an extended, more ideal version of my previous trip to Vegas for Silk Sonic, and my friend was quick to make plans with me back in April so we could go together. It really is a show that you want to experience with others. I got to experience different restaurants and activities and make new memories with one of my best friends!
Every girls trip is different, so I recommend considering the following when planning for a trip with your friends: budget, time off from work, destination, season/climate, personalities of each individual, and how all of that affects your trip itinerary. Although I'm a planner, Madelyn reminded me that it's also nice to just go with the flow by not planning too much in advance and not setting specific expectations for how you want things to be. It felt like a weight was lifted off my shoulders and it really enhanced the trip! It turns out not every trip requires a detailed itinerary. That being said, I'm anticipating this being my last trip to Las Vegas for a while. There's so many other places I want to travel to, and I can't visit them if I keep going back to Sin City! Any thoughts on where I should go next?
Feel free to leave comments below, tweet (@KimiThoughts), or leave a post/message on Facebook (@KimisTravelThoughts) and share your experiences about traveling with friends!
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