Divas in the desert!

There are soooooo many reasons why I love love love Las Vegas and as what usually happens with me, I discover something good later on in life.  Why it took me 50+ years to discover Las Vegas though is beyond me.   I’ve had ample opportunities over the years to go and now that I’ve been (twice already this year!) I can’t wait to go back (smile).

Again, the first time I ever went was this year (2016) in April with my S.O. James.   We stayed in a condominium off the ‘Strip.’   The experience, although fun and exciting, was not the same.  The ‘Strip’ was a place we visited via Uber and Lyft, both the preferred (and most cost efficient) taxi alternatives.  However, because I was visiting the ‘Strip,’ I didn’t feel as strongly attracted to it until I came back in October where we (me and my squad) actually stayed in a hotel on the ‘Strip.’

We booked a Fun Girls Getaway Weekend with my client Charlene of Clear Vision Productions in Hamden, CT.  The agent who worked with her on it was Karen Quinn-Panzer of Dream Vacations.

The Fun Girls Getaway Weekend was originally scheduled for Friday, October 7th through Sunday, October 9th but we all upgraded our hotel room to stay one extra night –  Monday, October 10th (4 days/3 nights).

Here’s what our Fun Girls Getaway Weekend included:

A hotel stay at the Flamingo Las Vegas.  This hotel (the oldest Las Vegas hotel on the Strip) is smack dab in the middle of all the action.  Most of the other hotels with their themed casinos are within walking distance as this is truly a walkable city.  The rooms we stayed in on the 9th floor were simple and clean but with no view and sparse amenities.  The stylish modern rooms they boasted about on the flyer are situated on the upper floors where the remodel has taken place.  I’m not complaining because outside of putting away our clothes, showering, and crashing for a few hours, our rooms were nothing more than our base…

Flamingo Las Vegas in its entirety is stunning as it has:

• The 16 acre ‘Go’ Pool
• The Mall Shops
• The Health Spa
• The Caribbean themed Casino
• The Restaurants
• The Bars
• The Wildlife Habitat

We could easily have spent our entire weekend there as it seemed to have everything but the streets were beckoning (smile).  We even ran into the “doctor” from Grey’s Anatomy (actor Jason Winston George) in the hotel lobby  who was even more handsome in person (smile).

Our first night (Friday at 6pm) we had our ‘Welcome Champagne Tour of the Las Vegas Strip‘ transported via a “Presidential” stretch limo.

We ended our tour at the famous “Welcome to Las Vegas” sign to take pictures under it with the photographer on duty.  It was awesome!

Later on that same evening we had  VIP seats (practically front row, center) to Frank Marino’s Diva Show (a cast of celebrity female impersonators) at The Linq Theater, literally across the street from the Flamingo.  I must admit I had never heard of Frank Marino before that night, but when he came out in his Joan Rivers get up I immediately knew who he was.  He was, and still is, a hoot and his Celebrity Look-a-Like Divas:  Whitney Houston, Madonna, Pink, Lady Gaga, Patti LaBelle, Diana Ross, Mariah Carey, Liza Minnelli, just to name a few, are all true pros and simply spectacular!

We were on our own for food all weekend long so we ate at a variety of restaurants though most of them were located at the Flamingo (our fave was a $22.95 lunch/dinner buffet at Garden Paradise that included bottomless Mimosas or Bloody Mary’s).

Oh, I forgot, I met another celebrity (a canine actress and model out of Beverly Hills, CA) while walking through the Flamingo Wildlife Habitat (shown below) the very next day on my way to the 15 acre ‘Go’ Pool.  

Her name is Miss Coco Puff and she’s a Chi-Weenie (part Chihuahua, part dachshund) so she had me at Hello (smile).  Her owner gave me her calling card so we are now friends on Instagram (double smile).

Speaking of the Flamingo ‘Go’ Pool, this could have been one of my favorite places to hang out, but because we were in Vegas (the City that never sleeps) hanging out was not part of our weekend plan.  Our goal was to visit as many casinos, shops, tourist attractions, etc.  so the ‘Go’ Pool on Saturday was merely a pit stop for us 50-something weekend adventure seekers (smile).

So our next adventure on Saturday was a ride on the High Roller at the Linq Hotel and Casino. This spaceship-looking ride reminded me of The Jetsons, a TV show I used to love watching in the 70’s.  After standing in line for a short while, all 4 of us got into this big bubble then sat down to watch and listen to a computer-generated young man on a screen above us as we slowly ascended 550 feet up into the sky…

The whole trip (to and fro) took all of 30 minutes, but the experience was unbelievable and the aerial views were breathtaking.

By the way, there are a ton of nightclubs at the hotels for each and every taste. There’s Hyde at Bellagio, Drai’s at Cromwell, Marquee at Cosmopolitan, Foxtail at SLS, Tao at Venetian, Intrigue at Wynn, Omnia at Caesars Palace, Hakkasan at MGM Grand and XS at Encore.  Most of them open at 10pm and close at 3am, 4am or 5am. Some of them offer free admission and/or free or reduced drinks for the ladies. Unfortunately we did not get to take advantage of our VIP Club Pass with VIP Entrance (it was included in our weekend package – free access to 8 nightclubs!) as we just did not have the time or the energy in our 3 night, 4 day stay.

P.S. Here’s a huge time and money saver tip – If you are visiting Las Vegas for the first time, do yourself a favor and book a professional tour as there is so much to see and do and you can easily get overwhelmed by all of the choices.  We spent $62 for a 3 hour bus tour on Sunday night called The Las Vegas Night Lights Tour and it was truly money well spent!

We met up at Bally’s – there were about 19 of us in all – and according to our tour guide, we were one of the most diverse bus tour groups she ever had (smile).  Our tour was fantastic – Renee, our tour guide, taught us a lot about the history of Las Vegas in the most engaging way, and since it was a stop and start tour, our first stop was to see the volcanic Fire Show at the Bellagio – afterwards I felt as if my face were melting!

We then cooled off at the grand Water Show at The Mirage…

And we couldn’t leave our Las Vegas Night Lights Tour without actually seeing (from our tour bus windows) all of the colorful and beautiful lights at night in ‘Old Vegas’ and then getting off the bus to actually go in and see the ‘Old Vegas’ casinos (reminiscent of the movie, Casino).  Renee, our tour guide, told us that this is the section of town to ‘do Vegas’ if you are looking for cheap eats, reasonably priced hotels and dollar tables!   Plus, it included my favorite part of ‘Old Vegas,’ The Fremont Street Experience – the pedestrian mall and attraction where I believe the phrase, ‘What Happens in Vegas…” came from (smile).

Lastly, and Reason Number 42 on why I love love love Las Vegas: there’s always something different to see or do…and apparently I’m not the only one who feels this way.  Our tour guide Renee told us that Vegas typically has 42.5 million visitors a year but this year they were projecting a record 45 million visitors!  45 million!  Wow!!  It’s no wonder Vegas is one of the top travel destinations in the country!