October 9-12 2019 and March 2-5 2020
I wasn’t going to include my last two trips to Las Vegas in my blog because it is Vegas- no big deal. However, with a pandemic closing borders and making domestic travel difficult, it doesn’t appear that I am going anywhere soon so I decided to live vicariously through my past travels. I hope you do too.
I wasn’t a Vegas person before I started going there for work. I’ve been there seven times for work and what I quickly discovered as a solo traveler is that there is a lot to do once you’ve finished working.
I prefer walking to driving when possible when I travel. I might walk on a beach in the Caribbean or down 5th Avenue in Playa del Carmen so walking the strip in Vegas was something that came naturally. My last four years going to Vegas for work I stayed at the LVH (which is now the Westgate) or Springhill Suites. They are both on the north end of the strip and close to the tram.
Once I was done with work I would take the tram to the MGM Grand, the southernmost station, and then walk north on the strip. I would stop for dinner, drinks and maybe a little gambling. It was a great way to spend an evening when traveling solo. I got exercise, the people watching was great, I explored new restaurants and bars, and I occasionally won a little money.
After seven years of coming to Vegas for work, I found my favorite places to eat, drink, gamble and people watch.
I retired June 2019 which meant I could travel whenever I wanted. I had a small amount of Marriott points left that were going to expire in November and a small number of miles on my Flex Perks Visa card. The only decent place I could go with my miniscule amount of points and miles was Vegas. I went there October 9th to 12th of 2019 for my first trip.
In March of this year my wife went to Las Vegas for a company meeting and awards ceremony. I opted to go with. That trip was March 2nd to the 5th of 2020.
When I was working, I traveled about six times a year and my wife usually did not have to travel for work. We wife was always busy with her career and rarely got a chance to go with me. The exception was a trip to Hawaii. It’s nice when it works out like that..
Since I was the one traveling before I retired, it felt odd for me to be tagging along on with my wife for her work trip. Infortunately, she was in meetings from 7 am until 8 pm so we didn’t see each other much but I am used to keeping myself entertained when in Vegas so that wasn’t a problem.
The Hotels
Towneplace Suites- October 2019
I used my Marriott points to book a room at the Townplace Suites. Initially I wasn’t sure of the location since it was off The Strip and west of highway 15. I didn’t want to rent a car and I wasn’t sure how easy it was going to be to get to the strip from the hotel. It was walkable and the hotel had a shuttle that dropped off and picked up at the Aria, however, I did have some issues with the shuttle being on time but it is still a good option.
I walked down Tropicana Avenue to get to The Strip. It was half a mile from the hotel to The Strip. There was a sidewalk the entire way. I took the route back at about 1 am both nights and never felt that there would be an issue. There were enough cars and people that there was always someone around.
The only sketchy part of the walk was when you walk under an exit ramp. It was a little remote and if someone wanted to there were several places they might hide but you would probably be able to spot them and there were other pedestrians, even later at night.
Tropicana is an excellent place to enter the strip. Excalibur and the tram station to Mandalay Bay is to the south of Tropicana. MGM Grand, where the other tram station is located, is across Las Vegas Boulevard. New York New York casino is on the north side of Tropicana.
Statue of Liberty at Ny NY 
Excalibur
My room at the Towneplace Suites was large and the hotel was almost new so everything was in good condition. The hotel had a gym which I did use. It was a decent gym with a bench, weights and several cardio machines.
Breakfast was included but the free breakfast was extremely popular. I had a long wait to make waffles every morning. Otherwise all of the other buffet breakfast options were available without a wait. They had yogurt, cereal, pastries, etc. The hotel had a small pool but it was a little cold for me to use in October.
Mandalay Bay– March 2020
Mandalay Bay was nice. I would definitely stay there again. It is at the very southern end of the strip but it had a tram that ran regularly, was free, and dropped me at Excalibur.
The room at Mandalay Bay was large, it wasn’t a suite but it was still good sized. It was much nicer than my room at Towneplace Suites. The front desk and casino were upscale and there are many good restaurants on the premises.
There is an aquarium at Mandalay Bay called Shark Reef Aquarium. I went through it on a previous trip so I didn’t bother this time. I am a scuba diver so it was nice to see the sea life without gearing up. It had sharks, rays and other sea creatures. It is worth a visit.
There is a House of Blues at Mandalay Bay that has live entertainment most nights. Had we had been there later in the year when it was warmer, the pool looked like the place to be… if you are younger.
Before my trip in October I did research of things to do in Las Vegas and found some cool options, like the Carol Shelby Museum and the Neon Museum. What I discovered about myself is if the attraction was too far off the strip I didn’t want to bother renting a car or taking an Uber to see it.
I was talking to one of the other husbands that tagged along for the trip and he did the same thing I did in October. He made a list of many of the same places to visit that I did but when it came down to getting an Uber it didn’t seem worth the effort.
The last time I was in Las Vegas for work was October 2014. This trip, five years later, as I walked down the strip, I was shocked that Diablo’s Cantina was gone. It had been in front of the Monte Carlo, which apparently was gone too. I discovered the name had been changed to the Park MGM. Eataly now sits roughly where the Diablo’s Cantina was.
I will miss Diablo’s Cantina, the food wasn’t amazing but it was a great place to have dinner and watch the people walk by on the strip. On the other hand, Eataly is very nice. There were many restaurants inside. Most of them were casual and the food was generally good.
I bought a three day monorail pass both October and March. In October I only used it one day. Regardless, it is handy to have.
There are trams that run on the west side of The Strip. They run between between Mandalay Bay and Excalibur, Park MGM and Bellagio, another runs between the Mirage and Treasure Island. Vegas.com has a good description of the trams and monorails.
The only trams I was able to find was the Mandalay-Excalibur one. I could not find the other ones. I even asked at the Bellagio and the instructions I was given did not bring me to the tram entrance.
The monorail that runs on the east side of the strip runs between the MGM Grand on the south end and the Sahara on the north end. You will need a ticked for this monorail. You can buy tickets at the station, online or via the app. If you don’t like walking and your plan is to take the monorail you are going to be disappointed. The walk from any of the monorail stations to the strip takes at least five minutes. Finding the monorail station can be challenging, signs inside the casino to get to the monorail station
Restaurants
One of my cheapest meals was at Ocean One in the Miracle Mile shopping center. I ate there both trips. My dinner was a five dollar burger and a three dollar Stella. Not my favorite meal but getting a burger and a beer for under ten dollars is amazing. The burger might have been better if I would have upgraded to the $7 sirloin burger…but I kind of doubt it.
I ate at La Pasta Fresca in Eataly on both trips. It was decent pasta for a fair price. Another restaurant I went to on both trips was Sirrico’s Pizza in NY NY.
I also ate at La Pizza in Paris both trips. It is my favorite pizza by the slice restaurant in Las Vegas.
My wife and I ate at the Border Grill in Mandalay Bay on our first day. We both really liked the food.
My new favorite bar/restaurant is Beer Park. It is an open-air sports bar on the rooftop of Paris. It has many large screen TVs, a railing you can sit at that overlooks the strip, the food is good, the bartenders are friendly and it has an amazing beer list. They have Goose Island Bourbon County on tap. Tell one of your beer geek friends that and I can guarantee they will be impressed. However it is $25 a glass.
Things to Do
My favorite place for entertainment is the piano bar in Ny Ny. It is called the Bar at Times Square. The piano players are good at getting the crowd to sing along. They seem to make most of their tips by getting people to bid for the right to pick the last song of the night. The first time I was at the bar someone paid over $1000 to choose the last song.
During my October trip I did the Eiffel Tower Experience at Paris. You enter an elevator in the Paris casino and zoom 46 stories up to the viewing deck at the top of the Eiffel Tower replica. You get a great view of the city. Be sure that you are on the viewing deck when the Bellagio fountain show is happening. I should have been on the viewing deck in the evening. The fountains at the Bellagio would have been spectacular.
One of the places that I usually end up at is the Arc Bar at the base of the Eiffel Tower. There isn’t anything special about it, other than the location. It is on The Strip so that makes it easy to stop for a beer as you are walking down The Strip. Since it is on The Strip it has great people watching while you enjoy your drink.
The Weather
Most of my work trips to Vegas have been late September or early October. The weather is usually warm during the day and in the evening it was comfortable or slightly cool. There have only been a couple of times in the evening I wished I would have brought a jacket.
My first night in Las Vegas last October I sat at the open-air Beer Park enjoying my Duval beer and the beautiful weather. I was at Beer Park my second night and as I sat there the wind picked up and the temperature dropped. I was cold by the time I got back to my room. I stopped at Beer Park my last night and the bartenders were wearing jackets and long pants. I was amazed that the weather cooled so quickly.
In March it was a little cool in the evening but not nearly as cool as October. Daytime temps were comfortable to a little warm.
General Thoughts
Little did I know that the trip in March would be my last trip for… who knows how long! So I am glad that I decided to tag along with my wife.
I suppose it would be possible to go somewhere now days. Our dive friends wanted us to go to Turks and Caicos with them this summer. We would like to avoid a situation where we are sick on an island in the Caribbean and have to hope the hospital isn’t overwhelmed.
My wife and I count our blessings concerning the pandemic. She is still working and we have healthcare. She is also working from home so she doesn’t have to worry about going into the office.
I miss travel but one thing I have discovered in my many years on this planet is everything is cyclical, so staying home now will enable us to travel later. There is always hope!
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