November 2021 started with an escape from the rain and gloom of Seattle to the warmth of Las Vegas. Even though we have been to Las Vegas 6+ times (2004, 2006, 2007, 2011) this was a new adventure for our family. We skipped the hotels and rented a house for the week. It was only a few minutes from the strip and old Vegas, with a pool and hot tub. As an added bonus there was some private space for Miss Emilia so she could join us and keep up with her school work. Chris was still working during the day, which was key since he is out of vacation days, but then mom and dad could get out in the evenings.

As soon as he was awake Dom wanted to check out the hot tub. With Dad trying to get some work done, Mom and Dom left the house and went to the strip. Dom insisted he wasn’t going to have any fun but quickly was doing just that. We went to the M&M store at MGM Grand, got cake at the Hello Kitty Cafe, ran around The Park by T-Mobile arena, visited the Hershey Store, walked around the “streets” inside New York-New York Casino, and best of all … we went on the moving walkways into Excalibur Hotel.

That night after Dom had more hot tub time, it was the parents turn to explore. We checked out Circa casino and 8 East for dinner. So much of the Fremont street area has changed over the year, and Circa is a perfect example, I remember it as Mermaids Casino.

 

---

Day two was what Dom had been waiting for, the Discovery Children’s Museum. He had seen Blippi visit it and play with in the water world exhibit. So we spent the morning exploring every area of the museum. Dom left drenched from the water activities, which was fine because he spent the rest of the day floating about in the hot tub. Mom and Dad then had a evening out with dinner at a show at the Cosmopolitan. We went to see Opium, since we had loved the show Absinthe by the same company, but we will not be recommending this particular show.

 

 

---

Our third day in Las Vegas was Saturday, which meant we all got out of the house in the morning. We started the day with a trip to Avengers Station at Treasure Island. Dom had mixed reviews; he loved some of the costumes and the ants that were projected on the floor, but did not like some of the interactive elements. Unfortunately he was not up for participating in a group photo, but that could be in part to his empty stomach. After a quick lunch we went to Fremont street. It was a complete sensory overload for Dom, we did one walk up and back and then went to the playground at the container park. That was a complete success, Dom found a bunch of older boys to play a battle game with and would have been happy playing the rest of the day.

 

---

On Sunday Dom and Miss Emilia took a drive out to the Valley of Fire State Park, Lake Mead, and the Hoover Dam. With time on their own, Mom and Dad then were able to watch some football, visit a few casinos, and explore Fremont Street a bit more. While Dom got to have this hands in two states at once, Mom and Dad listened to some live music and even ran into someone we knew in the street. It was a successful day for everyone.

If you want a crazy flash back, we had taken a motorcycle out to the Valley of Fire  back in 2006.

---

Monday had Dad returning to work, so Mom and Dom got out of the house in the morning and went to Ethel M Chocolate Factory and Cactus Garden. At first Dom was not interested in any of it, but he does like trails, garden’s and Cacti so he quickly changed his mind. The cactus garden was all decorated for the holidays, which I will say was a bit weird. After following the path through the whole garden we went inside to see the factory. It was a slow day, they were only packaging chocolate hearts so we did not get to see much of the process. We did taste test some before going to a playground. After that we drove by the Vegas sign on the way back the house for more Hot Tub time.

 

---

For our last day Dom and Mom went to Mandalay Bay in the morning to see the Shark Reef. Dom loved that it was designed like a ancient temple and a sunken ship, plus he like touching the stingrays. After we had our fill of sea creatures we walked over to Luxor to eat before going home for … more Hot Tub time. Mom and Dad had tickets for the Kraken versus the Las Vegas Golden Knights at the arena. We all went together to the strip to check out the fountains at Bellagio before the game. The Kraken unfortunately did not win, but we had some great seats behind the net and enjoyed the game anyway.

 

---

And then it was over. This was our first time staying off strip, and the first time bringing a kid alone and it went really well. Chris even said they he preferred it to Palm Springs for a warm weather trip with a short flight from Seattle. Dom wants to go back to several of the places we had visited, never wanted to leave the hot tub, and loved all the “feather girls” he saw walking around the casinos. So I guess it just a matter of time before we are back in Vegas.