Las Vegas in a Weekend

Is it possible to see everything Vegas has to offer in just one weekend?

No, but I sure tried!

I was lucky enough to get on one of the last direct flights that Allegiant ran out of Greenville/Spartanburg. They have now canceled these flights for the foreseeable future, but I was told that anyone is welcome to complain on their website if you want to possibly see them come back. I for one do not think they gave these flights enough of a chance to catch on.

That said, I flew out of Greenville early on a Friday morning and caught a red-eye back on Sunday night, which was nice because with the time change it gave me most of the day Friday, all day Saturday, and most of the day Sunday to explore "Sin City". And I only had to take a day and a half off work!

I stayed at THEhotel at Mandalay Bay, which is at the far end of The Strip, near the airport. If you don't think you would enjoy the casino atmosphere of some of the other top Vegas hotels (i.e. Caesar's, Paris, Venetian, Mirage) then this hotel may be for you! The decor is very mellow and the atmosphere is upscale. The whole place is also quiet, even in the lobby area, which is something you just can't say for those other Vegas hotels. But you will sacrifice that Vegas feel and the opportunity to be right smack in the middle of The Strip.

Friday was spent at the pool, even though Mandalay Bay's main pool, "The Beach", was closed for the season. This was disappointing because it was in the mid-70s, and after the cold weather we had been having here in Greenville that certainly felt like pool weather to me! Later, I tried to go to the all-you-can-eat seafood buffet at the Rio, which I had heard great things about--but that was closed as well, for renovations! We ended up having to eat at the regular buffet. The disappointments were adding up, but the rest of the night made up for them. I was able to see the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino as well as the Wynn that night, and some friends and I danced the night away at Tryst at the Wynn. The nightclub was beautiful but the admission was steep ($20 for women, $30 for men) and the drinks were even more ridiculous ($10 for a Miller Lite, $17 for a Mojito). So if you're going to Vegas for night life...plan on spending. A lot.

Saturday we ate lunch at FatBurger, which is supposedly the home of the best burger in Las Vegas--personally, I like Five Guys Burgers and Fries better, but this was probably the least expensive place to eat in Vegas, besides McDonald's. And they did have awesome Cookies & Cream milkshakes!

After lunch we rode the roller coaster at the New York New York, which was interesting to say the least. $14 per person to ride and although it was a fun thing to do, it definitely wasn't my favorite thing in Vegas. We then walked from the New York New York to Caesar's, and stopped along the way to watch the Bellagio fountains, which give a show every hour on the hour. I definitely suggest watching the fountains once during the day and once at night, because both are great experiences, and very different from each other!

Caesar's was huge and beautiful--I could have spent the whole weekend just exploring this one hotel and casino! But we had other things to do, namely--see downtown Las Vegas, a.k.a. the Fremont Experience! This area was really interesting to see, and about $20 each way for a cab ride from the strip--not bad if you're splitting it with a couple other people. The drinks were much cheaper (huge frozen drinks with way too much alcohol for $14 a piece) and the $5 blackjack at Binions was a blast. We even stayed for the light show, but I was a bit disappointed as the whole thing seemed to be just an advertisement for LG.

That night we ate at another buffet, this time at the Mandalay Bay, simply because it would have cost almost as much to eat a sitdown meal with just a salad and sandwich, once you thought about leaving a tip for the waiter or waitress. Later that night we ended up at Pure at Caesar's, which was nice because we had free admission with our VIP cards (definitely pay attention to any business cards or booklets that they have in the cabs, because we got our VIP cards for Pure from a cabbie!) when it normally costs the same as Tryst to get in. It was also a little cheaper to drink (only $8 for a beer--it's sad when one gets excited about that). Pure also has a huge outside patio a few floors up with a great view of The Strip at night!

Sundays are surprisingly fun in Vegas, mainly because of the champagne brunches! We had ours at Mandalay Bay, and it was all you can eat with plenty of breakfast and lunch foods, and of course all you can drink champagne! After the brunch I decided to explore what I had not yet seen of The Strip before heading to the airport for my 11 PM flight. That afternoon, I got to see the Venetian, the Mirage, and Treasure Island, as well as catch the Mirage volcano going off and see the Bellagio fountains at night before going to the airport. It was a great way to end an exciting and interesting weekend.

So as you can see, although you may not get to see all that Vegas has to offer in just one weekend, it is possible to get to do a lot of different things...and I can't wait to go back!

Pilgrimage Cruise on Celebrity Constellation throughout New England and Canada

We departed the port at Bayonne New Jersey on a beautiful fall day, ready for our 13 night sailing on the Celebrity Constellation throughout New England and Canada. This was not to be an ordinary cruise, but was a pilgrimage, led by Father George Kloster with 48 people of numerous faiths represented.

Everyone was impressed with the Celebrity Constellation. What a beautiful ship! The service and food was exceptional. The staff could not do more to accommodate the needs of the group. With talks and Mass scheduled on board, there were frequent liaisons with the on board Event Coordinator to make sure everything was scheduled as required. Some of the folks in this group required assistance to get on or off the ship and Celebrity was waiting to help at all time.

The itinerary was great. We couldn’t have asked for a better time of year to have taken this trip. There was only one day of rain in Portland Maine, but that didn’t stop anyone from venturing out to explore the lighthouses around Portland. Other stops along the route included Newport Rhode Island, Bar Harbor Maine, Halifax Nova Scotia, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Boston Mass and the piece de resistance, Quebec City. If you’ve never been to Quebec, this city is a must see. It is as charming as any European city with cobblestone streets and alleyways and with French being the predominant language, its hard not to think you’re in Paris.

The highlight of our trip to Quebec was a group excursion to the Cathedral of St. Anne de Beaupre. Here our group had a Mass for the anointing of the sick and even folks not in our group, joined in. It was very moving.

At Bar Harbor we did an excursion to Acadia Park with a lobster bake. I don’t think any of us had ever had fresher lobster than what we were served that day. On Prince Edward Island we did an excursion to the House of Anne of Green Gables. The entire island was very beautiful and we had a wonderful Irish guide.

Every port had something different to offer and along with the fall colors, this was a wonderful trip. I can highly recommend this trip to anyone.

by Karen Miller