Kevin Takes On Vegas for the Holidays!

5 days ago

2 minutes read

Wow! Can this town party or what!? Las Vegas is the ultimate destination for those looking for a good time and we picked the best week to visit! Landing on Christmas Day and leaving again on New Years Day gave us ample time to take in the sights and sounds. Walking the strip (including a trip to Fremont Street), admiring the many hotels and their themes, listening to the music, visiting the M & M Store, the Coke Store and many other specialty stores, Las Vegas has it all; for a price of course!

The food was awesome, if not expensive, but that’s what you would expect here. The buffets at the MGM Grand Hotel and the Bellagio were exceptional and it is SO easy to overeat! However, its also easy to walk it off. Most of the hotels were beautifully decorated for the Christmas season and you could tell that a lot of planning and work went into the visual displays. Many street performers could be seen and heard as well as entertainers and showgirls who would let you take their picture with them; again, for a price. They are not legally allowed to ask you for money but you can always offer to make a “donation.” Taking in the NHL game between the Vegas Golden Knights and the visiting Montreal Canadiens was an experience to be sure. They are loud supporters of their team and have many distractions to keep your attention between the hockey action.

The “Strip” was closed to vehicle traffic on New Years Eve from 6 pm to 6 am the next morning. The walkways across the Strip were also closed to pedestrians and so the party was confined to the street and boy was that crowded! An estimated 400,000 people came out to celebrate the new year. It was literally curb-to-curb people from one end to the other. And when the clock struck 12 midnight, almost all the hotels set off fireworks from their roof tops. What a visual display that created! This was the 24^th year of this happening and they have this down to a science. Bands playing and people generally having a good time dominated the evening. And with all those people partying on the street, who was left to play the slot machines? But play on they did!

In closing, was it worth it? Absolutely! This was my 5^th time visiting and there is always something different to see or do. Vegas knows how to keep reinventing itself so you never get bored of seeing the same things all the time. Going back again? Yes, but not until at least 2026 as the Philippines is our destination for Christmas 2025. Any stories to share? Please contact me through the Kindersley Social.

Thanks for a marvelous 2024!