Las Vegas: I’m Still Recovering
I’d like to preface this post by saying we walked 54.09 miles in 6 days (most in 1 day was 12.95 miles!) Then we came home and I immediately got a terrible flu and couldn’t move for a few days. I wanted to make a very grandiose post about Vegas but I’m behind on everything so I’ll try to keep it short and sweet with lots o’ pics.
Things I like: neon lights, glitz, vivid colors, dazzling visuals, seeing the sun in January, vast and desolate deserts, vast and decadent desserts, spending money like I have it, and walking through a 24/7 visual feast. Maybe this says a lot about my personality (in a bad way?) but I relate to Las Vegas on multiple levels. It’s crass and garish but in Vegas more is more and everything is over the top… especially that of which you can see with your peepers. The visual scale of every single building and sign is honestly somewhat mind blowing and if you haven’t been there I don’t think you could really comprehend how absolutely insane it is. It’s a bit hokey at times but always absolutely fascinating. Here is a basic run-down of my favorite things we did…
👏WE👏DID👏EVERYTHING👏
… yet there was still more to do!
High atop our list of must-sees is something that can most likely only be found in Vegas at this scale: a neon bone yard of discarded signs called The Neon Museum Las Vegas. Conveniently also intermixed were fresh new pieces designed by Tim Burton! >>click on photos for captions<<
We spent a significant amount of time wandering around Fremont Street and the Art District as well. However, for some reason we never made it to the artist’s downtown container park area which is disappointing because we kept hearing such great things about it! Fremont St. was a little more typical Vegas crazy with the razzmatazz, showbiz, and gambling. It was another visual buffet in and of itself but I’m going to showcase murals of the Arts District because it seems to be an area less traveled by typical Vegas-goers. The beautifully striped 18 Bin restaurant has absolutely delicious food and inside the building are also several art galleries! The in house team The Arts Factory designed this vivid masterpiece of a mural and the ISI group executed it!
Tod and I are both into driving through desolate deserts so we rented a Mustang and drove out to Death Valley area to see the Goldwell Open Air Museum and Rhyolite Ghost Town. It was an amazing drive! Such different scenery from Michigan… I absolutely love seeing the Joshua trees! We also stopped in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere called Beatty and we MET SOME BURROS!! We simply stopped in town to get some gas and there was a pack of about 7-9 stray burros having a lovely waltz through town and letting people feed and pet them. One of the best experiences of our trip by far. I’ve been in the middle of nowhere out west and never have I ever seen a wandering burro let alone a pack that let me pet them!
The following day we used the car to visit Red Rock Canyon before we had to return it. This was just stunning and reminded me a lot of Colorado Springs and Joshua Tree National Park in it’s grandeur. Similar color palettes and you get to climb on the rocks all willy nilly like (it can be very dangerous tho)!
We stayed at the Flamingo in a renovated room which was super cute and contemporary! Accents of pink all throughout the room to match the flamingo theme. The hotel had a flamingo habitat which was awesome as well! We were in the center of the strip close to everything important! The Bellagio fountains, the High Roller 500ft ferris wheel, tons of food, and the best $1 bet virtual dealer blackjack game in Vegas! One of my favorite treats was the giant Cotton Candy cocktail from I Love Sugar just outside our hotel! Other honorable mentions for best foods eaten: 18 Bin in the Art District, Pink Taco in Hard Rock, Hash House A Go Go, Flour & Barley, and Ghirardelli which reminded me when I lived right by one on Michigan Ave. in Chicago!
I hope you enjoyed my photos! I wish I was able to get more information about the artists who painted a lot of these murals, but the ones I did reasearch I couldn’t find. If you are one of the artists or know anyone who worked on these let me know if you’d like me to add your info to my post! I will gladly do so! I am now going to continue my recovery from Vegas and the flu as best I can, but I have a mural to work on this week and need prepare for Paint Your Poison being at the Women’s Expo in Lansing! So tired!