21st in Vegas!

Summer 2014 marks my 21st birthday! To celebrate we head to...


LAS VEGAS! 

Thursday, July 31: 

The fun started in the airport, where they have slot machines everywhere. I wasn't entirely sure about all the numbers on the screen, but apparently at one point I won $4! And then spent it and came away with $0.25 more than I started! 


Then we made it to our hotel, the beautiful Paris





We did a little shopping in the hotel, and I found my new best friend (sorry, Nicole): 


And watched the Bellagio water show FROM THE HOTEL ROOM WINDOW before heading to bed! 






Friday, August 1: 

We started off the day going to Battlefield: Vegas, a gun range. Dad and I chose the SWAT experience and the G.I. Jane package. They picked us up from our hotel in style. 



If you look closely, you can see the bruise forming on my right shoulder from the recoil





Every now and then, someone from another group would scare us half to death by shooting a machine gun or something else equally loud and terrifying, causing all the spectators in the room to dive into the back wall. 

After all of that excitement, we decided to slow things down a little and go to the Encore hotel for lunch. 














From there, we went to the Encore Spa. I've been to several lovely spas, but nothing can compare to the beauty of this one. 





After hours in the spa, we wandered around for a little while to various hotels: 


























That evening, NICOLE joined us! We went out to have some fun. We first got some drinks at Fat Tuesday


Then we ended up at XS Nightclub at the Encore to listen to Deadma5: 






Saturday, August 2: 

Saturday we did some sightseeing. First was the Excalibur hotel, which I don't think I saw on my last visit. 

New York New York was HUGE and really awesome. There's a roller coaster that wraps around the hotel that looked amazing. 


M&M World was also fun. They had a wall of colorful cooking utensils that I almost stopped and bought! And then, of course, they have all of their cute decorations. 


Our last stop in the day was Tao Beach at the Venetian hotel. The day club was a little too crowded for us, so we headed to the Venetian pool. It was BOILING HOT in Las Vegas, so we thought the pool would be a nice stop, but the water was so cold it was painful to touch. Neither of us were able to get in past our belly buttons. 


So after a little while of that, we headed back to our hotel to check out the Paris pool, go to the spa, and take a short nap before evening festivities. 

We went to dinner at the Sugar Factory in our hotel. As Nicole put it, that meal was the fastest $100 we've ever spent. We only had half an hour to eat and leave, and we got one of their giant drinks to split! 

This drink is their White Gummy Signature Goblet. It smoked from the dry ice for probably 20 minutes. It was AMAZING, and the gummy worms were a great snack while we dropped off leftovers in our room! 



After that, we went everywhere: The Excalibur, Luxor, Mandalay Bay, Cosmopolitan, Bellagio, and probably one or two more along the way. 

The Egyptian theme of the Luxor was incredible and made for some great pictures. 








The Light Nightclub at Mandalay Bay was really cool. It's known for its light displays that go with the music. There were also amazing but terrifying Alice in Wonderland characters out the front to welcome us. We got there right when it opened, so there weren't many people before we moved on, but if we had stayed, it very easily could have become my favorite club of the trip. 



The hotels were incredible, and we saw stunning water displays and decorations everywhere. 



Nicole and I agreed that The Bank nightclub at the Bellagio was the best club we went to. There was great music, a ton of people dancing, and an unbelievable amount of energy. 



The craziest thing was that I had read about how great all these clubs are, and then we got to experience it first hand! Unfortunately, at the end of the night, we got stuck inside the Bellagio for a bit (the hotels are HUGE) and spent probably 45 minutes trying to find the right door to get to our hotel. We were almost dead by the time we made it back to the Paris, ate our leftovers, and went to sleep after a spectacular night! 





Sunday, August 3: 

The next day was more sightseeing! We started off at Caesar's Palace, which I think is the most spectacular to see. 






After lunch, we went to Serendipity. I got a frozen hot chocolate, which they're known for, and it was INCREDIBLE. Probably the best drink I've ever had. 


Before meeting my parents for a show, Nicole and I took a quick look through the Miracle Mile, a mile of quirky shops and, in some places, a ceiling that looks like the sky. There's even one part that rains from the ceiling every hour. By the theater, there's a beautiful water show and a giant stripper statue. 



We rushed off to the Tropicana to watch Murray, the comedy magician! We got seats at the very front. 



Then a quick stop to the Vegas welcome sign before heading off to the Cosmopolitan hotel for our favorite buffet, The Wicked Spoon





After dinner, Nicole had to return to California for work on Monday :( so she headed off to the airport while I headed to bed, exhausted from the weekend. 





Monday, August 4: 

On Monday, my parents and I did some more exploring! We started off at the Flamingo hotel. 




Then we went to the Quad hotel to see the World's Largest Classic Car Collection





















After that we walked around more. 



















That afternoon Mom, Dad, and I went to see Jeff Civillico, comedy juggler



His last act was crazy. He wore a go pro camera on his head and juggled glow-in-the-dark balls, rings, and pins. We could see the balls and such AND the video of them from his view on the giant screen behind him. The whole show was good, but that one act alone made the entire performance! 


That night walking around, we saw a street performer with hula hoops. 



We then went to The Piano Bar at Harrah's to watch the dueling pianos, which was fun! 






Tuesday, August 5: 

Our last morning in Vegas! We had an amazing breakfast at Mon Ami Gabi, a Paris hotel restaurant. 


After that, our trip was over, and we headed back to St. Louis! 





Thank you, Mom and Dad, for such an incredible 21st birthday! 
Nicole and I had an amazing time, and I hope you did, too! 
Love, 
Olivia 




For videos from the trip, please see my YouTube video: 

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