Our last day came rapidly to a close, and the weather was the “coldest” we’d had all week (mid 50s) and quite rainy, torrents of water rushing off rooftops, a deluge through gutters. As we pondered our time in Vegas, one thing we felt very keenly was that we didn’t have the greatest food and dining experiences. Even as I sit here typing, it’s hard for me to think of anything off the top of my head—apart from the food tour—where I felt we had an incredible culinary moment. There were no romantic candlelit dinners, no multi-course meals with wine pairings, no opulently decadent feasts. Just mediocre tacos, crepes served on plastic plates, and a novelty visit to a burger joint.
So we attempted to rectify that by going to Bouchon in the Venetian (a recommendation from my brother), but our attempts to locate the damn place shed another light on something we neglected to consider when planning our trip to Vegas: it’s really, really hard to find things sometimes, and the directions on your phone are generally no help because while the instructions will take you to the building something is located in, finding the place within the building is an exercise in itself. It’s like using Google Maps to find a specific store in the Mall of America. It just won’t work.
So we meandered and meandered and really tried our darndest to find Bouchon, but by the time we found the damn place, we were hungry and tired and there was an hour-long wait. So we returned to St. Mark’s Square in the Venetian where we knew there would be options, eventually settling on Brera Osteria, where we enjoyed cocktails and wood-fired pizzas.
It wasn’t before long that it was time to start heading to the airport, but before that, we enjoyed one last walk through the Venetian, stopping by Carlo’s Bakery for coffees and a tiny chocolate cake. It was during this walk through the resort that it occurred to me once again how much I enjoyed the Venetian above all the other resorts on the Strip and how much I would love to return to Vegas if only to spend a long weekend here. The Venetian’s tall, arched, palatial halls adorned with vibrant frescos are a delight to behold, and the angular canals surrounded by Italian Gothic building facades are weirdly and unexpectedly magical.
And so, there it is. A week in Vegas come to a close. An adventure I thought I’d never embark on. But as I recount the memories, I’m finding myself pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed my time here, and I’m already looking forward to when we’ll return again.
Final tips:
- If you find yourself needing to check out of your room at 11:00 but have a flight several hours later, your resort hotel should have luggage storage so you may take in some sights before departing. You’re welcome to arrive really early to the airport if you want, but that sounds dumb.
- The Strip really is basically a giant mall, so make what you will of that. And I really think four days and three nights is plenty of time to immerse yourself in its ridiculousness.
- If you do find yourself spending more than four days in Vegas, I highly recommend a self-guided driving tour to Hoover Dam and any of the surrounding parks. Make sure to also spend a day or two in downtown Vegas.
- If you want to have great culinary experiences in Vegas, make sure to plan that out very carefully in advance, making sure to secure reservations and research clear instructions for how to find the place.
- Don’t be fooled by the listed prices you’ll see when choosing which resort to stay at. The listed price doesn’t include the daily resort fee, so multiply all daily room prices by at least two.
- And, since you’re required to pay the resort fee, make sure to spend time at the pool. That’s something else Matt and I wish we would’ve prioritized better.
- I think one more regret I have is I wish we would’ve seen more shows. We only saw Mariah Carey and Puppetry of the Penis, but there are so many other things to see, magic shows in particular something I wish we would’ve attended.