For the past 10 years I have been looking into going to Las Vegas.  I bought guide books, planned out trips and book rooms but I always ended up having to cancel them.  That was until this past November when I finally made it to Las Vegas.  What finally got me there … well a marathon of course.

I flew in on Friday night and back on Monday … I didn’t have time but I was there, I saw the strips, ran the strip, ate some food, hung out with good people and even gambled a little.   My first experience was good and prefect length (time) wise.

After I got to my room on Friday evening, I decided to go for a late run around and see the strip. After making my way through the MGM Grand I was on the strip.

At first I just walked around and took in the atmosphere — I let it sink in, that I was Las Vegas.   It was honestly pretty late (10 pm) so not a lot of places were open.  So I ended up doing a lot of looking.

I thought it was really cool that Vegas was very welcoming to the marathon and the runners.  Billboards all over the strip welcomed runners.

One store I found open was the M&M store was open so I strolled through (with buying single one I may add), then I window shopped at a few stores.

Then I walked through a few of hotels.

The day that I flew out to the Vegas the Paris terrorist attacks occurred .  In support of the victims and city the lights were out on the Eiffel Tower at Pairs Pairs.

Walking around on the strip, I honestly felt under dressed because I was in running capris, a long sleeve t-shirt and running shoes but I did not care.   When I was walking through the Cosmopolitan and I found a place called Holsteins. Growing up on a cattle ranch, I just had to try one of their milkshakes.  So I found myself sitting at the bar ordering a milkshake next to people in cocktail dresses and suits (while in running clothes) … I have say that was one of the best chocolate milk shakes I had in a long time.

The next morning I met up with my friends for breakfast and had some of the best crapes I  ever had.

The rest of the day was spent preparing for the next day’s race but that night I meet up my friends for evening of fun… First we did dinner at Piero’s (see post here), then we went to Stratosphere and saw Vegas from above and did a little gambling.

While most of my time in Vegas was spent preparing for the half marathon, I was still able to get a good sense of what the city is all about.  It’s a good get away city.   You can definitely go there and relax.   The food and dinning is among some of the best in the world.  The atmosphere is next to none, as well.  And lets not forget the people watching.

You can walk around for hours on end just looking at the different hotels and casinos.  I honestly was not all that impressed with replica architecture, mainly because I have seen the real stuff, but they still look extremely cool.

My favorite thing about Vegas is the setting … when you on the strip you feel like you in a middle of a bustling city but then you look up or out your hotel window (depending where your room is) and you see the mountains.   I want to go back — I want to see some shows, explore downtown Vegas, and explore the surroundings mountains, along with the Grand Canyon and Hoover Dam.