Looking Back at 2014: Las Vegas, Nevada

Happy Holidays!
This is my fourth and final part in my Looking Back at 2014 series. Now from December 21-24  I was able to make my first trip to Fabulous Las Vegas. Sorry its so long but we did so much on this trip and I want to give it a comprehensive review. Feel free to leave questions in the comments and I will happily respond!
Disclaimer: Any photos used in this blog are my personal photos. Please do not copy or reproduce.

Now, around Halloween I was browsing on Groupon and saw a deal for the Riviera Hotel and Casino for $19 a night. I talked with some of my friends and we decided to buy a Groupon for the dates earlier and the total was $57 dollars plus tax. We decided to fly Southwest, and it was around $350 for roundtrip plan ticket. It was nice not to pay for baggage fees. Quick Tip: The biggest rip off that we had in Vegas were the cab rides. We paid $30 for cab for 10 minute cab! So, I would never take a cab in Vegas after paying the ridiculous fairs.  Now, what we were not aware of is that upon checking in is that you will have to put a $100 deposit down on your credit card. Second, they charge $17 a night as a resort fee, so that doubled the cost of our stay when we checked in. The Riviera is an okay hotel, and when I say that I mean that in the nicest way possible. for us it was just a place to sleep and do a little bit of gambling at the casino. The hotel room was a decent size, but our room particularly was a little beat up. The water pressure in the shower was horrible and if someone flushed a toilet the pressure would drop. The Casino was older looking but the tables were affordable which was lucky for us since we didn't want to play expensive tables. The hotel casino was advertising $1 blackjack. Those tables were filled about 75% percent of the day and those were the tables that we hung out at when we played at our casino.
The Riviera is across the street from Circus Circus. The Riviera is on the strip but it is a little more than a mile a away from Treasure Island which you can see when you walk outside of the casino. We did a lot of walking up and down that part of the strip. It was a nice work out after some of the meals we ate!

Day 1: After arriving in Vegas and checking in to our hotel we were starving for some lunch! The first restaurant we ate at was at the Wicked Vicky Tavern, it was located inside of our hotel. It was about a $30 meal with drinks. The food was good. I got a burger with bacon, cheese, fried egg and the fries and it was good. We walked up to Treasure Island to play a little blackjack. The table minimum was $5 when we first started. About 15 minutes we were playing the minimum bumped up to $10 a hand. So after we lost $20 we went back to the hotel to get ready for our show! For dinner that first night we went to Excalibur and went to the Tournament of Kings show and had dinner there. That dinner was a three course meal that consisted of soup, Cornish hen and green bean and potatoes, and a apple turnover desert.
Quick Tip: They do not give you silverware for the meal. Since the middle ages did not have silverware they try to stick with that theme throughout the show. Eat with caution. We bought the tickets the day of the show at some discount stand on the strip and we paid $55. At the show we spent an additional $16 for one cocktail that comes with a souvenir cup. When you pick your seats for the show you are choosing which country you want to cheer for. We sat in the Dragon section, he was the bad guy and the section was in the middle of the arena. We had a nice view and was able to see everything that was happening in the entire arena. After the show we were tired after getting up to catch a 8:50 flight from Chicago we decided to hit the hay.

Day 2: We decided to sleep in the next day until around 9:00-10:00. For lunch that day we decided to go to Guy Fieri's Vegas Kitchen + Bar. Its located near the Linq Hotel. We ordered cocktails and I had one of the best Bloody Mary's that I have ever had in my life! Everything looked good on the menu, but I decided to go with the Bacon Mac and Cheese Burger. My friend decided to go with a pulled pork sandwich. The burger was really good! I just wish that I didn't feel like I had to eat the whole thing since we didn't have a fridge or microwave at the hotel. Our meal there was $30 a piece. $10 for the cocktails and the burger was $20. Personally I thought it was one of the best burgers that I have ever had in my life and the fries had a seasoning that was sweet and spicy. After we ate our wonderful lunch we headed back and played $1 black jack at our casino all day. We made some lovely friends for Detroit, Charleston and we were all just having a blast! I was lucky enough to get a black jack 4 times in a row! Again it was another exhausting day! Who knew that gambling could be so stressful and tiring. So, yet again we turned in around midnight and got another good night sleep.

Day 3 and our FINAL ONE: With my aunt being a travel agent and traveling to Vegas several times she recommended to me and my friends that we go to the breakfast buffet at the Mirage. The buffet at the Mirage goes from 7:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m., so we got our day started a little bit earlier than the other days because yet again we had to walk a little over a mile to get to the Mirage Hotel and Casino. The buffet is called Cravings, and it is not too far from the poker room. The Buffet was about $20 a person if you weren't staying at the hotel, I believe that they give you a deal if you are staying  the hotel. The buffet was AWESOME. They had a carving station, omelet station, and they had basically every breakfast food that you could want. It was the cheapest meal that we had while we were in Vegas. 

Now I am a Texas Hold Em player, my dad taught me when were camping at Olympus National Park when I was 12 years old. So while I was in Vegas I wanted to participate in a Texas Hold Em tournament. Now the hotel gives you a list of the times that the tournaments start, and what casino where they are at. The more affordable tournaments are earlier in the day, and the prices goes up throughout the day. I decided on a $60 tournament at Harrah's casino. I was lucky enough to place 4/20. I was the youngest person playing. The guy who took my last chips even told me that he was impressed with how well I played. After that we gambled at the slot machines at Harrah's. Unfortunately,  I was not starting to feel well as the day went on. Our final meal we had was at our hotel steakhouse called R. They had a top sirloin steak meal for $20,and it came with salad. The steak had way to much salt and pepper on it. The mash potatoes were good, and so were the green beans. We had a 7:30 flight the next morning, so we had to leave for the airport at 5:00 a.m.. Unfortunately, I am still not feeling well, and was sick over Christmas...
All in all I had a great 1st experience in Las Vegas. I didn't get to do everything that I wanted to do, and if I ever go again I will do some things differently.
Sorry that this post is so long. Hopefully this gives you some direction when planning your trip to Las Vegas
With love,
Jess