Las Vegas the Mormon Way

Luke and I just got back from a fabulous trip to Las Vegas. We were there for 3 whole days and jam packed our days with some pretty awesome stuff. It turns out that there is still plenty to do in Vegas even when you take out not-so-Mormon-friendly stuff.

Day 1: Friday, July 4th

We walked around to see a few of the hotels and casinos: MGM Grand, New York -New York, Luxor, Excalibur, and Mandalay Bay. At Mandalay Bay, we went to the Shark Reef and Aquarium, which was pretty enjoyable.

Luke in front of New York - New York




Me at the Shark Reef - attentively listening to the hand held guide at my ear and learning.

To celebrate Independence Day, we went to a concert at Mandilay Bay. Vertical Horizon played for a little over an hour. I only knew a few of their songs, but Luke knew a lot. I thought they were great and they're now my new favorite band. Afterwards, there was a great fireworks show - not as good as Boston's, of course. After the show, we went to check out the water fountain show at the Bellagio, which was just cool and, of course, made me think of Ocean's 11.

At the Vertical Horizon concert.




Day 2:

We went to a session at the Las Vegas temple. The contrast between the wordliness of The Strip and the Holiness of the temple was certainly stark.



Las Vegas Temple






In the afternoon, we went on an awesome helicopter ride to the Grand Canyon. It was seriously amazing! We actually stopped in the Canyon for a little while, which helped put the size in perspective - talk about huge!


The helicopter




Ready for take off!


The view from the 'copter.




Us in the Grand Canyon






After the tour, we went to see the Cirque de Soleil show "O" - the one with the water. Omigoodness! It was very strange and extremely fantastic. Needless to say, we were both very tired after such a long, busy day.

The big "O" sign in front of the Bellagio (taken from the Bellagio, which is why you see Planet Hollywood in the background)





Day 3:


We went to the buffet at the Bellagio for brunch, which was sadly dissapointing - especially after waiting in line for an hour.

In the afternoon, we made it over to the Star Trek Experience, which Luke enjoyed. I enjoyed it a little, too, but not as much as Luke. He grew up watching the show and even went to a Star Trek convention when he was 12.

Luke was excited to see the Star Trek exhibition.


Me feigning boredom at the Star Trek exhibit.



After this, we still had a few more hours before our flight home, so we walked around to see some other hotels: the Venetian and Mirage. At Mirage, we went to Sigfreid and Roy's Secret Garden where they have the most active lions, and tigers, and llamas (oh my!) that I've ever seen in captivity.

I think I look like a very air-brushed Lucille Bluth in this picture, but it's good to see how close we were to the tigers.






All in all, we had an eventful time. But the best part about a vacation with Luke is that I get to spend so much time with Luke. We really enjoy spending time together, regardless of what we're doing. He is a great travel partner - I think I'll keep him!