Winter Vacation in Las Vegas

Golden Nugget Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada

Winter vacations help break up the long winter months. Generally we like going somewhere warmer than home. We left on the 16^th of January for Las Vegas, Nevada. Our home base for this nine day trip was the Golden Nugget Casino right in the midst of the Fremont Street Experience in downtown Las Vegas. We've stayed in the downtown area of Las Vegas for most of our past trips, preferring that area to the strip. However, since we always rent a vehicle while in Las Vegas, we manage to do a fair amount of sight seeing. Most of our meals were comped. The room for most of the trip. The first night was spent in one of the two story luxury suites at the Golden Nugget. This suit was absolutely gorgeous complete with spiral staircase. Very plush!

We met friends of ours who were staying at the Mirage Hotel & Casino. They arrived a day before we did and left a couple of days before we left. I think one of the first things to deal with is the time difference of three hours earlier in Las Vegas than where we live. That doesn't seem like a lot but when the plane lands it is already three hours earlier and in Las Vegas the time just doesn't matter. We ended up going to bed about 5 am their time or 8 am our time effectively being on the go full tilt for well over 24 hours! From there it was just a whirl wind of activities. While the weather was cooler than expected it was still warmer than home with no precipitation. The sun was warm enough to enjoy a few days and we even sat outdoors by the pool one day taking a break from the gaming floor.

Shark Tank

We stayed at the Golden Nugget in May of 2006. At that time the pool area was undergoing a huge renovation. Despite rumours from other players that they were errecting another tower, they replaced the pool with a pool encircling a shark tank. There is a large two story water tube that you can ride through with clear viewing inside the shark tank. It is very impressive! The pool area includes a bar, hot tub and several seating areas.

We arrived home about 8 am this morning so it has been a tiring day. All in all it was a wonderfully relaxing vacation. Now that our winter vacation is over it is back to our normal routine. I'll be spending a fair amount of time on my book and genealogy. My husband has already started planning our spring vacation. Life is so much more pleasant with vacations!