116.   Leaving St. John's on a foggy day is a pretty common occurrence in June as we headed west for our annual getaway someplace warm, this year we are going back to sin city, Las Vegas!

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114.   Our Westjet flight took us direct to Calgary for a couple hours where we cleared customs and grabbed a bite to eat before the final leg to Vegas.

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112.  We arrived in Vegas around suppertime (or thereabouts), grabbed our bags and headed to the Uber pick up zone in the parking structure for the ride downtown.

111.   On this adventure we decided to get away from the strip and stay downtown in Vegas proper staying at the Plaza. This hotel is situated on Main Street right at the end of the Freemont Street Experience.

110.   It would prove to be an excellent decision as unlike the strip, there's lots to see, do and eat with only a short walk. Everything on the strip is so big that its quite a hike to get anywhere, but the strip is only a short bus ride away. Night time on Freemont street brings endless entertainment, bands, and people watching right at our doorstep. Great places to eat such as Main Street Station and Pizza Rock are only a block or two away.

109.   Our first night in Vegas was pretty quiet with a game of bingo, checking out Freemont Street bands & shops and later back to our hotel.

108.   Our first full day in town started with breakfast at the Brightside in our hotel. The food was fantastic, price decent and service amazing and included free coffee refills all day long.

107.   Temps today were hot, nearing 40 degrees C, Vegas is also very dry so its pretty comfortable and not sweaty/sticky heat. You have to stay hydrated so lots of water is important during outside activities. Our first morning was spent poolside at the Plaza relaxing in loungers half submerged in the pool.

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103.   Main Street Station is about a block away and a great place to visit. Its decorated beautifully like an early 1900's train station and food there is absolutely amazing and fairly priced. We would be frequenting the Triple Seven restaurant and the buffet there on this trip.

102.   Construction on the new Circa Resort (which sits on the site of the former Las Vegas Club) is well underway and is slated to be open sometime next year.

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92.   Freemont Street Experience is currently upgrading the already amazing overhead display with modern high definition LED panels. The difference between this new section  and the old section below is spectacular. The new section is brighter and much clearer than the old.

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89.   This evening we decided to stop into White Castle to see if it lived up to the hype. Service was great for such a busy location but I have to say I wasn't a fan of the steam cooked mini burgers. They just seemed slimy and unpleasant compared to great burgers I've had elsewhere.

88.   Thursday morning we hopped on the SDX bus (Strip Downtown Express) and headed down the strip to the Fashion Show Mall. I wanted to check out Dicks Sporting Goods for some new Sea to Summit Camping gear.

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86.   In Vegas the SDX are the sleek double long buses (pictured above) that run from the South Outlets to the North Outlets connecting pints along the strip and downtown making only 1/3 the stops as the Deuce. The Deuce busses (also pictured above) are double deckers that run from downtown and up the strip making multiple stops all along the way. $20 will get you a 3 day unlimited ride pass for all busses in the transit system.

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84.   We made it to Dick's but I was disappointed to find very little of what I was looking for during this visit but the selection of other products including Under Armour and yeti was amazing.

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81.   Leaving Fashion Show mall we headed south towards Treasure Island as we've never been there and we wanted to get a slot machine cash-out slip to add to our growing collection of cash-out vouchers from all the casinos.

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77.   Leaving there we hopped back on the SDX and headed to the South Outlets for some retail therapy finding some great deals on clothes.

76.   That night we were back at the Plaza for a game of bingo which is fun and easy with the electronic machines. Plus you get free drinks while you play, the Bloody Mary's were awesome.

75.   After Googling great pizza downtown we came across Pizza Rock which had great reviews. It's one block south opposite the third stage on Freemont Street and we were not disappointed.

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72.   Our Pizza Rock slices were stacked with toppings and still good and warm when we made it back to our room. Highly recommended!

71.   Friday morning was another scorcher so we spent the morning at the pool before getting ready to head to Planet Hollywood for the Rob Thomas concert in the Zappos Theatre.

70.   The timing of this trip was booked around this one night concert which is a part of Rob's Chipped Tooth North American Tour. It was cheaper to vacation in Vegas for a week to take in this concert than it was to stay 4 days in Toronto for the same show!

69.   We got to Planet Hollywood good and early so we could get something to eat, check out the casino and the Miracle Mile Shops.

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67.   Ramsey Burger was super busy so we checkout out this sandwich shop, the Earl of Sandwich and we were very glad we did. Our sandwiches were amazing, it was hard to imagine that something as simple as a sandwich could taste so great!

66.   After our snack it was time to grab our seats at the Zappos Theatre.

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63.   The concert was amazing, Rob performed a great mix of his own music as well as Matchbox 20 classics!

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60.   Saturday we headed to the North Outlets which was a quick bus ride away from Freemont Street. Unlike the South outlets which is totally indoors like a traditional mall, the South outlets have outdoor common areas. Overall we found the shopping experience and deals better here at the South Outlets.

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57.   For supper we decided to checkout the prime rib buffet at Main Street Station.

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55.   Once again we were not disappointed, the buffet price was very reasonable, and food quality was amazing. There were lots of choices in everything you could imagine.

54.   I'm not one to take bathroom pics, but the men's bathroom at Main Street Station was built using actual pieces of the Berlin Wall which was pretty darn neat!

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51.   Saturday night on Freemont street was crazy busy and a lot of fun. If you enjoy people watching, this is the ultimate place to be.

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43.   Sunday we were back by the pool. Since this was a 10 day trip we decided to actually relax more on this trip compared to our previous Vegas holidays where we were go-go-go trying to see as much as we could.

42.   Only in Vegas would you find a full food truck hoisted 6 stories up poolside! (BTW my water resistant iPhone 8plus which was inside a water proof lifeproof case managed to ingest water during our trip to a desert city and quite a few of my pics are foggy due to condensation inside the phone).

41.   Monday morning we hit one of my favourite places, the Silverton Casino/Bass Pro Shops. In last years Vegas adventure I gave directions on how to get here by Bus using the SDX and transferring to a side line which worked very well and cheap!

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38.   That's a real Duck in the Koi Fish pond!

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36.   On our way back from the Silverton we got off near the Hard Rock and walked a couple blocks checking out some small trinket shops along the way.

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32.   Foggy lens shot of an awesome Freemont Street band.

31.   Tuesday morning found us pool side and relaxing again.

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29.   For supper we decided to try out the Heart Attack Grill on Freemont Street. Neither of us qualified for the Free Eating, but apparently it's a real deal.

28.   Once inside everyone is dressed in an old fashioned Johnny Coat so it kind of resembles an insane asylum, but its quite convenient for keeping your clothes clean. Our burgers were really really good, there's lots of choices but beware, if you don't finish your entire burger your in for a paddling (for real!).

27.   Wednesday morning we decided to head to Mandalay Bay as we've never been there and wanted to continue our cash-out slip collection.

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23.   This casino and event centre was simply massive, it was pretty amazing to see in person!

22.   These two abandoned pillars were set to become another large Ferris Wheel similar to the one up strip at the Linq. Unfortunately during construction the recession hit and funding for the project and adjoining hotel and casino collapsed.

21.   After Mandalay Bay we stopped back to the South Outlets so I cold grab another pair of Camo Shorts and we tried Fatburger in the concession area. It was pretty damn good as well!

20.   Thursday morning found us back uptown where we checked out New York New York and the Hershey Store.

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17.   Leaving there we hopped on the Deuce and headed North to Casino Royale and the Linq where we stopped at the Linq Promenade for one of our favourite snack shops, In-N-Out Burger.

16.   Once again we were not disappointed!

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9.   Supper tonight was steak at the Triple Seven Restaurant inside Main Street Station where the meals are very fairly priced and quality top notch.

8.   Midnight and it was still 31 degrees C! Night time is actually my favourite time outside here, its warm but not sweltering like it is daytime with the sun directly overhead.

7.   Friday was our last day in Vegas. We checked out of our room and left our bags with the bellboys and toured Freemont Street for the last time this trip before Ubering to McCarran International.

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4.   Drag race McCarren style!

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1. Another epic adventure comes to a close. This was by far our most relaxing trip to Vegas, we found a real nice balance of getting out to see the sights, visit new places and enjoy some downtime relaxing by the pool as well which was very much needed.

Cheers, MIKE

Copyright © 2011 Michael Smith