Who Knew Las Vegas Could Actually Be Fun?

I could use a vacation. Between the stress of juggling my freelance writing, my daddy blog, and JoeShopping, searching for a new full-time job, dealing with some legal issues, getting crazy ridiculous tax bills, and all the normal stresses of life, I could certainly use a little breather. I”m not really the beach type. For me it’s either San Francisco (just LOVE that town) or Las Vegas.

Yeah, I never thought of myself as the Vegas type. And up until a few years ago, I had never even been there. But I’ve been hitting the Sin City every January for the past few years to attend a work conference, and I always seem to have a great time. How can you not?

Originally I thought Las Vegas was super slimy, full of drugs, sex, and alcohol. Sure you can find all that but it’s not like it’s everywhere you look. The city’s really done a great job of family-friendli-tizing everything. I wouldn’t think twice about bringing my whole family there nowadays.

I’m not a big gambler, nor a big drinker. I do like playing a fun game of poker with the boys every month or so (real high stakes games of $20… oooh), and I’ll drink when I’m out watching a game. So I had no idea what to expect in Vegas. Yet, I had an absolute blast every single time. I enjoyed playing Black Jack actually but that was about it at the tables. Craps and Roulette confuse the heck out of me and that Pai Gow Poker just looks frightening.

As for the slot machines, they are such a waste of my time. And money. It’s just so easy to drop a twenty in all of 12 seconds. Though in my own defense, how could I resist playing a Batman or Star Wars slot machine?!? Yeah, there’s really nothing at all like a live casino. Even if you don’t gamble, it’s worth experiencing at least once in your life. Let the non-stop lights and sounds just totally overwhelm your senses.

The casino hotels themselves, though, are an experience. Whether it’s the castle-like Excalibur, the does-this-thing-ever-end ginormous Caesars Palace, or the Eiffel Tower-filled Paris, you can easily spend a few days doing nothing more than walking up and down the strip and taking in the sites.

Of course there’s also the shows. I’m pretty spoiled, having grown up just 30 minutes from New York City. So I’ve seen my fair share of Broadway musicals. Granted, a Vegas production is complete, over-the-top cheese. I really don’t have much interest in too many of them, though I did get to see my favorite magicians Penn and Teller a few years ago. And yeah, it was definitely worth the money.

What I’d really love to do is visit Vegas with my wife. It’d be a completely different experience for me. We’d take in a few shows (I’d like to see one of the Cirque du Soleil’s), find some great places to eat and maybe even go see the Grand Canyon. Do I think we’ll ever make it out there? You can bet on it.

This post was sponsored by GalaCasino.com. While I was compensated for this post, the thoughts and opinions expressed in this post are my own and in no way were influenced by the company.