Storytime Snatchers!
Hey all! Well to my first travel post woah! Now, I will not front. I honestly always had travel content for you all. I have tons of photos from my time in Seoul, South Korea and I would love to share that with you soon because let us be honest it was a wild time for me haha. This post however will talk about my recent travels to sin city, Las Vegas! I decided to celebrate my birthday week because I have never been and Covid messed up my chance of living my best international life haha. So sit back and relax and welcome to Air Shay, remain seated, and enjoy the ride.
First off! This place is literally hell, it is so hot. That thirst for water and it not being met is for real! Do not travel in the summer without a bottle of water! Now that I got that death warning out of the way let’s get into my time there!
Traveling in las vegas, Cesar palace
I arrived in Las Vegas late afternoon and the warm welcome, literally the warm air just hit me quick haha. I had a wonderful taxi driver; he was detailed about what to do on the strip. Now typically I am great at listening, but my excitement won over my hearing haha. I remember hearing things such as go on the Ferris wheel for the happy hour, go to the Venetia on the gondolas, explore all the hotels to see what they look like inside, check out crystal city, and enjoy some food. He dropped me off and I waved to him and turned around to my new home for the week. If you all know me, you know I love some fancy stuff from time to time haha.
My hotel for the week!
Yup, I stayed at the Bellagio, it was a close tie between this and Venetian. If I ever go back to Las Vegas I will have to stay the Venetian because that was on my list to ride the beautiful gondolas and I did not get a chance to do it *insert cry face*
I got in and the place was absolutely beautiful, the front desk and lobby is pretty much a showcase of flowers and glass art. I love glass art, I don’t know if it’s just watching people blow glass or knowing something so delicate can form such beautiful structures, but I love it and appreciate the artist who makes it happen so that I can experience it.
The lobby of the Bellagio
Here are some examples of what was found in the lobby! Behind the arches are all sculptures made of plants and the butterflies were made too. Then when you looked up you can see all the glass art on the ceiling.
The Bellagio’s ceilings in the lobby.
They look like beautiful jellyfishes to me but they could probably be seen as flowers or lily pads to match the theme that was happening.
The Bellagio is a beautiful hotel and I recommend staying here at least once. The staff was kind and helpful! The Casino was not that bad (possibly due to it just reopening vegas fully when we arrived). Now if you think there is a mask mandate it was pretty much non-existent but that is our current life. If you are vaccinated you can go around with no mask and if you are not you have to wear a mask but honestly, no one was reinforcing if someone was truly vaccinated so it was a gamble. ( My party did not get sick thank goodness, we all returned home COVID-free!)
The first day we arrived we went to check out the glow-in-the-dark mini-golf, Kiss Mini Golf, in Cesear Place. It was a cute place to have some fun and chill after a long 6-hour flight and some of my party had arrived hours before I did so they had been walking around all day (you can imagine not wanting to do much after that haha). We entered the KISS mini-golf and it was pretty awesome. Some broken guitars signed by the band members, replication of the car owned by the drummer who had passed away. Their music is blasting all over the place, and all the holes are themed around them. There are 18 holes. It was definitely a fun time and I appreciated all of it. Plus it was not that pricey, it was about $11.50 so affordable fun for a chill night 😊 Also ya girl got some hole in ones ayyyy haha. Check the website out to watch the 3 minute clip of what’s included!
Quick snip it of some of the mini-golf scene.
After that night we went back to our hotel rooms. My friends shared a room and I got to cuddle with my boyfriend for the week. We were all exhausted. I stayed up a bit longer and order room service for the first time! $59 spent but I had the best wagyu burger, fries, mango sorbet, and Fiji water of my life. That burger and sorbet just hit the spot for me. Wish I had taken a picture but I was super hungry haha. The Bellagio offered express or table room service. Table room service is a minimum of $100 but they set it up for two people. They will turn part of your room into a restaurant and set up plates, glasses, forks, and whatnot. Literally, table service without having to go to the restaurant and it’s 24/7 yaaas.
Hmm, should I pause storytime? Are you still here Snatchers?! I could give yall part two next week? I definitely do not want to overload you all on my storytime. 910 words in and this is only day 1! I will add in day 2 and we shall see if I’ll spoil you all with my birthday stuff or leave it for next time on the travel story haha
Day 2
The next day we are refreshed and ready to adventure out into the wild of Vegas (yeeah not really). We arrived at our uber and were taken to Henderson, Nevada. Err Shay didn’t you travel to Las Vegas, yeah I did but I also reside in Orlando so I know when to leave the tourist area to explore local ones haha. Don’t worry I do go back but let me tell you about this place. My friend arranged a sweet surprise at Café Lola. This café is just so cute! I encourage you all to go and take all the pictures you could dream of haha
Just a side note I was adorable! I had this cute tropical romper on from Fashion Nova (nope I’m not being sponsored by them just telling ya). This romper is comfortable, breezy, it shows off my beautiful tattoo on the back, and looked great with my Jessica Simpson heels (get you some of her shoes they are life and comfortable!)
Masking up and being cute!
Back to the story! So one of my best friends took me to Café Lola and the staff was sweet and accomodating. I had their strawberry shortcake waffles! Yum, delicious! I also order a Lin’s Matcha, a delicious latte with oat milk, lavender, and ceremonial grade matcha yum, and came with word art “xoxo” and then I also got a cool drink that changes colors when you pour wine on top of the cotton candy. Little things amuse me and I wouldn’t have it any other way!
Cafe Lola’s dessert boxes, my best friend ordered it.
Afterward, the staff came out to surprise me with a box of goodies designed by my best friend for all of us. All of the crew are Geminis May/June, so she arranged it for us and I was so happy. The manager also provided me additional goodies with a candle! Honestly, I am very fortunate to have the friends that I do. I truly believe God has blessed me in all avenues <3 Also, my box is the red one! Isn’t it cute! Also, those truffles and cake pops were life! Ugh, I miss café lola so definitely hit them up! (click the link dooo it haha). We ended up taking a couple of pictures near the photo booth, backdrop, and tree.
Cafe Lola’s gift to me!
After our day in Henderson, we went back to the hotel and decided to check out the Botanical Garden! Eek, I was so excited! This garden changes every season I believe and we saw this beautiful majestic garden. I love exhibits like this because I am always dazzled at how people can turn anything into art. I mean come on these are all flowers and bushes! Beautifully designed and placed to perfection
Beautiful Flower Art – Phoenix – Bellagio Botanical Garden
This beautiful Pheonix is the first thing my eyes laid on. Their symbolism of rebirth is inspiring. Definitely, something we all can take home and apply to our lives.
Another beautiful floral art
Then we saw a few more items, such as another bird, turtles, leopard (I think it’s a leopard it didn’t have stripes haha). Either way, they were still beautiful. I do have a video so you all can enjoy and view that! The funny thing is I’m allergic to pollen so it is funny that I love flowers and being around this form of art when literally I could get a headache and a runny nose. The pollen was strong but I loved it haha.
Afterward, I got changed into some sneakers, shorts, and a cute crop from Fashion Nova (I don’t think I took any pictures in that outfit but I was cute, conventional, and comfortable the three C’s you need in life haha) and we began our journey through the desert heat on the strip. Yeah mind you the weather was between 104-108 degrees that week and it was torture in the day. We did not get that far from our hotel when we realized we needed to stop for water right away haha went up the first flight of stairs and said “Child boo no!” but hey you learn things during your 30 & fabulous haha.
I got to stop by the New York New York Hotel, I typically like to see what people envision when they think of my home state/city. We first entered the Chocolate world WHICH LET ME STOP HERE. My cab driver told me there was a huge chocolate fountain made of chocolate here There is no fountain here -___-. RESUME. I got to see these giant Reese’s cups, Hershey kisses, and the statue of liberty made of Twizzlers! It was so cute.
Then of course we made our way to the red roller coaster, The Big Apple Roller Coaster that is a part of the hotel. Man, was I excited to ride this coaster… Ladies never again…NEEEEVER haha. I am a pretty adventurous person (I’ve skydived and loved it! I also love roller coasters) This damn roller coaster is worst than the ones at Coney Island! I was thrown, rocked, headbanged, corkscrewed, and looped with abuse on this ride. Those lap bars do not reach your lap and the harness is not really that safe it’s rubber lol. The most secure part of me was my shins and knees as the lap bar reached there lol. I read comments that the ride was smoother than it has been in the last 24 years, my goodness if this is smooth then it was hell before haha Maybe yall think New York is dangerous and rough? Haha, My boyfriend stated “who would ever want to ride this twice? I feel if we did it again I would throw up” Yes babe the sentiments are shared for sure. Needless to say, we will never ride it again but we did it lol. S/N the arcade is pretty cool inside! Definitely gamer nostalgia check it out! <3
Afterward, we left the park and decided to relax with some drinks at Tom’s Urban! Snatchers, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this place if you haven’t been. The staff is amazing, it has such a great ambiance it almost made me feel like I was back home near battery park or maybe the seaport with some nice restaurants. The outside bar was great and it also serviced inside, I sat inside. Our server was amazing and attentive, and if you like to drink I will tell you they have heavy hands for you all haha. This place is described as a lively, or eclectic tavern. They have all-day menus (which who doesn’t love to hear that. They have breakfast to late-night snack items, and the place is an industrial kind of scene. I ordered the adobo chicken tacos, they came with pico de gallo, chipotle aioli, and queso fresco. I also ordered the Elote Mexican Street Corn and oh my goodness my taste buds were in heaven. I do not get elotes nor tacos often (Shay you are awful to yourself) I know I know but I don’t be in the mood haha. Happy I was in the mood this time. They were heaven-sent and I wish I could have taken these back to Florida with me haha. Next time you find yourself at Tom’s Urban try those items out, or anything on the menu honestly you can’t go wrong haha.
After Tom’s we made a reservation for dinner at 8/9 at Noodles, this restaurant is inside of the Bellagio, we ended up eating here twice tonight and Friday night for my boyfriend’s birthday (yay to 35). It is a Pan-Asian-inspired restaurant, it ranges from Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Thai foods. If you love Asian food you will love this place, I know I did haha. It has a little something for everyone and the portions are pretty large so be mindful you may be sharing at the table. I also was able to get my Sticky Rice & Mango. It is a Thai dessert that is typically seasonal because of the Mango. I first got it in Florida at a Thai restaurant near my job and absolutely fell in love!! So imagine my excitement when I found this place and we were able to squeeze ourselves in for reservations! I was ecstatic! There are so many rice dishes, soup dishes, bbq, and the list goes on and on. So delicious, every single dish! (Image is from the restaurant themselves)
Delicious Pan-Asian Delights! I love Asian food
So Snatchers, I’m going to stop here for now. I will give you part 2 of my 30 & Fabulous in Las Vegas! Don’t worry the next day is my birthday story and you will get to know what I got to experience and the cute shirt I got for my big day! Love you all and I hope you like this type of content! As you can tell I’m pretty much a foodie, I love different dishes and I love to eat when I travel. When I tell you all about Seoul you will definitely understand. I save money to travel and eat haha.
Love Shay ‘Snatcher’ Moore
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