25 Aug A Photo Essay: Las Vegas, Nevada

We have never been that intrigued with Las Vegas—sure, it sounded fine, but it really isn’t our style. While we enjoy visiting cities here and there, our favorite adventures are adrenaline packed and out exploring nature, and that isn’t something widely associated with Las Vegas. Throughout the years, Vegas trips have come up in conversation, but they always ended up getting pushed aside for another destination. So, when a trip to California for a family wedding popped up and we found that tickets were way more affordable to Las Vegas than to San Diego or Los Angeles, we decided to plan a little side trip.

After doing a lot of research, I was happy to find a copious amount of activities “off the strip”, and suddenly I was wondering if the 4 days I allotted would be enough. We were planning on spending the first two days of the trip doing more nature oriented activities, then head to California for the wedding and spend our last two days on the strip just to see what it was all about. The days ended up getting mixed up a bit with both on and off the strip activities, but we managed to pack a ton in and had a great time doing it! We explored Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, went ziplining through Bootleg Canyon with Flightlinez BC, kayaked the Colorado River’s Black Canyon, stopped at the Hoover Dam, visited the Neon Museum, sat inside a Chandelier Bar, went back to the 20’s and visited a secret Speakeasy style lounge, walked around Fremont Street and Container Park, went Indoor Skydiving at Vegas Indoor Skydiving, dined at the famed Lotus of Siam and of course wandered the strip to check out all the glitzy lights.  One thing we didn’t do? Gamble! Who would have thought.

As I expected, we weren’t too enthused with the strip; however, I was surprised to find we actually enjoyed the Fremont area, and our adventures off the strip were just as amazing as I hoped. Although we were ready to head out after our 4 days in the area, we really did enjoy ourselves. The glitz and glam of the Las Vegas clubs may not be our style, but the adventurous desert activities and the old school 1920’s style lounges definitely were!

Here’s a look at a slightly different side of Vegas:

 What are your thoughts of Las Vegas? Do you feel the same way as us?