Back in December, a few friends and I suddenly decided an impromptu trip to Las Vegas was going to happen in January. We started planning in the beginning of December. Or well, S and I planned. The boys, X and M, decided to leave most of the planning to us. We all decided a week would be a good amount of time to explore Las Vegas and allow for mid-week trip to the Grand Canyon (more on this later). Since X and I were flying from the East Coast, we both flew in the night before.

So technically, my first day in Las Vegas was a Friday night – but by the time I had landed, the day might as well have been over! So, I’m starting with our first official day, which was a Saturday, or AKA the day that S and M arrived.

After settling in, we headed over to Bruxie for a late breakfast that wasn’t quite brunch. Bruxie, located near the NYNY, serves chicken and waffles. After much contemplation, I opted for their Buffalo Bleu Fried Chicken Waffle Sandwich, which features fried chicken coated in buffalo sauce and served with crisp vegetable slaw, bleu cheese crumbles, chives, and ranch dressing.

The chicken was very moist and tender on the inside and super crunchy on the outside. Surprisingly, the “structural integrity” (words that get thrown around when you travel with engineers) of the waffle was very strong. You can hold it up and eat it like a real sandwich without it falling apart!

Our plan for the day was exploring the Strip, which we did very efficiently. S and I had read online that you can’t walk the Strip in one day or you’ll be wrecked after walking through 2 hotels. These people were obviously not New Yorkers (or people who have lived in NYC, like X, S, and M have)!

We walked by the Paris hotel, which is pretty hard to miss with the neon hot air balloon and miniature Eiffel Tower. They have an Eiffel Tower Experience, where you can go to the top of the tower and get a gorgeous view of the Bellagio Fountains. We didn’t opt for it, but I’m sure the view is spectacular!

We also spent a fair amount of time at the Bellagio, checking out their Lunar New Year themed Conservatory and their gorgeous lobby ceiling. The highlight, however, is definitely their Fountains and the show. The Bellagio Fountain show comes on every half hour during the day and then every 15 minutes during the night. We saw the show a few times during the day and a few times during the night.