While my car is getting worked on, I started to make a BCKY ETF and wanted to share it with you all. I welcome any additions or feedback!

TECH

AAPL - Apple Inc. - Becky never leaves her iPhone behind
BMBL - Bumble - shhh don’t tell Becky’s husband 🤫
FB - Facebook - they own Instagram, Becky’s most-used app
MTCH - Match - Tinder for the casual fling ☺️
NFLX - Netflix - for those nights in 💜
PINS - Pinterest - inspiration central
PYPL - PayPal - makes online shopping soooo easy once you figure it out! 🙌🏻
ROKU - Roku - Bridgerton is on Netflix, but The Bachelor is on Hulu! Having a Roku built into the TV makes it easy to navigate
SHOP - Shopify - online shopping 🛍
SNAP - Snap - Becky prefers IG but loves Snap for the selfies and group messaging (and the secret disappearing messages 🤫)
SPOT - Spotify - music fuels the soul 🎶
SQ - Square - CashApp makes splitting the bill sooooooo easy
Z and ZG - Zillow - for daydreaming and snooping on the neighbors
ZM - Zoom - in these trying times Becky has used Zoom to stay connected with her parents 💕

Entertainment

ABNB - AirBNB - For the little getaways, staycations and girls weekends
AMC - AMC Entertainment - Becky went to second base for the first time in the back of an AMC theater (didn’t even watch any of Along Came Paulie)
BALY - Bally’s - Becky likes a night out at the casino
DIS - Disney - for the kids 💕
LVS - Las Vegas Sands - bachelorette party, anyone?
MGM - MGM Resorts - can’t wait to get back to the clubs to do some DANCING 💃
MSGE - Madison Square Garden Entertainment - nightlife, dining, girls night???
MSGS - Madison Square Garden - Becky dated a basketball player after college (don’t tell dad! 🤫)
MTN - Vail Resorts - Becky’s favorite winter destinations
WYNN- Wynn Resorts - classy casino and hotel - Becky wouldn’t be caught dead anywhere else

Food/Beverage

ABT - Abbott - Baby formula was so helpful when Kai wouldn’t breastfeed. Pedialyte for when you have one too many proseccos 😜
APRN - Blue Apron - Soooo helpful to make Becky’s once-a-week meal or when Carla the “help” is sick.
BUD - Anheuser Busch InBev - those Bud Light seltzers are NECESSARY
CAKE - Cheesecake Factory - who doesn’t love Cheesecake? 😍
DASH - DoorDash - for those quarantine takeout meals with Greg 😍
GRUB - GrubHub - tapas delivered for girls night 😻
SBUX - Starbucks - there’s 4 seasons: Winter, Spring, Summer, and PSL
SFM - Sprouts Farmers Markets - organic only 🍃
SHAK - Shake Shack - for the cheat meals 🤫
STZ - Constellation Brands - wine 🍷 anyone?

Lifestyle/Shopping

AXP - American Express - Becky’s black card never stops 🤪
BMWYY - BMW - for the Beckies with an X5
BURBY - Burberry - 💁‍♀️👜
CHWY - Chewy - Becky’s frenchie needs food, duh
COTY - COTY - Becky secretly (or not so secretly 🤪) loves Kylie, Dolce & Gabana and Chloé
DFS - Discover Financial - Becky likes getting cash back 😍
DMLRY - Daimler - For the Benz loving Becky
DOGZ - Dogness - luxury goods for the Frenchie
EL - Estée Lauder - cosmetics company founded by a fellow woman 🙋‍♀️
ELF - e.l.f. Beauty - makeup 💄 what else needs to be said?
ETSY - Etsy - omg so many cute things to buy
FLWS - 1-800-Flowers - I mean who doesn’t love flowers 🌸
FTCH - Farfetch - designer clothing ONLY
GOOS - Canada Goose - Much needed during winter when walking around Manhattan and taking selfie’s at Rockefeller Center. A little trendy but still loving it.
HOME - At Home - cute stuff for the house and cheap enough to throw away after getting that perfect pic for IG
HTHIY - Hitachi - the magic wand is Becky’s little secret
JWM - Nordstrom - designer brands ONLY
KNL - Knoll - luxury designer furniture that is so cute and so comfy. IYKYK
KSS - Kohl’s - Kohl’s Rewards are practically a currency right? 💵
LULU - Lululemon - quintessential Becky. The leggings don’t just make her butt look good, but they’re comfy and perfect for the IG flex
LVMUY - LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton - this just speaks for itself
M - Macy’s - ugh kinda for the poor people but they have good deals so Becky will shop online
MA - MasterCard - when the farmer’s market won’t accept American Express
MLHR - Herman Miller - super expensive furniture for the home and sooo comfy
PFE - Pfizer - why is this in the lifestyle category? Because Becky would have a breakdown without her Xanax
TEVA - Teva Pharmaceutical - Becky runs on adderall that is prescribed to her son
PTON - Peloton Interactive - the ultimate Becky item - if you didn’t post your workout on your IG story did you even spin?!
REAL - The RealReal - Cartier, Chanel, Christian Louboutin, LV, Gucci, Hermès, Prada, Tiffany’s and more!
REV - Revlon - some of Becky’s fav actresses promote their products
RH - Restoration Hardware - only the best for Becky’s home
SFIX - Stitch Fix - Becky took the styling quiz and gets emails from them all the time, but still hasn’t placed an order (but she really wants to to support a company headed by a woman CEO 👩🏼‍💼)
(S)TIC - Northern Star - Becky’s frenchie gets soooo excited for her monthly Bark Box
TCS - The Container Store - Becky just CAN NOT walk by without going in
TGT - Target - 🎯 this one is self explanatory- Becky doesn’t leave until it’s dark out
TSLA - Tesla - for the more environmentally conscious Becky that still needs to flex
TUP - Tupperware- perfect for packed lunch boxes and leftover tapas 🥰
ULTA - Ulta Beauty - looks are everything and Ulta sells everything Becky needs
V - Visa - Becky recognizes that name from the front of some of her credit cards
WSM - Williams-Sonoma - Becky buys a lot of her home goods at Pottery Barn and West Elm

My 3 friends and I just got back from our 4 day trip to Vegas. We are all enrolled in college and turned 21 just this year. Due to our college student status, we are not rich. That being said, we all work year-round as well as go to school and wanted to visit Vegas. This is a summary of how 4 college kids did Vegas on a relatively low budget.
For starters, the 4 of us own and operate a small business for side income. Through a business partner, we were able to get a discounted room at any MGM resort. We chose to stay at the Bellagio in a room with 2 queen beds for around $225 a night. I am not sure what this room would normally cost, but I am positive there are many ways to get discounted hotel rooms in Vegas. We flew out of Cleveland to Vegas on a direct flight. Obviously, prices for this vary depending on where you fly out of and what dates you are flying. Our tickets cost around $300 per ticket round trip.
Upon arrival, we ate at a Quiznos in the airport because we were hungry from the 4-hour flight. We also bought 2 handles of Alcohol and a bottle of champagne at the airport liquor store so we could pregame in our hotel room before going out on the town. We decided to get them at the airport for convenience sake, but the prices were similar to typical liquor store prices on the bottles that we bought (about $5 more). We arrived at the Bellagio late the first night and we were pretty tired. We decided to go to the dispensaries so we had some greens for the trip. We first went to Planet 13 which advertises itself as “The only dispensary worth visiting”. It was very cool but very overpriced. We then went to Reef, which is across the street and this had a smaller selection but way better prices. We bought a couple of items and smoked one of them on our walk back to the Bellagio.
Side Note: None of us had been to Vegas before and we were not aware of how long it takes to walk down the streets. Only crossing roads on bridges and having to walk through casinos and stores to get where you’re going adds a lot of extra time than we were used to.
That being said, I don’t recommend walking 1.5 miles in Vegas lol. We were pretty high and had insanely dry mouths at this point so we stopped at CVS across the street from the Bellagio and bought some water. We went to our room and went to bed for the night.
The next day we woke up and ventured to In n Out for some cheap burgers and fries. From there, we Ubered to Old Vegas because we were told that is where the cheap table minimums are. We visited almost all of the casinos on that street and got players cards at each of them. Some players cards allowed us to play free slots or match table bets. Our favorite on this strip was the casino called Plaza. We ate a lot of Chinese food for only $7 at one of the casinos on this strip but I do not remember the name. That night we had tickets to the Diplo concert at XS nightclub in the Wynn. We got some Taco Bell, pregamed in our room and Ubered to the club. 3 of us entered the club and my other buddy forgot his ID at the Bellagio. In a dumbass attempt, he tried to hop the rope but was quickly stopped and kicked out of the club. The rest of us were allowed to enter, but we decided against it because we wanted to all party together. $45 down the drain there. When we got back to the Bellagio we played a little bit of blackjack but at $15 a hand, we didn't stay long. We went up to the room in a drunken stupor, smoked a little bit in the stairwell then went to bed.
The next day, we started out with some Eggslut where I ate the best egg sandwich of my life for $9. We hung out at the Bellagio pool for a couple of hours where we drank and relaxed. After this, we Ubered to the Hooters casino to eat dinner and gamble some more. The dinner costed a bit more than what it would at a typical Hooters but we really wanted some wings and beer. Also, I want to mention that the girls at this Hooters were better than any I had ever been to before. We got a players card at hooters and I got a couple of match bets from it. We played on the $5 blackjack tables and we all walked away with at least $60 more than we started with. Another thing I thought was cool was that the dealers were Hooters girls so the experience was great all around.
We then hit up a lot of casinos on the strip. Our favorite was Luxor where we had a fantastic blackjack dealer and all of us won money again. A couple of days before the trip I found out about the MyVegas app and built up enough points for $25 match play at Luxor. I sat at the table with $40 and walked away with $220 so you could say that was a good day. We walked the rest of the casinos and played a couple of hands at all of them. I thought it was fun to get rewards cards at each casino and get free stuff. We ended the night drunk and with more money than we started with so we were all happy.
Our last day we had to check out of the Bellagio by 11 AM. Our flight wasn’t till 9 PM so we had a lot of time to waste. We put our bags in the bag storage at the Bellagio which is “free” with tip. After this, we went to Eggslut again because we liked it so much and it was next door at the Cosmopolitan. We went to Fashion Show Mall where we bought a couple of items and checked it out. This mall was one of the coolest I had been to because of all the stores I had never seen before. We went to an NBA summer league game that we were able to get into for free with the help of our business partner mentioned earlier. After this, we ate at Tacos El Gordo after being referred to it about 10 times during the trip. We finished our trip playing some $10 blackjack at the Flamingo before grabbing our bags and heading to the airport.
In the end, I spent about $1000 on the trip. But, thanks to winning money I only spent about $700 on the trip by the end. I think as a college kid, we were still able to do a lot of things in vegas and not spend too much money. I definitely want to go back when I have more money, but thanks to having a good knowledge of blackjack I was able to save $300 on the trip. I hope if you are a college kid with money questions about vegas this helped answer some of them.

You guys were super helpful to me, so hopefully this helps someone else out down the line!!
We (boyfriend and I) booked a package through Southwest vacations, originally staying Sunday through Thursday and flying out on Friday but we stayed the extra two nights and flew out on Sunday in order to meet up with some friends. Originally we had a king room at MGM booked, but changed over to a king balcony suite at the Signature at MGM for the extra space/whirlpool tub.
The vast majority of our gambling was $0.25-$1 blackjack on the video poker machines - we didn't lost much money, and had drinks given to us pretty frequently at most casinos.
Sunday we flew in and got to the Signature at about 10:30am, we were able to upgrade to a 28th floor strip view suite for an extra $10 a night - we had originally been offered a 37th floor strip view suite for $30 a night, but went with the slightly cheaper option. Luckily our room was ready and we were able to take our bags upstairs right away. We headed to Planet Hollywood and grabbed lunch at Earl of Sandwich, walked around the shops then explored Paris and a bit of Bellagio and gambled a bit before heading black to the hotel to get ready for dinner. We took a lyft down to the Palms and did dinner at Alize - we had a groupon for the tasting menu at $200 rather than the original $350ish, but the meal was so incredible I'd probably be willing to pay full price. Originally we had plans to go down a floor to hang out at Ghostbar for a bit, but we were both so full and tired neither of us really felt like drinking. We gambled a bit before lyfting back to the Signature, then changed and hung out at MGM's casino for a bit before heading to sleep.
Monday we each used a free breakfast buffet reward from MyVegas at MGM, then lyfted down to Fashion Show and explored Encore/Wynn/Venetian for a while. We had a buy one get one free Bellagio lunch buffet reward as well, which we redeemed right at about 2:45 so we could get the perks of the dinner buffet offerings that were brought out at 3. Later on we checked out NYNY then took the free tram between ExcalibuMandalay Bay/Luxor and explored and gambled a bit while watching the CFB playoff. Again, we gambled a bit at MGM and made it to Emeril's JUST in time to grab a late night happy hour snack - the sign said 9:30-close, when we got there at about 9:40 the bartenders took our order right away as the kitchen was in the process of closing up. The apps were good, unfortunately we never made it back for oyster happy hour.
Tuesday we did an early lunch at Nacho Daddy (giant plate for about $20, easily fed both of us!) and explored and gambled around Aria/Cosmopolitan/Bellagio. We had a Groupon for a prix fixe menu at Koi at Planet Hollywood which turned out to be a great deal, and we hung out in the lounge for happy hour for a bit before that. We booked KA tickets a few days before flying out through the M Life site, which was an amazing show for a great deal.
Wednesday we used a buy one get one free MGM breakfast buffet MyVegas reward, then lyfted out to SilverCar and picked up a car for the day. We're both only 22 so we really struggled finding a decently priced car, luckily a Vegas redditor recommeneded SilverCar. Cost for the day was $39 and $12 in taxes/fees, and $5+gas. We drive to Hoover Dam/Lake Mead and then Red Rock. Since we had the car we decided to stop at In n Out, then headed up to Stratosphere for happy hour at sunset - neither of us really enjoyed the drinks or the view from the SkyLounge, but we had been spoiled at the Palms a few nights before. We also popped into Westgate, Circus Circus, Lucky Dragon and Rio before heading to the Welcome to Vegas sign and dropping the car off. My boyfriend is a pilot so we popped into the airport observation lot for a half hour or so - unplanned but incredibly cool!! We lyfted down to Caesars, went through the shops then explored and gambled and watched a few fountain shows before heading to bed.
Thursday was kind of rainy and windy, so we slept in and then headed to Aria and each used a free lunch buffet reward. We both thought this was by far the best buffet (and it cost less points than the Bellagio rewards!), and it's definitely on the top of our list to go to again. We lyfted down to Fremont and spent the afternoon/early evening exploring all of the casinos and watching the light shows, then did dinner at Hugo's Cellar at Four Queens. Hugo's was recommended by family friends, we both thought it was OK but not great. We sat down at some penny video poker machines at the Fremont Casino, which happened to be right next to the bar and wound up with about 8 drinks each in an hour or so span. We lyfted back to the Signature and headed to sleep.
Friday we grabbed lunch at Taco Bell so we could officially say we had eaten there, then explored the middle part of the strip (Ballys/Harrahs/Linq/Flamingo) that we hadn't gotten to yet. We wound up with awesome 5th row center section seats for the early show of Zumanity by checking with the box office about a half an hour before the show started, I think the original price would have been nearly $400 after tax and fees and I paid around $170. I would definitely recommend a seat near center stage since so much happens right up front. After that, our friends got in and got settled, then we gambled at MGM and headed down to Bellagio for the fountains and more gambling. My female friend and I were wandering around the slot machines near Hyde while the guys were playing video games, we were approached by someone working the door and let in free of charge in front of the line. We stayed for about ten minutes to see what was happening then left because it was decently crowded and we wanted to get back out to the guys. Late night dinner at Taco Bell finished off our night.
Saturday we once again did breakfast at the MGM buffet, per request of our friends - I definitely wouldn't recommend paying weekend prices unless you're wanting to drink shitty mimosas for two hours straight. For the $55ish we paid for the two of us I definitely wouldn't say it was worth it at all. We then headed to Pro Gun Club a little ways outside of Vegas - specifically chosen because my boyfriend and I are both experienced shooters and I wanted the chance to shoot a 50 cal, but one of our friends had never shot a gun and wanted to be able to shoot a 9mm. My boyfriend was there once before and the staff has been amazing both times - the outdoor range is great. By the time we got back it was nearly dark, so we walked from MGM up the strip to see some more of the strip at night, popped into the In n Out at the LINQ, hung out in different casinos here and there until 7 when we watched the Mirage volcano, then went through the Venetian some more. We took a lyft back to the hotel )damn near impossible to finally get a driver that showed up within five minutes for some reason), got ready and then we hung out at the MGM casino while our friends went to a show that wasn't of any interest to us.
Sunday we checked out of our hotel, checked our bags with the bellhop and grabbed lunch at Earl of Sandwich and hit up the sports book at Planet Hollywood to put some last minute bets down since we realized we could mail the tickets in if we won. We headed to the airport at about 2 even though our flight wasn't until 4:45 thinking that it was going to be insanely busy based on how crazy checkout had been in the morning, but we were dropped off by Lyft and made it to the terminal within 15 minutes. We watched as much of the Packers game as we could and played some last minute video blackjack before finally getting on our flight (delayed by an hour, almost missed our transfer to another plane in Phoenix but luckily they held the plane for us.
We definitely didn't NEED seven nights, but I'm glad we had the time to get out off of the strip for two full days. We got through just about everything we wanted to and didn't feel rushed. Next time we're back we'll probably just stay 3-4 days since we now know what we like and where we'll want to go back.
We actually grabbed a $1 chip from each casino we went into (other than those on Fremont street - we couldn't just get one from the cashiers or one of the dealers, we were told that we had to actually sit down and play which we weren't planning on doing at each casino) and wound up with 30 total, so we covered a lot of ground!
General takeaways -
-MyVegas saved us a TON of money - six free buffets (and a few random non-MGM rewards that we actually didn't wind up using due to the restrictions on when they could be used). I will absolutely keep playing for whenever we go next! We tried to leave slots running on our phones in the background whenever we were watching TV or something, and I played a bit of blackjack most days. We didn't learn about it until about 2 months before we came, and we each wound up with about 50-60k in loyalty points with very minimal effort.
-Lyft was insanely cheap with $5 off each ride - we spent about $50 total for 10 rides (including one to the airport gate, two to Fremont, two to Silvercar which is past the airport) compared to one $25 Uber to get us from the airport to the Signature.
-People aren't kidding when they say wear comfy shoes - I wore my comfiest pair of boots on Monday and wound up with a horrid blister that I didn't know was forming. Monday night through Thursday was hell for me because I had a quarter sized blister on the bottom of my foot - thank god for the $9 pads I was able to grab at CVS
-I do pole/aerial silks so I was insanely excited for Cirque shows, my boyfriend not so much - we both LOVED KA, I loved Zumanity and he at least semi-enjoyed it. Definitely give them a shot!
-Groupon saved us quite a bit of money on dinners as well, and we had a few others lined up for food/drinks/entertainment that we knew we could purchase if we wanted to use them.
-Silvercar is in fact legit, and you will wind up with a Silver Audi - any time we travel to a city with a Silvercar kiosk, we'll actively be seeking them out.
-We learned that rooms at the Signature can be rented on airbnb, which we definitely did not know before hand - just generally looking at prices the rooms on airbnb seemed like an awesome deal and we'll definitely check into that next time we come.
Once again, thanks for all of your help - we saved a ton of money and got so many good recommendations from you all!!

Just returned from the most epic week in Las Vegas with my husband! We budgeted about $1000 per person for the week, all expenses included. We went over by a couple hundred in the end. We planned a lot of activities and sightseeing in advance to avoid gambling too much out of boredom. We weren't very lucky at anything except blackjack, but we were able to leave Vegas at only $40 in the hole between the two us, which I consider a moderate success! And we weren't bored for a minute!
Day 1 (Wed 10/19)

• I flew from NC to Vegas on Frontier at $191 roundtrip after taxes and fees. It wasn't a luxurious experience, but I wasn't expecting it to be. I packed a medium-sized backpack within the "personal item" dimensions so I wouldn't have to pay a $35 carry-on fee. No employee measured (or even glanced at) my bag either way. My husband had a work conference in Vegas the following week and was allowed to bump his flight up a week, so his flight (Southwest) was already covered.
  
• Rented a car from Enterprise via a third-party site called carrentals.com. We got a new Toyota Corolla for the week at $151 after tax (just under $22/day). Used a Lyft credit to pick the car up at the location off Las Vegas Blvd, since it was about 5 times more expensive to rent from the airport location. All totally worth it! We used the car a lot each day. I would definitely rent a car again if I returned to Vegas. Next time I would probably take more advantage of free valet parking on the strip.
  
• Stopped by In-N-Out Burger for lunch. So good.
  
• Grabbed a some shelf-stable groceries to keep in our room. We made sandwiches here and there for odd meals and when we were driving or doing outdoorsy things. Saved us some money on drinks, snacks, and breakfast as well.
  
• Took a lap around Miracle Mile Shops to kill some time before check-in at 3. Pretty nice mall. Wanted to see the indoor rainstorm on the hour but never did locate it.
  
• I had booked a room at Mandalay Bay for 2 nights at $77/night with a $75 dining credit on the hotel's website using a promo code I found on smartervegas.com. At check-in I asked if there were any upgrades available, and we were offered to upgrade to the Delano for an additional $30 a night. We went ahead and did it, because why not?
  
• Before dinner, we grabbed drinks at Skyfall Lounge at the top of the Delano. We went during their happy hour, called "Sunset Hour," and watched a beautiful sunset over Vegas. Even the toilets had a view. I would recommend reservations--we had reservations and were allowed to sit at much better tables (on the balcony) than those without.
  
• For dinner, we went to Wolfgang Puck's LUPO Restaurant to use the rest of our dining credit. I also had a credit for a free bottle of wine from the MyVegas app. This meal wasn't bad, but I didn't think it was delicious enough to justify how much it cost. I had a steak that I didn't think was a great cut, and my vegetables were over-seasoned and over-salted. The atmosphere was nice but somewhat boring. I probably wouldn't bother dining here again, personally. We had a reservation but didn't need it. The place was mostly empty.
  
• After dinner, we saw Penn and Teller at the Rio. We got discounted tickets through Travelzoo at $46/person. Very good show. Penn and Teller came out front for pictures afterward. Teller talked to us!
  

Day 2 (Thurs 10/20)

• Woke up to a window washer hanging outside the window.
  
• Had a late brunch/early lunch at Ellis Island. No frills, good value and large portions.
  
• Went on a free tour of a light art installation called Akhob by James Turrell hidden in a secret floor in the Louis Vuitton Store at the Shops at Crystals. This was such an awesomely strange experience! We had fun feeling like we were "in" on a secret, and the installation itself was also very cool. Reservations are definitely required for this one. They said they were booked out about a month.
  
• Walked around CityCenter. The Shops at Crystals and Aria were beautiful and had many sights to see (water features, art exhibits, etc.). We wandered into Vdara as well, which looked very nice, but was not much to look at in terms of sightseeing.
  
• Visited Bellagio. A definite must-see in Vegas. We watched our first fountain show (our first dose of "Uptown Funk"), walked through the garden conservatory, admired the Chihuly glass in the lobby, took a look at the chocolate fountain, and shared a cup of gelato.
  
• Took a 30-minute ride on the High Roller Observation Wheel. I was lucky enough to nab a voucher for $25 for 2 for a daytime ride with open bar a couple months ago on Travelzoo (prices have gone way up since). We went right as the sun was setting and it was wonderful. The bartender was great and churned out drinks like a boss. She gave us shots to do together as a group at the top, and even made everyone drinks "to go" at the end. If you go, be sure to grab a spot on the side facing the strip (the close side when you walk in).
  
• Had dinner at Gyu Kaku using a Livingsocial voucher I had gotten with a promo code. We had never been to a grill-your-own-meat place before. We got some kind of meat sampler. Everything was delicious. My husband was obsessed. Weirdly, the place was nearly empty, even around 7pm.
  
• Wandered around Caesar's Palace and the Forum Shops. Worth a visit. Watched the fish in the big tank for a few minutes, then caught the 8pm Fall of Atlantis animatronic show. We had a good laugh at the plot of the show and lost it at the king's broken hand dangling and flopping around during his grand gestures. There must have been a screw loose. We thought it was totally hilarious, and it became a running joke of our trip.
  
• Caught the 9pm Fire show at the Mirage. Very cool free attraction to see up close...you can hear the fire whirring and feel the heat whack you in the face.
  
• Saw Cirque du Soleil Beatles LOVE show at the Mirage at 9:30. Yeah, okay, we overdid it. We were really tired at this point. I had gotten one free ticket through MyVegas so it was basically half price. We were too tired to really enjoy the show. It looked really cool, the costumes and props were spectacular, and the performers were talented, but we just never really got "into" it. We were jet-lagged and had trouble staying awake after our long day. We were in the back row of section 201, and while we could see pretty well, I think being just 3 or 4 rows closer (with a cup of coffee in my hand) would have been an improvement.
  

Day 3 (Fri 10/21)

• Decided to head out of town for Fri-Sat to see Zion and Grand Canyon, to avoid the crowds and higher weekend hotel prices.
  
• Stopped by Donut Bar in downtown on our way out toward Zion. These donuts in there were completely bonkers and we had trouble deciding which ones to get. They were very good. We got a couple extra for the next morning, but they were no good by the second day.
  
• Drove to Zion National Park, parked on the side of the road in a stretch where there were some other cars already parked, and rode the bus to the last stop to hike the Narrows. We both felt this was one of the major highlights of the trip. The hike was exhilarating and a bit challenging without being too frustrating. We had the. best. time. We didn't bother renting any gear and we were totally fine. We wore $8 neoprene fin socks for scuba diving I bought on Amazon with some old beat-up sneakers. This worked great because our feet were warm, and we didn't get blisters because our shoes were already comfortably molded to our feet. A lot of other hikers seemed to be stopping for breaks because they were having trouble with blisters and/or cold feet. We scavenged for walking sticks down at the entrance to the narrows. I had read there were usually some left there from previous hikers. My husband found a scrap of 1x2 and I found a pool cue. They looked a bit silly, but you really just need them for feeling around in the water. I doubt the sticks they had for rent would really be a vast improvement.
  
• Waited on a long line to get a bus back to the front of the park. A lady mentioned something about some kind of school holiday in the area, so maybe that's why there were so many people there.
  
• Went back to our car to find a $50 parking ticket. Damn!
  
• Drove up the scenic drive overlooking the park on the way out. It was a bit too dark to see very well at that point, but we got a bit of the view.
  
• Drove to Page, AZ for the night. Stayed at Best Western - View of Lake Powell at $94/night. I don't stay at Best Western a lot, so I don't know what they are usually like, but this was much nicer than I expected for the price! It was situated atop a hill overlooking Lake Powell.
  

Day 4 (10/22)

• Stopped by Wahweap Marina on Lake Powell to check out the views of the lake. It was very beautiful and serene here. Not too many people, either. Would be great if you have a boat.
  
• Stopped for pictures of Glen Canyon Dam, the dam that forms the lake. Cool dam.
  
• Drove to Horseshoe bend and hiked the short hike to the edge. Definitely worth a stop. Lots of photo ops. There were more people here than I expected, but plenty of rocks to climb on for everyone.
  
• Had reserved a spot on a tour of Antelope Canyon, but skipped it because we had decided to sleep in somewhat late that morning. Maybe next time. Heard good things from other travelers.
  
• Drove to Grand Canyon National Park and followed the route along the south rim, stopping at the various viewpoints (Desert View Watchtower, Navajo Point, Lipan Point, Grandview Point). It was a beautiful day to see the Grand Canyon. Ate a bag lunch at one of the overlooks. I was a bit sick with a cold and unable to hike long, but enjoyed some light walking along the Rim Trail starting at South Kaibab. If I come back in the future and I'm not sick, I'd like to do some more rigorous hiking. For our purposes on this trip, one day at the Grand Canyon was sufficient.
  
• Rode a bus to one last viewpoint for sunset. I believe it was called Hopi Point. It was a bit crowded, but a very nice view.
  
• Had some mediocre pizza at a place called We Cook Pizza and Pasta. I can't say I recommend it. It tasted a lot like frozen pizza. There really wasn't any restaurant in town we could find with decent reviews online except RP's Stage Stop, but that one closed at 5pm, so we had to settle.
  
• Stayed at Best Western again-- Best Western Primier Grand Canyon Squire Inn, in Tusayan, at $106/night. We were able to upgrade to the newest building for free by signing up for Best Western Rewards. This was another pleasant surprise! Our room was very nice, and everything was brand new. The main building had a little bowling alley and arcade, where we ran into a couple from Ireland we had encountered already at Penn and Teller and Caesar's Palace in Vegas. What are the chances of that?
  

Day 5 (Sun 10/23)

• Drove from Tusayan toward the Hoover Dam and pulled off at Williams, AZ for breakfast. This was an unplanned stop that we really enjoyed. Williams really plays up the Route 66 and "small town USA" nostalgia. We ate at Pine Country Restaurant simply because it looked popular. Our meal was very good. We enjoyed strolling down the main street for a little bit and popped in a few kitschy little gift shops.
  
• Visited the Hoover Dam. We looked at the dam from the bridge, then looked at the bridge from the dam. It is a very impressive sight, and definitely worth pulling off the highway to see it. We impulsively decided to go on the dam tour after we chatted with some people finishing up the tour who gave it glowing reviews. It was a decent dam tour, but we probably could have done without the dam tour. It was interesting, but crowded and a bit anticlimactic, in my opinion.
  
• Drove back to Las Vegas and checked into Excalibur. Definitely a step down from where we were, but not too terrible. The location was good, and the price was right. I booked two nights at $44/night with a $30 dining credit using a promo code from smartervegas.com, and the third night was free via MyVegas points. My research had indicated that the "Royal Tower" was newly renovated, so we requested a room in that tower at check-in. The lobby and hallways looked like they needed an update, but our room was pretty nice once we were in there. I had no major complaints, except that the TV gave us some trouble and Robert Irvine from "Restaurant Impossible" was peering into our window at all hours. We didn't hang out in the casino much because the service wasn't great. There were a lot of glasses and ashtrays laying around, and the machines had trouble reading vouchers. We did enjoy the $5 blackjack tables, which were a little bit harder to find elsewhere.
  
• Went on a club crawl. This was unnecessary. I booked it through Groupon in advance, thinking it would save money on cover, but we were handed a lot of "free entry" passes from club promoters on the street to get into decent clubs, so we didn't really need it. It would be good to go this route if you had a group of all males, or if you were going out on a busy weekend night, or if you just wanted to meet a group of random people. In the end, we just ended up spending half the night trying to track down our group (of about 12 male accountants who already knew each other), which wasn't really worth it.
  

Day 6 (Mon 10/24)

• Went to check out the older casinos downtown this day. Downtown was a bit more rough around the edges than the strip (as expected), but still worth the visit.
  
• My schedule had an option have breakfast at The Beat, but we decided to sleep in instead.
  
• Went to lunch at Carson Kitchen. It was raining, and everyone was kind of freaking out about how it was raining. The place was mostly empty, so we got a great seat at the counter where we could watch the chef working and see all of the food coming out. Everything we had was delicious. Everything we saw coming out looked like it would be delicious, too. Our waiter was good. He insisted we get the bread pudding, because it would change our lives. It did.
  
• Walked to Fremont Street and played the vintage slots at The D. We enjoyed a bay of penny slot machines with some sort of Inferno/Devil theme and won a bit of money. We also played the vintage horse derby machine, which ate up a bunch of our money but was a fun time. There was a lot of screaming and cheering going on.
  
• Popped into Golden Nugget and watched the shark tank for a bit. We were surprised at the number of sharks they fit in there. Very interesting to watch. Also looked at the giant gold nugget on our way out (it's just a giant gold nugget).
  
• Ate dinner at Itsy Bitsy Ramen and Whiskey. We had a Groupon again. This place was virtually empty as well (maybe it was the rain?) but was also very good. My bowl of Ramen was big enough to swim in, and the broth was perfect.
  
• Walked back to Fremont Street to watch the Fremont Experience light show at 7. It was some kind of weird alien show and the graphics weren't great, but the scale was impressive. The Slotzilla zipliners were fun to watch and added to the festiveness.
  
• Went to Banger Brewing Company because I had a Groupon to use on a flight of beers and a couple pints. We had a reservation to go on their free tour earlier in the day, but missed it because we completely forgot about it. Oops. Either way, sitting at a table in the bar to drink our beer was a good little break from the sensory overload. We sat and played a couple board games while people-watching through the window.
  
• Grabbed a couple of cocktails at The Golden Tiki. Groupon again. Just a fun little tiki bar. I had something with Dole Whip which was pretty good. It was the most busy place we had seen all day, but we were still able to find an empty table.
  
• Went back to the strip to see the Cosmopolitan. This is a very impressive, glitzy hotel. If I were to describe it in one word, it would be "sparkly." We had fun looking for the Secret Pizza restaurant. We tried to not cheat too much in looking for hints online. We were on the guest list to go to Marquee, but were too tired to get dressed up and go to a club at this point.
  
• Walked the middle part of the strip on foot. Walked farther north than we planned. Stopped in the Piano Bar at Harrah's and sang along with a few oldies. The pianist was entertaining and worked his own funny/dirty lyrics into the songs. Even more fun to watch was the crowd getting really into it. People from all walks of life belting out songs in unison. We didn't stay very long because there was nowhere for us to sit.
  

Day 7 (Tues 10/25)

• Had lunch at Capo's Speakeasy. I got a voucher on Travelzoo for $30 worth of food for $15 with a sign up discount of $10 off. I figured for $5, I'd be happy with anything. You need a password to get in. Well, kind of. It's silly and fun. They were playing some hilariously over-the-top old mob movies on the TVs. The food was pretty good and portions were generous. I really, really liked the fries drizzled with sauce.
  
• Visited the Wynn. It is a very pleasant place. Saw the flower sculptures, parasols, lake, and water features. We weren't here too long. Just wanted to check it out.
  
• Visited the Grand Canal Shoppes. Watched the gondolas and some performers milling about. Got a piece of chocolate from a guy on stilts.
  
• Visited the Palazzo. Admired the waterfall in the atrium. Visited the casino and won some money on a Britney Spears slot machine. Thus began our addiction to Britney Spears slot machines.
  
• Showed up at to the Flamingo to see a show by a guy called Jeff Civillico. Turns out, his show is cancelled through the end of the year. No biggie. The tickets were cheap on Travelzoo. They said they had already sent refunds out. I must have missed the memo. Went to look at the live flamingos for a few minutes instead. This wasn't bad, but nothing spectacular. A bit smelly.
  
• Went to Paris, walked around, and did a bit of gambling. Britney was good to us again. There was a live band playing on one side of the casino and some random exotic dancers on a bar in the middle.
  
• Had dinner at Hexx with a Groupon (of course). We had a reservation and were sat out on the deck with a good view for people watching. Our food and service were very good. We had some fries that had a bunch of gravy and stuff on top that looked like a total mess but tasted really good.
  
• Went to the top of the Eiffel Tower with a Groupon (duh) for $30 for 2. There was no line. We just had to wait for the elevator to come down. We got to the top a bit before 9pm. Of all the views of the strip we saw, this was probably my favorite. You're high enough to see everything, but low enough to hear the hustle and bustle and street performers below. The view of the Bellagio fountains from above is spectacular. We caught 2 full shows. We were even able to see the Mirage fire show again at 9.
  
• Went back downstairs to the bar at Hexx for cocktails. I had a voucher for BOGO specialty cocktails from MyVegas. They were decent. We didn't really need them, though.
  
• Went into Omnia at Caesar's Palace for a little while, mostly just to see it. Very cool atmosphere. Very crowded, even early in the night. Male to female ratio was off, if that's important to you, but that didn't matter to us.
  

Day 8 (Wed 10/26)

• Had lunch at Tacos El Gordo. We had no idea how to order, but whatever tacos we ended up with were very good and authentic. The line wasn't too bad when we got there around 11:30. We ordered 6 tacos, but probably would have liked a couple more because they were small. The line was too long by the time we finished to bother getting more, though.
  
• Popped into Peppermill Fireside Lounge nearby, just for a few minutes, out of curiosity. Very cozy, retro-looking little place with little fires at the booths in the lounge. The restaurant seemed to be popular at lunchtime.
  
• Last stop was Treasure Island. There wasn't much to see here in terms of sightseeing except a pirate ship out front and few artsy pieces here and there, but we read it was one of the better casinos on the strip for low rollers like ourselves. We found a $5 blackjack table with a 3 to 2 payout. I hadn't seen many of those on the strip. I started with $20 and walked away with a little over $80. You know we hit those Britney slots one more time before we left, too.
  
• I headed back to the airport to fly back home while my husband stayed for work the next day.
  

Thanks for reading! I might try to come back and add some pictures and links here as I get the chance. Feel free to ask me about anything we did!