10 Money-Saving Meal Strategies for Vegas
For the budget Vegas vacationers, here are some strategies for eating well in Las Vegas without breaking the bank.
Solo Dining
Many people feel awkward eating alone in their home towns, and it’s no different for solo travelers. They’re afraid they’ll feel conspicuous, that people will stare at them with pity, or that waitstaff will treat them shabbily. If you think you might be uncomfortable eating alone, try these tips.
How to Save Money on Las Vegas Hotels
Las Vegas is one of the best cities in the U.S. for getting “bang for your buck” on hotels. Here are some ways to get even more for your money.
Las Vegas is a city of superlatives–”biggest,” “tallest,” “best,” “most”–whatever it does, it always has to do it bigger and better than everyone else. That goes for restaurant portion sizes, too. Some people enjoy the opportunity to overindulge on everything when they’re in Las Vegas—alcohol, gambling, shopping, smoking, sex, and yes, even food. There’s nothing wrong with that; it is your vacation after all. But what if you don’t want to overindulge?
Some people have very light appetites. I happen to be one of them. I can be so ravenous it feels as though my stomach is an empty pocket turned inside out, yet I still can’t eat more than half an entree in a restaurant before I’m full. In Vegas, it’s more like a third of a plate. It’s always daunting for me to stare down a plate of food that looks like it weighs more than I do.
If you have a light appetite, too, then you need to work out some strategies for meal time in Las Vegas so you don’t waste money or food. When you’re traveling with a significant other or a friend, you can always split an entree, but those of us traveling solo don’t have that option. So how can you eat lightly in Vegas?
This is the third of my inaugural trio of posts about simple photography tips to jazz up your Vegas vacation photos. This week’s topic: Getting yourself in the picture. This has been a challenge for solo travelers for as long as there have been solo travelers. . .and, er, cameras. Without a traveling companion to take your photo, what do you do?
Other than buying a souvenir photo (which I cover briefly below), there are two ways to get yourself in your Las Vegas vacation photos:
Me on the Fremont Street zipline
- Ask someone else to take your picture for you; or
- Take your own picture (a “selfie”, or self-photography)
Pretty obvious, yes? Then why is it so hard to put into practice?
Posted in Photography by .
Apr 13
21
Vegas Photo Tip #2: Look Down
Last week, I said I’d be doing a series of posts highlighting some very simple tips that anyone can apply with any camera to jazz up their Vegas vacation photos. This is #2 in the first trio of posts. Last week’s tip was to “Look Up,” so naturally, this week we have to cover the flip side of the coin, the B side of the record, the yang to the yin. Yes, that’s right, this week’s equally simple tip is: Look down.
Come on, you knew that was coming, didn’t you?
The Strip at Night
Both of these first two tips have to do with perspective. Basically, we’re looking for new and different ways of seeing things in Las Vegas. So instead of just taking a straight-ahead picture of the Mirage volcano or the Eiffel Tower at Paris, we’re finding new angles that make them a bit more interesting. Go ahead. Try all three. Get a straight ahead shot, a shot looking up, and a shot looking down. Very different compositions, no?
Posted in Recreation by .
Apr 13
14
Vegas Photo Tip #1: Look Up
If you’ve ever had an unforgettable trip to Las Vegas, chances are you want photos of that experience to reminisce over for years to come. But what happens when your vacation photos don’t live up to the experience? I mean, Vegas is such a BIG experience–why do our photos sometimes seem so. . .small? What happens when they’re disappointingly bland?
This doesn’t happen to everyone, of course. Some of you may be expert photographers. (I hate you, by the way. Kidding, kidding. . .) But when I look back at my photos from my earliest trips to Las Vegas, I cringe at some of them. Part of the problem was the camera, part of it was the lack of photo editing software, but most of it was just “user error”. I did what many people do: I rushed through my checklist of sights to see, stopped long enough to snap a picture or two, and moved on. And unfortunately, my photos tended to be very plain and ordinary. Or even worse, blurry, grainy, and too dark, like this one:
Interior shot of Paris casino
Posted in Recreation by .
Apr 13
7
Brian’s Bacchanal Buffet Review
Today’s guest post is brought to you by my friend and fellow Vegas fan Brian Tucker, whose name you should recognize by now as a regular contributor to this blog. Take it away, Brian!
I had the privilege of enjoying the very first Sunday brunch at Bacchanal back when it opened last October at Caesars Palace. The price was $31.99 and included unlimited mimosas and champagne, not to mention the to-die-for, fresh-squeezed watermelon, honeydew, and orange juice. (I believe the self-serve juice bar is available during regular breakfast hours as well.) There were all the requisite Vegas brunch staples, as well as a plethora of decidedly non-breakfast Asian selections.
Bacchanal Entrance
My server informed me those were popular with the jet-lagged travelers from all parts of the globe, even at 7:30AM while I was dining. I thought this was a neat idea, though I was curious as to how she knew it was so popular since we were conversing at the start of the inaugural brunch. Needless to say that since the buffet had been open less than a week at that point, the service, cleanliness, food quality, and selection were all absolutely flawless.
I mentioned this to a friend who works on the Strip, and he quickly said, “Give them three months and it’ll all be average, ho-hum food like every other buffet in town.” Accepting that as a challenge, I decided to wait not three, but six months before I returned!
Posted in Restaurants by .
