My husband and I have been to Vegas twice (well, ok, 3 times, but I was only 19 the first time so I couldn't do anything so it didn't count) on vacations with friends while the kids stayed at home with the grandparents. They were great (of course they were that's why we did it twice!) and here's why...
1. Drinks at the pool at 9 am. You can start every day right in Vegas. Both times I was there I went in the summer, which was rough in mid-day when 1 minute outside felt like an eternity in hellfire. But at 9am the temperature is just right to lounge in the sun by the pool, with a cocktail of course.
3. Being unabashedly touristy. When you visit a more... high brow city, you might want to try and blend in. I do. I hate standing out as a tourist. No fanny packs and cameras around my neck, no standing on the street corner with a map (haha, map. what is this 1998?) But in Vegas I play tourist loud and proud. One of the most fun things to do was to exaggerate our Minnesotan accents, especially when talking in elevators. Ooh, Jen, didja see dat der sign for da club, I'd like ta go there doncha know, oh you betcha dat would be a hoot! And since most everybody around you in Vegas is totally wasted, they not only believed our accents were real, but they started to talk about it with us like we were some exotic creature they just met. Speaking of being completely drunk....
4. Be drunk everywhere! You can buy and consume beverages everywhere you go. Vegas is like a crazy bar that never closes. The hardest part of coming back from Vegas (other than the hangover) is realizing that you can no longer stroll down main street with a two foot tall margarita in your hand. *sad face*5. Free drinks on the casino floor! If you find the right machine you can put in a dollar, poke the buttons, and mooch off the free drinks for hours. If one of your favorite pastimes is hanging around with friends chatting and drinking, than all you're really missing is the shiny buttons to hit, and the chance of winning a few bucks. What can be better than friends and free drinks, really? And if you like free things...
6. Free entertainment on the strip! Just walking down the strip is like going to a show. Actually there are shows there. There are the fountains at Bellagio, and that pirate thing at that pirate place (ok, I admit, my friend Jen was the one in charge of usering us to and from the various shows on the strip, maybe you should take her with you to Vegas with you too). There are street performers and of course, don't underestimate the fun of people watching in a city as insane as Las Vegas.
7. Find the humor in the seedier side of Vegas. At every crosswalk along the strip you will see men handing out little stacks of cards. These are advertisements for hookers. They thrust them into mens' hands before they know what's going on, and as a result they litter the ground up and down the strip. You could find this distasteful, wasteful, and sad. You could yell odd obscenities like "kangeroo-cunt" at all of them (although people might think you have tourettes). Or you could these intrusive advertisements them as trading cards and collect a whole set. Extra points for every hooker you find who shares your name (warning to other Alisons out there, you will lose this game, even if you could Allison, Alyson, Allicen, and any other spelling)
8. Food! Food! Food! There is almost as much food as booze in Vegas. There's something for everybody. You can stuff yourself silly at an all you can eat buffet, or empty your wallet and have a few bites form a world renowned chef. The best meal of my life was one I had in on of Hubert Keller's Vegas restaurants. There's something for everyone to eat in Vegas.
9. It doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg! You could drop a truckload of money easily, for sure. But you don't have to. We stayed at Excalibur and it cost less than $50 a night. It's not the Bellagio, but it's easy walking distance to the Bellagio (unless you wear stilettos then the walk gets less easy... at least for me). Also, all that stuff I already said about free drinks and entertainment. And if you bring your own partner, the sex is free too. ;)
10. What happens in Vegas Stays in Vegas... and, apparently some of it ends up on this blog... but not all of it does *wink wink, nudge nudge*