Aria, Las Vegas, NV

My husband and I just returned from a stay at Aria.  The hotel and casino was built recently. The lobby, casino, and rooms are modern and tastefully decorated. The casino is bright (and doesn't stink of smoke) unlike some of its older neighbors on the strip. The rooms themselves are decked out with remote EVERYTHING. From the curtains to the lights and music, everything can be changed with the touch of a button or an on screen control.

There are plenty of food and drink options on the property. We rarely left the hotel (with the exception going out for shows and tours) because we found so much to eat and see at Aria. The crepes at Jean Philippe Patisserie are not to be missed (the sandwiches are good, too!).  Our favorite crepes were the chocolate and the nutella.  Julian Serrano serves great tapas and sangria. From 4 PM to 5:30 PM, the sangria and 11 of the tapas are half off. The sliders, meatballs, lamb chop were my favorites. We also had the calamari, tuna cones, and raspberry tuna skewers. This restaurant serves three different types of sangria- red, rose, and white. We tried the red and rose. The red was one of the best red sangrias I have ever tasted. The rose was light and refreshing.

The fitness facility is huge with plenty of cardio equipment, free weights and Cybex machines. The treadmills overlook the pool and have tv's mounted to them. Swipe your card at the desk when you arrive and grab a towel and bottle of water.

Be sure to get to the pool early if you are visiting at the end of the week or weekend. The pool started to get crowded on Wednesday and Thursday was much busier.  I imagine it is packed on weekends.

702 Helicopter Tours, Las Vegas, Nevada

You only turn 30 once.

We went to Hawaii for my 30th for over a week.  Sam wanted to save some dough and go somewhere closer to home for his 30th.  He picked Las Vegas.

This was our third trip to Vegas together (his 4th total) and I wanted to do something special.  I spotted a helicopter tour on Travelzoo.  702 Helicopters had great reviews on TripAdvisor so I bought the deal ($69/person) and some how managed to keep it a secret until his birthday.  I paid extra for a private tour and for transportation to and from the airport. It was so worth having the tour to ourselves.  The transportation had us biting our nails because they definitely forgot us. After several phone calls, a white limo arrived 20 minutes late. Because we had booked the transportation with the company (they contract it out it seems) they held our spot in line and we didn't miss our flight.

This was pretty much the coolest thing we have ever done. Okay, so snorkeling in The Keys and Hawaii is pretty cool. We loved sailing on a catamaran in Santorini. But, this? This was epic!

The tour is a quick 15 minutes, but the ride takes you down the strip on one side, around the bottom and then back up the other side, ending with a close look at the Stratosphere.  We had a blast!

My only regret? Not forcing Sam to bring his nice camera.  The photos that follow were taken with my phone.  The first of which is us in the limo on the way to the tour.

The Neon Museum, Las Vegas, Nevada

Last night we visited The Neon Museum in Las Vegas. It is north of the strip, passed downtown. This is perhaps one of the coolest things to do in Las Vegas, Nevada. Sam heard about it via one of The Property Brothers. I surprised him with tickets for his birthday trip.

Las Vegas is an ever changing city.  The neon signs of the past and present are a good way to show this change. The hour tour is $25 and depending on the time of year may sell out quickly.  I suggest buying tickets prior to arriving at the museum.  From our hotel on the strip (Aria) it was a steep $31 (including tip) cab ride to the museum.  Thankfully, a friend of mine did the 8 PM tour, so we caught a ride with him back to the strip, saving us thirty bucks.

If you are going at night you may want to wear closed toed shoes and watch where you step. In summer months, bring a bottle of water or you can purchase one for $1. It was hot when we arrived for our 7:30 PM tour and we had forgotten water, so we opted to purchase a couple of bottles.

Many of the tour guides are volunteers. Our guide, David (or Dave, I'm not sure), was fantastic. The amount of information he packed into our hour tour was amazing.  I could not believe it when he mentioned this was only his second tour!  What a wealth of information!