What should I do in Saturday morning/afternoon in Las Vegas?

October 12, 2006 5:17 PM

What should I do this Saturday morning/afternoon in Las Vegas?

Staying both Friday and Saturday nights on the strip, with no plans of yet the morning or afternoon on Saturday. No rental car, not too into shopping, gambling, etc. Anyone know about something exciting going on or where online I might find ideas on what to do? Bonus points for suggestions of nearby restaurants to get breakfast/lunch at.

posted by pwb503 to travel & transportation (20 comments total)

Go to a spa, play golf, or sleep in. I'd sleep in.
posted by JekPorkins at 5:50 PM on October 12, 2006

what hotel are you staying at?
posted by gatorae at 6:09 PM on October 12, 2006

You should visit the Gallery of Fine Art at the Bellagio. They have an Ansel Adams exhibit right now.

And there are nice restaurants all over the strip. You might try the Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill at the MGM Grand, or Bertolini's in the forum shops at Caesar's Palace (also fun to wander through.)

Have fun. :)
posted by eleyna at 6:12 PM on October 12, 2006

Uh, go shoot machine guns, naturally!
posted by Pressed Rat at 6:31 PM on October 12, 2006

The breakfast buffet at the Wynn is great.
posted by rsclark at 6:32 PM on October 12, 2006

it is not too late in the year to spend the morning in the pool, if you're from up north anywhere. My food bits:

- There is no better breakfast than a LeNôtre pastry from Paris!, even if it is not really Paris.
- For an off-the-new-strip real-Vegas lunch, I recommend a walk to Capriotti's sandwich shop. They roast their own beef, and you can get up to 20" of sub.
- Another tasty possibility would be Lotus of Siam. It's also off the strip, walkable if you're ambitious and very easily cabbable. Definitely gets you a chance to see another side of Vegas! I had the garlic black pepper chicken there, it was awesome.

I can't answer much about casino restaurants, I don't remember anything specific about any of them...
posted by whatzit at 6:35 PM on October 12, 2006 [1 favorite has favorites]

I liked the Shark Reef at Mandalay bay. You can pet rays there, and see jellyfish and lots of other swimming critters.
posted by SlyBevel at 6:36 PM on October 12, 2006 [1 favorite has favorites]

Go indoor sky diving at Flyaway.
posted by ericb at 7:10 PM on October 12, 2006 [1 favorite has favorites]

How about just go for a walk up and down the strip. The weather should be great and the people watching (at least for an hour or two) is incredible.
posted by mmascolino at 7:18 PM on October 12, 2006

The breakfast buffet at the Wynn is great.

Seconded.
posted by ericb at 7:20 PM on October 12, 2006

Be sure to check out previous threads for other ideas: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.
posted by ericb at 7:24 PM on October 12, 2006 [2 favorites has favorites]

Hoover Dam!
posted by frogan at 7:38 PM on October 12, 2006

Seriously, casino's often have van service to local sites like the Hoover Dam.
posted by frogan at 7:39 PM on October 12, 2006

I place the Wynn breakfast buffet third after Paris and Spice Market (Aladdin), but it's really a matter of what you're into. Paris has more cheeses and baked goods; Spice Market has more desserty stuff. All seem to have the same amount of savoury items, omelet station, etc.

I regard the Wynn as merely a high quality buffet (but with few surprises) in an attractive setting, as opposed to the Bellagio which offers similarly good food but in a really boring setting. I do think the Wynn has the best dinner buffet, though. (So many ways to use pesto!)

Vegas' wee renaissance festival will be at Sunset Park this weekend - it's close enough to the Strip to be a modest taxi fare, and it's really quite nice for a one-weekend renfest.

If you want to try geocaching, here's a chance to hit two microcaches (at Fashion Show Mall and possibly at NY NY) on the Strip plus some virtual caches, too.

If you like to take photos, snap a shot of the El Rancho sign, currently revealed on both sides as the Turnberry Condos sign is damaged at the moment. (Perhaps only a big deal if you're into Vegas lore. This is the latest event in this long-dead casino refusing to stay quite dead.)

And of course get a shot of the Stardust - the legendary casino closes at the end of the month (so you should at least step in), and as of last week funds had not yet been raised to save the popular sign.
posted by Liffey at 8:18 PM on October 12, 2006

If you do Friday night right, all you'll want to do Saturday morning is sleep.

That said, Hoover Dam is really cool, and if you're not on a particularly tight budget, a helicopter tour of Las Vegas would probably be fun.
posted by pdb at 8:25 PM on October 12, 2006

As long as the highs are below 80 or so, climbing or hiking in Red Rocks.
posted by jet_silver at 8:57 PM on October 12, 2006

breakfast buffet at paris... mmm
posted by Dreamghost at 9:49 PM on October 12, 2006

Slightly off-strip, the Liberaci museum is truly surreal. It's in kind of a strip mall, and is run by aging female die-hard fans. I've never seen so many pianos with matching cars.

While I was there, I learned that Liberaci absolutely wasn't gay, and died of unknown causes. ;)
posted by nadise at 9:49 PM on October 12, 2006

There's an international singing convention in Las Vegas this week. The final round of the chorus competition starts at noon on Saturday.
posted by Buzz at 11:53 PM on October 12, 2006

Pinball Hall of Fame
posted by krisjohn at 11:58 PM on October 12, 2006 [1 favorite has favorites]