Help me make the most of my tiny Vegas vacation.

June 5, 2016 7:41 PM

I"m flying in monday, june 27th and leave thursday. Traveling with my SO who will be busy with a conference in the day, free to hang out/do market research in the pm. I'm content to sip painkillers and hang at the pool but would also enjoy checking out local counterculture. I hate casinos but will enter them if there is considerable reason. My SO is in the bowling biz so I should seek out bowling places that crank. We will be lodged at the Mandalay Bay. Seeking general advice and on the ground likeminded hopeless libertine bohemian fellow time travelers.
posted by vrakatar to Travel & Transportation (8 answers total)

Our favorite thing in Vegas was the Cirque du Soleil show. We went to O and it was pricy but I would absolutely doing it again (and see more shows).
posted by ethidda at 9:20 PM on June 5, 2016 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Go see the James Turrell piece in the Louis Vuitton store in Crystals. You'll need to make a reservation, it isn't open every day. Also I helped build an interactive blinky thing outside of the Blue Man theater in the Luxor (next door to Mandalay, a short walk) that you might enjoy. If you like pinball, the Pinball Hall Of Fame is on point. If you like sushi, go to Kabuto or Yui Sushi (both off strip). Not sure these are countercultural but they mostly avoid casinos, at least. The downtown arts district near Fremont St is countercultural...esque, maybe, but worth a visit. The Double Down might count as countercultural -- it's a super fucked up dive bar with live music sometimes.
posted by drapatz at 11:05 PM on June 5, 2016 [3 favorites]

The Neon Museum is super cool. Signs from outside of old casinos, some restored and working, sitting outside. Get a night time ticket, it's purty.
posted by rachelpapers at 6:06 AM on June 6, 2016

You definitely should stroll through the Luxor since it is so close just for the architecture. It isn't a pretty space but it is an overwhelming large and impressive space.
posted by mmascolino at 7:39 AM on June 6, 2016

Got a car? No? Then rent a car and drive out to Red Rock Canyon.
posted by devbrain at 9:10 AM on June 6, 2016

Response by poster: Thanks everyone! I searched old Vegas askmes so the Neon, Pinball, and Atomic Testing museums are on my radar. I do not have a driver's license currently, so will be exploring on foot. I might pop over to IRL and post up a meet up, if there are significant local mefites around. Pipe up Vegas dwellers! Okay I'll cease thread sitting....now!
posted by vrakatar at 9:17 AM on June 6, 2016

In case you find yourself downtown, my wife was super-impressed by The Writer's Block, an independent bookstore, when she was there on foot while I was working a couple of months ago. And if you're looking for food, try a Thai meal at Lotus of Siam, unquestionably my favorite thing about being stuck in Vegas. (Even though it's in a dingy shopping center a ways off the north end of the strip, a reservation is a good idea.)
posted by Mothlight at 11:47 AM on June 6, 2016

Response by poster: Thanks everyone! We actually ended up staying at the Luxor, and I spent nearly 50 bucks at the Pinball Hall of Fame and loved every 25 cents of it. Then I walked almost all the way back to the strip in 115 degree heat just cuz I could.
posted by vrakatar at 4:35 PM on July 6, 2016