Las Vegas,
Nevada
I learned a few things when I stayed in Vegas. The first one is that “waking up in Vegas” is a lot less magical when your view is a rooftop and what’s probably an air conditioning system. The second is that staying in one of the casinos is basically like sleeping in a 24/7 shopping mall. The third is that there’s this cool, less-known part of Las Vegas that’s full of art and good food and vintage. That’s what I’m here to tell you about.
coffee
I am by no means a Las Vegas coffee expert. I got there at 4pm on a Thursday afternoon and left at 1pm on a Friday afternoon. I went to one coffee shop. But it was highly recommended by the owners of the nearby vintage shop and it was indeed delicious.
Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.
vintage
This is my new favourite vintage shop maybe of all time. Almost immediately after I walked in, one of the owners turned to me and said, “Want to see something cool?” And we ended up talking for well over an hour. They gave me a long list of local recommendations that I’m dying to go back and try. Plus, I found my dream 70’s suit there.
Glam Factory Vintage
211 E Colorado Avenue
Las Vegas, NV 89104
Yes, there are two dudes on the top of the store. No, that is not a special feature. I just happened to be there on their landscaping day.
food
Again, I was only in Las Vegas for about 22 hours. My first meal was a piece of food court pizza because everything else was closed in my casino by the time I got back from Area15 (more on that later). So I really only had one good meal while in the city. But it was a good meal. After chatting and browsing amazing vintage pieces for over an hour, I knew I needed lunch before driving to Salt Lake City. So I asked the amazing shop owners for a recommendation of somewhere pretty good and pretty fast. They said, “Oh yeah, there’s a good vegetarian taco place down the street!” Y’all. It was delicious. And they had local kombucha.
Tacotarian
Type of food: tacos
Price: $6-15
Vegan options: yes
Address:
1130 S. Casino Center Boulevard
#170
Las Vegas, NV 89104
experiences & art
There’s a huge building somewhere in Las Vegas (I’m not being mysterious—I don’t know what that part of the city is called) called Area15. It houses multiple art exhibits, ax throwing, a candy store, a couple restaurants, and it’s all wrapped up in neon lights and an aura of adventure. It’s a touch touristy, but in a way that I enjoy. I only visited Meowolf and walked through the gift shop because I ran out of time, but you could easily be in the space an entire day. If you’re planning a trip to Vegas, I’d recommend setting aside a day to check it out!
Admission:
Area15 is free.
Meowolf is $45/person
I went to Meowolf thinking it was an art exhibit called “Omega Mart". And it is art and you can enjoy it simply as art. But what I didn’t know is that it’s gamified. The only other experience I could compare it to would be an escape room, but it’s not an escape room at all: it’s art and it’s a mystery and it’s a challenge and it’s unexpected and so fun.
Pro tip: plan to be there for at least 3 hours. Eat beforehand. I did not realize the exhibit was gamified and planned to walk through in an hour and then eat dinner. I was there for 5 hours and was extremely hungry by the time I left. Don’t do what I did—eat beforehand so you’re not constantly thinking about how hungry you are!
Second pro tip: in my opinion, the Area15 gift shop was just okay. But the Meowolf Omega Mart store was amazing. Almost everything in the store part of the exhibit you can take home and it’s all strange and wonderful. Most things are between $10 and $50, so plan accordingly.
seven magic mountains
Technically, this spot is a 30-minute drive outside of Vegas, but if you have the time it’s a fun adventure. You may have seen these colorful Stonehenge-esque rocks show up on some travel bloggers Instagram and now you know where to find them! The art exhibit is pretty much the only thing there. There was a dirty parking lot, small food truck—just snacks—a porta-potty, and that’s it. So if you’re going to put on a cute outfit to take photos, I’d recommend changing at a gas station or at your hotel beforehand (I learned this the hard way).
There was some construction (I learned later, they were repainting the rocks) around the site when I visited, but nothing you couldn’t easily remove from your images. There were also quite a few people, but again: angles and photoshop. They work wonders. And this was a wonder worth going to see (no, I can’t resist a good dad joke).
Seven Magic Mountains
Admission: free
Address information and directions here. (I typed “Seven Magic Mountains” into Google Maps and it got me there just fun, so that works, too.)