Spoiler alert: most of what I did was eat and drink. No one will be surprised by this. This is a trip that I’d been pondering taking for a while and finally decided to be spontaneous (after weeks of thinking and planning my spontaneity). The main purpose of my trip was to see my queen, Mariah Carey. I’ve seen a lot of folks in concert and she is one of my favorite artists I’d (shockingly) never seen.

My friend and business partner Jennifer decided to come along too so we made a trip out of it. Before we get into the guide, I want to say that we planned this trip and excitedly waited for our departure date. We were both looking forward to a childless getaway after surviving our family vacation to Savannah. The day before we were scheduled to leave, our business was broken into and set on fire. Yes, set on fire. It’s been devasting and honestly, we’re still very shocked by it. Despite this, we were advised by the folks close to us (including the fire chief) to take our trip because there was nothing more we could do.

We gathered our thoughts, cried a little, worked and got on a plane the next day.

Las Vegas travel guide: my first visit

This was also my first time visiting Sin City. I can’t believe I’ve made it to my big age and never visited Las Vegas. I’ve always heard mixed reviews about it. Folks are either die-hard Vegas fans or not so much. I think, after the trauma we’d just experienced, I honestly could have gone anywhere and it would have felt like a welcome reprieve from life.

I’m not going to sugarcoat it: it was extremely hot when we went. While it was pretty unbearable outside, there wasn’t any humidity so we were still able to breathe and my hair stayed tamed which is always welcome. Here in Tennessee the humidity weighs on you and makes summers pretty miserable. One day when we were lounging at the pool, we checked the temperature and it was 113 degrees. Wild.

So in this Las Vegas travel guide, I’m sharing what Jennifer and I did (again, mostly ate & drank) and where we stayed. While I don’t have any immediate plans to go back, I’m open to visiting Vegas again – especially if there’s a residency happening that I’m interested in. I’m currently sad to have missed Lenny Kravitz’s residency.

Download my Las Vegas guide below and let me know what’s on your Vegas list!