Spring Break 2011: Las Vegas, NV

My youngest sister, Erin, pointed out to me that I am now in the “18th grade”. That’s a lot of school! One of the best parts about being a student is the the breaks we get.

Homecoming 2003

John and I met around Summer 2003 while working our high school jobs at local pizza place in Cincinnati called Italianette. We quickly became extremely close and dated for the second half of high school.

By 2005, we each went our separate ways. John  joined the Air Force as a firefighter and was deployed overseas for several years whileI left for school at IU. We remain really close friends, visit each other when possible, and have yet to get into an argument.

John moved to Las Vegas a few months ago for a firefighting job when his Air Force contract was up and he decided to work as a civilian. Having never been to the city and seeing as I was long over due to visit him, it seemed like a perfect weekend trip.

So, much like I did for San Francisco, here is a list of some of what I experienced in my 2.5 short days in Las Vegas:

• Attended Brew’s Best Beer Fest. We sampled a good number of beers, saw some local art/crafts, and listened to some bands play. My favorite beers of the afternoon include: Big Dog’s Brewing Company’s Dog House Dunkelweizen, Gordon Biersch Brewery’s Hefeweizen, and Chicago Brewing Company’s Weizenheimer Wheat South Germen Hefeweizen.
  

  Brew's Best

• Ate at Brazilian Steakhouse, Texas de Brazil. You can’t beat a filet wrapped in bacon…
• Experienced a SmashBurger.
• Ate chocolate frozen yogurt with Reese’s for breakfast. Who needs Wheaties when you can have chocolate?!
• Walked up and down the strip stopping in many of the casinos
• Read through old love letters we wrote each other in high school. Pretty hilarious stuff.
• Lots and lots of window shopping
• Some actual shopping
• Went to Fremont Street
• Took photos with street performers
  

  Pretty awesome

• Took photos with wax figures
• Took other really cheesy, embarrassing, and touristy photos
• Saw Cirque du Soleil’s Zumanity at New York, New York
• Ate at an amazing tapas restaurant – Firefly
• Didn’t loose any money gambling
• Didn’t win any money gambling. I was lucky enough to break even!
• Went swimming!

I loved wandering around and in the casinos. In our HCI program we’ve talked a lot about designing experiences, particularly in venue’s such as museums. I think casinos are another great case study for looking at designing experiences.

The trip was so much fun. Las Vegas is an exhausting city but I am so glad I was able to visit.