sin city! viva [downtown] las vegas

a few months back we were inspired to book [cheap] southwest flights to vegas for a quick weekend of warm weather and exploring with friends. after really only seeing one side of vegas, we decided to take a different approach and stay off-strip in downtown/fremont @ the epic el cortez. what a change! our hotel, built in1941, is one of the longest running casinos in LV and is surrounded by unique cocktail bars and restaurants. this less-crazy vibe was perfectly paired with a few typical-vegas moments – like a pool party and night of clubbing at hakkasan. lyft made it easy to bounce back and forth between the two, and i have to admit i was sad to leave when our quick 48 hour trip was over. 

check out the full city guide here! also, a few of these photos were snapped on old school disposables – i forgot how awesome these things are. 
 

One Piece [order a size up]| Hat | Denim Shorts | Dress 

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reno + vegas

sunday was annoying, but luckily turned out to be fun. – it consisted of a shuttle to reno, 2 hours in the reno airport, 2 hours in the vegas airport, 2 flights, and home by 12am. uhhm?? the second we saw how depressing the airport was in reno – we bailed to have a late lunch + drink in town and were shocked by how cool the places we found were.

Old Granite Street Eatery lunch or dinner, the food is really good!

Chapel Tavern Dark and rustic very cool craft cocktail bar

^^ and luckily the oscars were playing on our next layover. 

off the vegas strip [hiking red rocks national reserve]

most people get the heck out of dodge on sunday morning -- however we were in vegas for another day. the sun was shining, the air was crisp and chilly, and we wanted to be off the strip. after catching up on sleep, we decided to rent a car and drive to red rock national reserve. it was absolutely gorgeous and definitely worth the ~45 minute drive.

it was too windy and cold to do the hike we had originally planned on, so we made our way to old school fremont street. we stopped at golden gate casino (obviously) where i turned $5 into $65 -- holy smokes! i was proud. i really enjoyed the $3 tables over the $25 tables. but that's just me. 

later that night i threw my winnings on black, and doubled them (seriously, what's happening?) -- so, kp and i used the free moolah to have a date night. we had a fabulous dinner at morels, followed by some gelato and a walk along the canals in venice. i mean the venetian. it was a cute little last day in vegas!