I came. I saw. I did NOT conquer. I tagged along to the NAB convention with my friend and her husband. But before NAB started we had a fun day with my friend and another friend.
I flew out from Oakland on Southwest – always an enjoyable and fast flight from Oakland. My flight arrived 20 minutes early at McCarran Airport. I arrived in terminal 1 so I had to get over to terminal 3 for my friends – they flew JetBlue. There is a terminal transfer bus that comes like every 15-30 minutes. Im not sure why it doesnt come more quickly, because it was only like a 5 minute ride from one to the other. Terminal 3 was DEAD. I walked in and didnt see a soul other than the people who were on the transfer bus with me. I walked over to the baggage claim that is JetBlue’s to wait for them.
Once they arrived, NAB had a badge check in at the terminal, so we grabbed our badges and headed out to catch our Uber. We headed to our Airbnb. Our Uber driver was super friendly, he drove us to the house, we dropped our bags (we got there early and it wasnt ready yet) and then took us to the Container Park for some food. He actually recommended another place but the line was far too long. We got some tacos and walked around. The Container Park was a pretty cool place, little shops, little restaurants and a park to entertain the children. I would recommend swinging by – its at the end of Fremont Street Experience, two blocks down.
After lunch we headed out to Fremont Street so I could do some gambling! Kristi and I tried our hand at Roulette – she won a couple bucks, I lost. We were heading out and she put $20 into a Wheel of Fortune machine and won a couple more bucks! The lucky streak was on Kristi’s side!! After our quick gambling experience, we snagged an Uber and headed to a grocery store to grab some grub for our quick 2 night stay. Our driver was awesome! She waited for us to shop and then we were able to walk out, load the car and then head off to the Airbnb and check it out.
Turns out, our Airbnb really is a party house. It was apparently advertised as such, but the pictures didnt necessarily represent what we got. This is for sure one of the risks with Airbnb. The condition of the house isnt all that great – tons of beds, randomly created rooms with many beds. It was picked because we each get our own room – so thats a perk!! And we havent spent any time there really.
We came, settled in and then had to head out to the Tournament of Kings at Excalibur. Kristi’s brother is in the show and he got us tickets to check it out. Sadly, he wasnt performing last night, but we enjoyed the free meal and the show. We got called out for not being excited enough and had to act excited in front of the whole audience. The experience is like Medieval Times. For the meal you get a cup of tomato soup, a Cornish game hen, potatoes, broccoli, a biscuit, and apple cobbler- but no silverware! Which means you sip the soup and no butter for the biscuit! Hen was a bit dry (ok lots of dry) but I was hungry, so I finished most of the white meat. The soup was the best part for sure!! The show was pretty good!
After the show we headed back to the Airbnb for the evening. Getting ready for another day in Vegas.
Today we got up and we all had to work – conference calls and paperwork. We had a picnic outside near the pool because the weather is just fabulous here this week. After our morning at the house we headed over to NAB.
I had no idea what to expect!! And I wasnt ready!!It is the largest convention in Vegas – anywhere from 90 – 100,000 people show up for this show. The National Association of Broadcasting. So many people!! They take up the ENTIRE convention center at Las Vegas Convention Center. People come from all over the world for this. We saw like a tour guide set up from Asia. There was a lady with the flag for the group and then another gentleman who was translating for the rest of the group who had ear pieces in their ear.
We spent only a few hours walking through the South Hall portion and about 45 minutes in the Central Hall. We only saw about 20% of the show!! And thats just seeing – not even learning, just SEEING!! So many languages, so many people, so much technology.
We left for a late lunch and headed to Maggianos! I love that place!! Apparently many locals dont go there, but the food is consistent, and if you have a food allergy they take it very seriously. Its a great place!
We went to the North Las Vegas outlet mall after lunch. It’s a big mall that allows plenty of shopping! We got our 10,000 steps in between the two places today – and I spent far too much money on things I dont really need at the outlet mall.
Sadly tomorrow is just a day of work before we have to head to the airport and back to reality!
Normal Travel Girl 
Leave a Reply