Christmas in Las Vegas, Nevada

[Home Is Where We Park]

Ahhh, there's no place like home Las Vegas for Christmas.

December is considered the 'off season' in Las Vegas, but that is a relative term. Vegas is always hopping, no matter what time of year. Christmas is actually very crowded in Las Vegas. Absolutely everything is open, shops, casinos, bars, restaurants, buffets, attractions and shows.

The large resort hotels on the Las Vegas Strip are beautifully decorated for Christmas, each trying to outdo the others.

December 2011 has brought below average temps to the Las Vegas valley, with a few nights dropping below 32 degrees, one night in the mid to low 20's and the temp held below freezing for over 12 hours. Its been cool enough at night to feel like the Holiday Season but warming up nicely during the day (most days). Even with very little moisture / humidity here in the desert, we've seen a little ice / frost on the ground on several mornings.

Locals say we've seen the worst of winter already and that the weather will get warmer from here out. While we've had some chilly nights, its still been much better than 'home'. Northeast Ohio is just getting to the worst part of winter. We have a good forecast for this Holiday week.

Our (new) Christmas tradition includes bicycling, sunbathing, swimming, hot tubbing and then returning to the Firelight Buffet at Sam's Town for Christmas dinner ( the turkey was exceptional on Thanksgiving). After dinner we take a leisurely stroll in the Mystic Falls Indoor Park at Sam's Town. The sound of a rolling waterfall compliments the soft chirping of birds in live trees reaching up toward the skylight ten stories above. The park is decked out for the Holidays and they even make it snow every night.

The mountain in the Mystic Falls park comes alive for the new Holiday laser and water show, with music, lights and animation. Water fountains shoot eight stories into the air and the waters dance in the lights to Christmas music. They also have a beautiful a 30-foot Christmas tree, decorated with thousands of lights.

If we miss real snow (we don't), we could visit Mount Charleston about a 45 minute drive from Las Vegas. Mount Charleston has a couple feet of snow on the peaks. On Christmas eve and Christmas day there is usually a wait (of an hour or more) to get up in the mountains. We don't need to go up there, we can see it from here, Mount Charleston and the Spring Mountains provide a beautiful backdrop for the Strip.

Sam's Town RV Park has a lot less empty spaces than the past couple weeks. The local TV news reports that the hotels are at 98% occupancy for the Holidays.

2011 Christmas in Las Vegas

[Donna Esposito]

This looks very nice, especially to a girl from Canada!