Top of the World

Ok. Maybe not.

But the Stratosphere is the tallest building in the Vegas area and offers the best views of the city, so when I heard that locals could go to the observation deck for free in January, I simply knew that should be our first new in 2014 thing to do.

We've been to observation decks before, but never to the Stratosphere, so one Friday after work and dinner, we decided to be tourists in our own city and go check it out.

To save gas, and since it was only 2+ miles away and a nice night, we decided to walk. We had so much fun just walking together! That would have been a great night on its own. Of course the socks and sneakers I was wearing didn't have the same plan. I may have even gotten a blister. :(

Getting closer!

We got there just in time. The line was long, but really swelled just after we arrived. Yay for beating the 9:30pm rush. :)

We had to wait in line to get tickets. Then you go up stairs and wait in line to go through a security check. More stairs to get to another line to wait for an elevator to take you to the 108th floor. That's a lot of lines!

The waiting really wasn't so bad; it actually went pretty quickly.

The view made it all worth it.

Here you can see Paradise (where we live) on the left and The Strip on the right.

Here I am being silly over downtown.

The lights were crazy! There were SO many!! But it was super fun to see where they dead-ended at the mountains. Only at night, you couldn't really tell there were mountains there at all.

It was a very fun date night!

But it wasn't enough for me. I wanted to see it during the day. I couldn't convince Jeff to go twice in one weekend. He's thinks its more spectacular at night, plus he wants to do the extreme rides next time we go.

I really wanted to see it during the day when it was still free, so I incorporated a trip back to the top during my Sunday run.

It was a bit more crowded - both the lines and the observation deck. I headed out much later in the afternoon than I'd intended, so I got there as the sun was just starting to set.  It was actually very pretty with the angle of the sun where it was.

Was it more spectacular at night? I'm not convinced. I do love the night lights, but I also love the mountains and the wispy clouds.

Here is Paradise and The Strip again, but during the day.

What do you think? Would you rather visit during the day or at night?
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