Many milestones are celebrated in Las Vegas. At least that was the reason my husband and I started going to Vegas — from celebrating our 40th birthdays to this past October when we celebrated our 60th. When we started going to Vegas, we went with another couple, Sharon and Steven

Generations Magazine - Vegas Celebrations - Image 01

Clifford, Sherry & the Buddah statue at the California Hotel & Casino. Rub his tummy for some good luck!

Wong of Mililani (a little later, we convinced Nelson Lara, the best man at our wedding 37 years ago, to join us). We’ve celebrated birthdays, anniversaries — and even took our children for their 21st birthdays. And every time we go to Vegas, we travel with Vacations Hawaii.

The Vacations Hawaii packages are great because we don’t have to worry about transportation to and from the Vegas airport; and we can eat breakfast, lunch and dinner with our free coupons (including swapping our lunch coupons for midnight steak and eggs at the California Hotel & Casino).

When we first started going to Vegas, we rode on the city’s bus system. It wasn’t bad, but we didn’t go too far from downtown Vegas. Now, Nelson drives us around like a “local,” taking us to shopping centers, casinos and shows on the Strip, plus to Trader Joe’s.

The weather seems to be the best for our trips in October because Vegas is still a little warm (in the 80s during the third week of this past October) and the nights are in the 50s. We usually wear shorts and T-shirts during the days and jeans or slacks at night. Since Vegas is the 9th Hawaiian Island, we always see people from “home” walking around downtown or at The Cal. The hotel is a home away from home for us, and holds so many good memories.