Southern Utah

One of the best places to visit within driving distance of Las Vegas (Reno / Tahoe is my top choice, but much longer drive). Been five times for a total of about six weeks. Most recently this summer.

Right next to Mesquite, where there is all of the best stuff Las Vegas has to offer: comped meals anytime I would ever want one, comped rooms on occasion, cheap 3-2 blackjack, +99% video poker. Then cross the border and it's like a whole new world for hospitality. Spent five days at a hotel in St. George this summer and it was like they went out of their way to not charge anything extra. Complimentary breakfast, coffee machine, fridge, microwave all in the room, nice, but not out of the ordinary. Then they also had a happy-hour in the evening with salad bar and either pizza or sandwiches. Soda fountain was open much of the day to pour coke or gatorade. There was a one time cleaning fee for a pet, the same for staying one night or 30. Also noticed the housekeepers and landscapers helping each other out with their duties. Seems like such an obviously efficient way to run a business, yet something I've never seen before.

Another major difference between Utah and Las Vegas I stumbled upon were some great thrift stores. Check out the ones in Las Vegas every so often and anything that looks ok is priced close to what I could buy it for on Amazon. The ones in Utah had all books $2 or under and shirts with the tags on for $5. The large Mormon churches had great visitor centers with oil paintings and museum style exhibits. The pioneers that brought Brigham Young to Salt Lake City had 143 men and three women, I definitely wonder about the logistics of that. Wonder how much of that history influences the underage marriage that is still popular there today

The real reasons that bring me there are Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks. Far better than Grand Canyon. Zion is larger and much easier to get to. Load up on sandwiches and a cooler full of Gatorade and Diet Coke. Then spend a full day just driving through and stopping at every place that catches my attention. But I prefer Bryce. Though it still feels like a desert climate, it's higher up and gets enough snow to give it so much more wildlife and biodiversity. I really like the feeling of being at elevation. When I spend a week at that level, then come down I can feel the extra red blood cells -- sadly only lasts for a day or so and can never capture that feeling any other way.

Cedar City is right next to both National Parks. Southern Utah University is there which is probably the nicest college campus close to Las Vegas. A few state parks in the area, but overall their state park system is behind Nevada's. The one I care about is their reservoir, which has decent desert beaches. Very popular area for skiing, but that's not my scene.

Utah also has these Smith's stores that are like twice the size of any of them in Las Vegas (but I did hear they might by coming). I took an edible, then forgot about it a couple hours later and just happened to be in one of these when it hit and spent over an hour just walking the aisles. That's definitely more of a Nevada thing, I just happened to be in Utah when it happened

Keep your hotel and event tickets and see if Mesquite casinos have any tie-ins.

There’s a little museum where you can pay to see dinosaur footprints in St. George. It was interesting.