I’m gonna be in Las Vegas for a day-long layover. Don’t want to gamble, don’t want to shop, don’t really want to spend much money. I’m more of a parks/gardens/museums type of girl. Anything like that in Vegas?
Drive around, maybe see the Hoover dam?
I had a great time just walking around the casinos, even aside from gambling. If you have an open mind and leave any cultural pretensions at home, some of the casinos are really great fun to walk through. Check out the designs, the light shows, the circus acts, etc.
Also, splurge and go to one of the gourmet all-you-can-eat buffets. I can’t remember which one I went to (somewhere on the south end of the Strip, but they’re all over), but it was one of the best things I did there.
You said you only had a 1-day layover; if you can I second JohnT’s recommendation of going to Hoover Dam, but with such limited time it might be best to stay in town.
I definitely agree with the buffet suggestion. I recall the food being incredibly cheap.
Also, just walk around and take in the garishness of the whole place. It really has to be seen to be believed.
Commit a crime.
Hope that Grissom investigates you.
I just went for a weekend while my wife had a conference there.
If you want to see nature, Red Rock Canyon is a beautiful place just a few minutes west of Vegas. It has a 13 mile scenic loop with plenty of places to pull off and view/hike and a nice visitor center. The only thing about that is you need a car to get there.
As I remember there is a chocolate museum/factory that was fun. Vegas also has a good zoo. The dolphin shows at the Rivera are fun.
The mall show at Caesar’s Palace is great.
Look ahead and see if there are any shows that you’d like to see. Great thing about Vegas is the wide variety of shows in a wide variety of price ranges. I agree that just walking up and down the strip and looking at the casino’s is a lot of fun. There are a ton of museums in Vegas…DMark lives in Vegas, and has a website that may have some good information.
I hate gambling as well. When I went to Vegas I mooched free liquor while playing Keno and walked around looking at all the fancy casinos.
They have nice strip clubs… I hear.
You could make reservations for tea at one of the fancy hotels, I would suggest the Four Seasons. Bellagio’s is fantastic as well, but they serve it in a lounge IN the casino, complete with cigar smoke. Bleah. It will be as expensive as a really, really nice lunch, but totally elegant. I think I’m going to go when we go to Vegas for **Litespeed’s **birthday in April 
Go check out the Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay Hotel.
I loved it! 
The Atomic Testing Museum on Flamingo is fantastic and will only set you back $10!
Well…
The Bellagio Fountain
The Venetian Gondolas
The Bellagio Art Gallery
The Imperial Auto Museum
Sigfried and Roy’s Secret Garden and Dolphin Encounter
The roller coaster at New York New York (I think? right across from the MGM, anyway)
Just walk on the Strip and people-watch
There’s a couple of “Star Trek Encounter” type things that were highly recommended to me but that I didn’t have time to go and see.
And…
Since you seem to be a woman, “Scores” probably isn’t applicable, but how about Chippendale’s?
J.
Drink!
Yeah, there are cheap ones (as in $10 and under) but when I was there those didn’t seem much different than what you’d find in an average Bonanza. I say splurge, spend $25-$30 on a gourmet one – it’s still cheap considering the amazing food you’ll get, and the experience can’t be beat!
Go shoot guns, there is a gun shop that rents machine guns. twenty to fifty dollars and a lot of fun. Its out on Tropicana past the Thoms and Mack center.
Well, you could always do what I do when I’ve gambled away all my money. Go to my room and cry. Drink all the booze in the mini-bar, because the room is on my friend’s tab. Sneak out the next morning before said friend wakes up and has to pay the bill.
Vegas baby! I’m out there on Wednesday. I ain’t going broke because I have the perfect March Madness bracket! I AM making money there! Go UCLA and Long Beach State!
Thanks guys for the suggestions, and especially the link to DMark’s website. I’m really looking forward to my day now!
Check This Thread, some good suggestions in there, too.