Wendover on the Weekend!

Wendover is a city in Tooele County, Utah. It is on the Western border of Utah and shares a common border with West Wendover, Nevada.  Interstate 80 runs just north of both cities, while Business Interstate 80 (Wendover Boulevard) links the two cities. West Wendover (in the state of Nevada) is the closest place from Utah where people can gamble legally, drink alcohol and check out several adult-oriented stores. Utah has really strict liquor laws and does not allow any form of gambling including lotteries. So if people wish to have some Vegas-style fun without going all the way to Vegas and having to spend money to stay there, Wendover is just the place to be. Many people travel to Wendover over the weekend for the very reason.

About four or five months ago, Ankit bought this deal on livingsocial.com for $18. We only used it a few days before New Year's. The deal included two return bus trips from Salt Lake County (as well as destinations from Weber and Davis Counties) to Wendover and back, $5 cash back, two buffets, two drinks at the casino bar, two Starbucks coffee drinks, two lucky bucks to gamble and 10% off at the giftshop. Can you imagine a better deal than that? So, for $9, you got $5 dollars back and $2 to gamble...that's $7 right back to you. In $2, you get to go to Wendover in a bus and back, eat a buffet, buy a mocktail (or any alcoholic drink if you drink alcohol) and buy any drink at all from Starbucks. How crazy is that? I kept thinking, there must be a catch. Maybe they'll try to sell us something. But nope. It was exactly what they said it was. In fact, we came back making money. 

In the bus, early morning

On the way to Wendover, in the bus, everyone played Bingo and put in money to buy raffle tickets. Ankit won one round of Bingo as well as won the raffle (he basically got all the money that people put into the box and mind you, the bus was full). The drive to Wendover takes  less than two hours from Salt Lake City.

Our lucky raffle ticket :)

The bus ride was a lot of fun. The bus lady and the driver were really nice. The bus that we traveled by was run by Utah Trailways. Different buses work for different hotels. This bus was going to the Wendover Nugget Hotel and Casino. 

Ankit, the gambler

True to their words, both of us received $5 cash when we entered the casino with two lucky bucks for both of us. I thought we would only get one of each but both of us were handed a little booklet of coupons which included everything I mentioned we would get for $18. 

More gambling

Ankit played craps for the first time

The cool thing about Wendover is that it's a lot like Vegas. I mean, apart from all the casinos, the hotels aren't interconnected or anything but there is a free shuttle that goes from hotel to hotel. It's very convenient. We went casino hopping and saw all the hotels there were in Wendover. 

Brunch Buffet

Dessert!!

The buffet was average but we can't complain considering it was free. There were however a LOT of options for dessert. We made it in time for brunch. But the free buffet totally depends on what time you get there. You can choose to travel in the morning, afternoon or evening. Many people think it's more fun to travel in the evening, spend the whole night there and come back in the early hours of the morning. But we left early morning and reached home around 9:00 pm. 

This picture is from the Wendover Nugget when we were exploring the hotel

The hotels are really cool, just like the ones in Vegas. I don't particularly remember which picture is from which hotel but I do remember the names of all the hotels that we went to:

Montego Bay Casino & Resort
Peppermill Casino Hotel
Pilot Travel Center Casino
Rainbow Casino Hotel
Red Garter Casino Hotel
Wendover Nugget Casino Hotel

These are all really quite nice.

Neither of us are gamblers. I'm against wasting money like that. I'd rather give it to someone who needs it than gamble it away. We spent most of our time, visiting the different hotels and walking around in the city and clicking pictures. At the end of the day, we both got two cups of mochachinos and hung out at Starbucks. Soon, we were back in the bus and on our way back home. The end to a wonderful day out. You have the option to spend another $50-$60 dollars and stay the night as well. 

It was a great trip. Totally worth every penny. We might just do it again someday :)

If you ever get a chance to spend a day at Wendover like that, take it :)

Love!

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