If I had a dollar for every time someone told me: “You can’t do anything in Vegas, you’re not 21 yet,” then I’d be rich enough to afford my preferred twice-a-year trips to Las Vegas for the rest of my life. Who are they to insult my most beloved vacation spot? I’m not sure why people over the age of 21 even say something like this—shouldn’t they be encouraging behavior that doesn’t involve drinking and gambling? But that’s the point: Las Vegas is not only about the drinking and gambling. It’s a magical city, set in the middle of the desert and surrounded by the Spring Mountains, and at the city limit, there is no sign reading"no Admittance: 21 and Over Only."

There are a plethora of activities in Vegas that don’t require a horizontal ID stating that you’re of legal drinking age. My favorite thing about the city (that’s a lie, I can’t pick one favorite thing) has to be the variety of restaurants that span the four-mile strip. Las Vegas is known for its culinary excellence, and each restaurant is spectacular in its own way. There are multiple restaurants and any type of food one can imagine. I would love to eat at every restaurant the city has to offer, but unfortunately, that’s just not possible. Luckily, there’s no legal age set on eating, so if you can’t legally drink or gamble, then plan a trip to the desert that revolves solely around food.

Las Vegas hotels are mini-cities of their own. The properties that reside directly on the Strip are some of the most upscale, glamorous structures in the industry. Vegas visitors could spend days exploring them and still not get a chance to see every single property. Of course, each hotel has its own pool. Well, not just one pool. The hotels have multiple pools, giving guests the chance to choose their desired spot to take in the desert sun all day long. No one gets carded, no one has to be twenty-one to claim a lounge chair and soak in the blazing desert sun.

If you don’t go shopping when you’re on vacation, did you really even go on vacation? The amount of shopping Vegas provides for consumers mesmerizes any shopaholic. From high-end, designer boutiques at The Shops at Crystals City Center to the Fashion Show shopping mall at the north end of the Strip, visitors under twenty-one can instead spend gambling money for shopping purposes.

The entertainment experiences are endless in Las Vegas. There are nightly performances of so many shows – Cirque du Soleil, Broadway shows, comedy shows and musical concerts and performances. The shows are an essential part of the Las Vegas experience, and many of them have no age restriction.

Sure, there are plenty of arguments for why Vegas isn’t exclusive to those of the legal age, but I shouldn’t even have to argue that in the first place. I absolutely love Las Vegas, so who has the authority to tell me there is not one thing I can do while vacationing there? All of the haters are wrong. Las Vegas is certainly a place for all ages…well, except for kids in strollers. They can stay home. As long as you’re old enough to remember what happens in Vegas, then you are allowed to stay in Vegas.