13 Best Sights in Las Vegas, Nevada

This attraction is perfect for individuals and groups who like to play in a life-size sandbox—and use big toys to do it. In this case, the toys are heavy construction machinery: bulldozers, excavators, wheel loaders, backhoes, mini-excavators, and skid-steer track loaders. Guests don hard hats and spend 90 minutes or more driving the equipment on a big dirt lot, moving around giant tires, digging holes, and more. You can even crush a car, in an Aggression Session, and you can request specific equipment. There are experiences for kids starting as young as age 2 (15 minutes), up to 2 1/2 hours for teen-agers. Or book a  group session, to give team-building a whole new meaning.

Enjoy a brief facsimile of a traditional ceremony at this venue, designed to be a turnkey wedding operation, with two chapels and an outdoor garden, as well as on-site flower shop, photography studio, and wedding coordinators. It's still Las Vegas, so an Elvis impersonator is available for all ceremonies.

A no-wait marriage certificate can be yours if you bring $77 cash (there's an additional fee for credit cards), identification, and your beloved to the Clark County Marriage License Bureau. Unless the office is unusually busy, the process normally takes less than an hour.

Just next to the pool area at the Flamingo Las Vegas, a flamboyance of live Chilean flamingos lives on islands and in streams surrounded by sparkling waterfalls and lush foliage. Other animals on-site include swans, ducks, koi, sturgeons, brown pelicans, hummingbirds, and turtles. The 4-acre habitat makes for a fun, brief stroll. Learn more during the Keeper Talks at 10 am.

Once a (seedy) casino, the Gold Spike was resuscitated as part of the late Tony Hsieh's $350-million Downtown Project. In this case, that means gambling is out and free gaming is in. Gaming, as in shuffleboard, giant versions of Connect Four, and, on the back patio, life-size Jenga and beer pong with soccer balls and garbage pails. There's also a small restaurant, multiple bars (check out the bar truck named Recess), hookah, and more. The place is still a haven for Zappos employees, but the hot spot that bills itself as an "adult playground" is open to the public and has become a popular place for locals, visitors, and hipsters to hang, too, especially during weekday happy hour.

The massive Harley-Davidson dealership on the south end of the Strip is ultimate destination for hog lovers. You can window-shop or even buy a bike right off the showroom floor, with financing and even shipping available—or rent one through Eagle Rentals ( 844/378–3060  www.eaglerider.com), which operates a branch office on the premises. There’s also a specialized service department and a riding academy for newbie and experienced riders, some of them including a license waiver. And if you’re looking for Harley merchandise—from vests to T-shirts to onesies for babies—you aren’t likely to find a better selection anyplace else. 

This cedar-and-redwood chapel on the South Strip is one of the city's most famous. The kitsch is kept under control, and the setting borders on picturesque (it's even listed on the National Register of Historic Places—ah, Vegas). Since it opened in 1942, the church has been the site of more celebrity marriages than any other chapel in the world.

The list of ALWWC alums is impressive: Demi Moore and Bruce Willis, Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, Michael Jordan, Britney Spears, and Frank Sinatra. Patty Duke liked it so much, she got married here twice. Try the Hawaiian theme, where the minister plays a ukulele and blows into a conch shell to close out the ceremony. Or, get hitched in a pink Cadillac while an Elvis impersonator croons. One of the five chapels is a drive-through, for the ultimate in shotgun weddings.

Swanky nightclub meets gun range in this only-in-Vegas addition to the scene. In an industrial neighborhood just west of the Interstate, "MGV" (as it's known) offers 10 indoor shooting lanes, including two in a VIP area (It's Vegas), as well as a number of outdoor lanes. Visitors have dozens of firearms to choose from, and you can be part of "Seal Team 6" or a "Femme Fatale" with pink weaponry. Package deals all include multiple guns and supervised instruction. 

If you don't want to be married by Elvis or a Klingon, head for the Office of Civil Marriages downtown, where a commissioner will do the deed for $77.75 on a credit card. The catch: you must call ahead to make an appointment. At least one witness is required.

It's hard to miss this place; the "Pinball" sign is so big, we swear it can be seen from space. This fun facility has more than 25,000 square feet filled with games created between the 1940s and the 1990s, including old wood-rail models, and all of them are available for play for 25 to 50 cents a game. There are more than 350 games, catalogued and mapped on the museum's website. Though this may sound more like an arcade than a museum, it's under the auspices of the Las Vegas Pinball Collectors Club and is a nonprofit with the goal of preserving these pieces of Americana and sharing the joy of the silver ball. All excess revenues go to the Salvation Army.

Frustrated after a losing streak in the casinos? This Town Square spot offers a “rage room” (in which customers pay to smash stuff to smithereens), axe-throwing, and splatter-paint experiences. Talk about a way to work out a bit of aggression. You can smash for as few as 20 or as many as 30 minutes, or you can organize smash parties for four, six, or more; there even are Date Nights because "the couple that smashes together stays together." Axe-throwing sessions run from 30 minutes to 2 hours (no experience necessary, and there are specials on Throwdown Tuesdays!). Up to six people can splatter-paint canvases in two sizes, so you get a souvenir to take home. Team-building events and birthday parties also are available.

An endless variety of wedding themes and add-on shtick is available, ranging from elegant to casual to camp. You can say your vows in the presence of Elvis, the Blues Brothers, or Liberace. Live webcams stream nuptials on the chapel's website in real time. Of the four chapels, one has a Doo-Wop Diner theme.