Vegas, Baby: One last blog, promise!

I guess I have one more left in me to write about our trip.  I have some photos to share with you --

Can't seem to escape the potty training.  :)

Because Vegas is not complete without an
Elvis sighting!



I found Cabo Wabo!  Now what flavor was that again!?!?
(A bit of an inside joke to some who will be reading this.)



Really cool restaurant inside City Center.  It looked like it was
just floating.

Ian would be right at home - Star Wars slot machines.

Ok, I am done.  Promise.  No more. 

Vegas, Baby: Hotels that rock and ones that don't

Jeff and I didn't get a chance to go in all of the hotels on The Strip, but we did check out quite a few.  The below list is my opinion only.  I apologize in advance if I talk badly about any that may be your favorite.


HOTEL THAT ABSOLUTELY BLEW ME AWAY:

Bellagio.  Wow.  This place is simply gorgeous.  I absolutely loved everything about it. From the fountain show outside to the vibrant colors, larger-than-life displays of flowers, hot air balloons and carousel inside, this hotel is breath-taking.

This was part of the ceiling.

Yes, this is inside the lobby area.

Awesome fountain show to the song, "My heart will go on'



The sweet shop - Gelato!



Huge chocolate fountain that went from ceiling to floor.

Waiting for the fountain show to begin.



Another shot of the lobby, gorgeous flowers everywhere!


HOTELS THAT I REALLY LIKED AND WOULD STAY AT:

The Venetian - Incredibly beautiful.  I think the gondola ride is a very nice touch.  Did you know you can get married on one of their gondolas?  The designers did a great job making you feel like you were walking around outside in Italy.  I'd stay here in a heart beat!

Cesar's - I think they have the best decorated casino.  Nice and airy, not congested.  Got a great vibe when walking through this hotel/casino.

New York, New York - LOVED the personality of this one.  I think they did such a great job recreating the neighborhoods of New York and the outside is awesome with the building skyline and roller coaster. 

The Cosmopolitan - Very sparkly and modern.  I was mesmerized by the decor.


HOTELS I WAS NOT IMPRESSED WITH:

Paris - While the Eiffel Tower is really cool, I just wasn't impressed overall.  The hotel has no good flow to it and we even had to ask where the official main entrance and lobby was.  It felt very congested.    The one really neat thing I liked was how the legs of the Eiffel Tower come through the hotel from the outside. 

Wynn and Encore - Really?  This is what all the hype was about?  Yes, it is beautiful and elegant, but I am not sure what all the fuss is about.  I'd rather be at the Bellagio or Venetian.

MGM Grand - Yowzer!  This hotel is simply too big and too filled with smoke.  We found ourselves having to go through this hotel many times and each time, the cigarette smoke got worse.  Not a fan of this place.

Vegas, Baby: Observations

Here are a few observations I made during our trip to Vegas.

1. Smokers are everywhere!  What is up with that?!!?  Have these people not gotten the memo that smoking is bad for your health?   I guess I've gotten a bit spoiled by living in a state where smoking in public areas has been banned.  I really can not stand the cigeratte smoke anymore and did what I could to avoid it. 

2. Bad cleavage.  Women everywhere were hanging out.  It didn't matter if they were tall, short, fat, thin, fake, real, beautiful or ugly.  These women had no taste, definintely were not wearing a bra, and were low class.  It was digusting.  There is something to be said for leaving something to the imagination.  A major "What not to wear" intervention needs to happen in Vegas.  If I never see bad cleavage again, it won't be a moment too soon.

3. Putting a $20 in a one cent slot machine doesn't last as long as you think it would. 

4.  It appears that 8 inch (or higher!) high-heeled shoes seem to be in fashion.  I am so not cut out to keep up with this trend.  I'd love to know how these women can around in these shoes.  A few of them looked like they were holding on to their significant other for dear life.  I took a few pictures because I couldn't believe how high these heels were. I'd have to say, at least 75% of the women were wearing shoes like this. Yowzer!!

5. It's never too early to start gambling in Vegas.  It helps that there are no clocks ANYWHERE and you never are exactly sure what time it is.

6. The customer service at the 1/2 price ticket booth is amazing!  The agents were even standing there holding an umbrella over your head to shield the sun while you waited in line.  They were incredibly friendly and knew so much about each of the shows. 

7.  Vegas is not a family destination.  Not one bit.  However, with all the kids that were visiting, you'd think they relocated Disney World.  It was crazy.  And we saw young, young kids (like babies, 3 year olds, 5 year olds, etc) out at all hours of the night.  Why in the world were these kids not in bed?  And where in the world were these kids walking to?  It made no sense and I felt bad that they had to be subjected to this.

8.  The music coming outside from each of the hotels was fun.  I liked how it seemed to be a party atmosphere, even if it was 8:00am in the morning.  Very similar to New Orleans where you can carry your alcoholic beverage out on the open in the streets and the appropriate time to be drinking doesn't seem to matter.

There you have it, my observations.  Stay tuned for the last installment of "Vegas, Baby: Hotels - ones that rock and ones that don't."

Vegas, Baby!

I've never been to Las Vegas before and wanted to go when the opportunity presented itself that we would have childcare for the kids already in place.  Being that it was also my 40th birthday during our stay was icing on the cake.  I have to say, hands down, this was the best birthday ever.  From all the family and friend's many celebrations during the past several weeks to the 4 nights Jeff & I spent in Vegas, I've loved every minute of it.  It was perfect from beginning to end.  In fact, I had so much fun, I want to do this every year.  :)

Jeff and I made the most of our time away.  It helped that our bodies never seemed to adjust to the 3 hour time difference and we were always awake!  No matter how late we went to bed the night before, we were still up at the crack of dawn every morning at 5:30am.  It would've been perfect for me to sneak to the hotel gym and get a few runs in during these early hours, but right before the trip, I came down with a nasty head cold and could barely breathe.  No worries!  It didn't slow me down any from sightseeing.  Jeff and I travel very well together and always seem to be on the same page on what to do, where to go and what to see.   I am going to break up our trip over the next 3 blogs and give some highlights.  Because as you know, what happens in Vegas, doesn't stay in Vegas when it happens to the newly turned 40 year old with the big mouth.   Hope you enjoy!


WE LAUGHED, WE CRIED, IT WAS BETTER THAN CATS:

We didn't purchase tickets in advance for any of the shows and it proved to be one of the smartest decisions we ever made.  Jeff and I had at the top of our list to see a Cirque du Soleil show (he had never seen one, I only had seen 2 of the traveling ones).  Everyone raves about "Ka" and how it is a must-see before going to any of the others that are playing.  On our way to the box office at MGM Grand to inquire about tickets, we were offered the opportunity to sit through a 2 hour sales pitch on timeshares and get our tickets practically for free ($10 each!).  Sure, why not?  Neither of us had done the timeshare thing before and it was very educational.  We learned a lot and decided that once we are done with preschool costs, we could see ourselves signing up for one of the many timeshare deals out there.  Our seats at Ka were fabulous and we were blown away by the show.  I really think seeing this show is worth the trip to Las Vegas all on its own.  The set, the stage, the performers were unreal.  It was truly incredible.

The other show we saw was "Vegas, the Show".  This was fun, entertaining and a neat, little review of what Vegas used to be like.  There was a magician, showgirls, impersonators, singing and dancing.  Jeff and I both had the same thought -- it was typical of the type of thing you'd see on a cruise ship, only better talent.


CALORIES DON'T COUNT WHEN ON VACATION:

Jeff had seen on The Food Network channel a segment on "The best thing I ever ate". They featured a dish from the Jose Andres restaurant, "China Poblano".  It was the 20 vegetable fried rice.  Jeff is a bit of a foodie and was eager to check it out.  Let me tell you, it lived up to the hype and was amazing.  This dish was so flavorful and literally melted in your mouth.  Yum-O!  The restaurant was very unique in that it featured tapas type dishes and had an eclectic mix of Chinese and Mexican food.

Here is a picture of the 20 vegetable fried rice.


Unfortunately we ate about 1/2 of the dish before I
realized I wanted to take a picture of it.  :)


For my birthday dinner on Thursday evening, I had done some research prior to leaving and found this awesome place called, "Sammys Woodfired Pizza".  They had a wonderful gluten-free menu and I was excited to go.  They have 5 locations in Vegas, but the closest one to where we were staying, was still 7 miles away the strip.  The restaurant was priced reasonably, but the cab ride to and from was approx. double what we paid to eat there.  Oh my!  Jeff and I got a good laugh about that (ok, me more than him) and we both enjoyed a very tasty meal.

This is a gluten-free pizza with brie cheese and artichoke.
It was worth the cab ride!

The waitress surprised me with this for
dessert.  It is called "Messy Sundae" and
boy, was it ever!  Jeff and I both couldn't
finish it.  We gave it our best shot!


JUST LIKE "THELMA & LOUISE"?  NOT!

Neither Jeff or I had been to the Grand Canyon before. This was something we wanted to check out and since we had the time, we went for it.  A groupon had become available for doing the bus tour at 1/2 off the regular price.  Score!  However, while the price was right, we learned why Jeff and I don't like doing organized tours.  It takes too long to accommodate a big group of people.  Between all the stops to stretch your legs and get something to eat, we easily added on an additional 4 hours to our day.  Next time we will rent a car and do it on our own -- not quite like Thelma and Louise because it will be a round trip.  Jeff couldn't handle the rental car charges if the car never made it back.  :)

I have to say this, the Grand Canyon is spectacular.  Wowee!!  And I couldn't have asked for better weather walking around.  It was only a high of 87 degrees, there was a breeze (yes, really!) and at one point we were sprinkled with a few showers.  It was delightful.

AND NOW A WORD FROM OUR LOCAL CASINO HOTELS:

I very much enjoyed walking around and checking out the different hotels and the various personalities of each.  Two kitschy things we did was the Gondola Ride at The Venetian and go to the top of The Eiffel Tower in Paris.  I very much enjoyed both.


At the Paris Hotel:

Jeff and I at the top of the Eiffel Tower.



This is Vearn.  He had more knowledge on
the subject of Vegas than anyone on this
planet.  He was able to tell me the opening
date of every single hotel on The Strip. 
I had a lot of fun quizzing him.  He rocked!

 At The Venetian:

Our Gondola driver sang "Happy Birthday to Me"
in Italian.  It was really neat.

So that about wraps up the hightlights.  Stay tuned for the following "Vegas, Baby" installments; Observations seen around town and Which hotels wowed me & which ones are taking up space.