VEGAS, BABY! VEGAS!
Despite the fact that I don't drink, gamble, or party all that hard, I really love Las Vegas. After a quick layover in Salt Lake City, we arrived in Sin City. We rented a car and made our way to my parents' favorite off-strip casino, Terrible's. Immediately (and to no one's surprise), I made my way to the sports book. After checking the spreads on all of the games, I made the mistake of guaranteeing the Packers would beat the Bears by more than 3-1/2 points. Then, despite my desperate begging and pleading, my dad bet $100 on the Packers.
Every time we go to Vegas, we stay in our timeshare at the Jockey Club. It is the perfect place to stay on the strip. It's tiny, friendly, quiet, centrally located (in between the Bellagio and connected to the Cosmopolitan), and doesn't have a casino. So, at the end of a long night, it is the perfect place to come back and recharge for the next day. After checking in, we walked around Aria and Cosmopolitan for a bit. I had never seen them and, as always, I was blown away by the two new hotels.
The Cosmopolitan was literally built around The Jockey Club. So, Jockey Club guests have their own elevator that takes them to the casino floor of the Cosmopolitan. Since the immense new hotel completely blocks the sun from ever reaching the Jockey Club's pool, guests are allowed to use the Cosmopolitan's four pools. Incredible.
The Boulevard Pool absolutely blew my mind. Amazing view of the strip, huge pool, tons of flat screen TVs, a full-service bar and restaurant, a huge hot tub, a stage for bands to play (Artic Monkeys were there during my trip and Foster the People will be there next month), amazing cabanas (for $100 a day), and tons of free daybeds and lounge chairs. I don't even like laying out, but this was absolute heaven.
The Cosmopolitan also has an incredible bar called Chandelier, which is aptly named because it is a two-story bar completely surrounded by the largest chandelier I've ever seen.
Next, we made our way to Aria. If there is one thing you need to know about this place, it is the amazing smell. It is an incredible mix of vanilla and lavender and they pump it through the vents so you never leave. It works. We walked the shops of the Aria, but only one really caught my eye.
The next day, my feet were absolutely killing me. Note to self: Don't expect to walk around Las Vegas in $1 Old Navy flip-flops. Lesson brutally learned. So, we browsed the Miracle Mile shops at Planet Hollywood for some new kicks. Next, we walked around the breathtaking lobby of the Bellagio. This time, it was decorated in everything fall: scarecrows, giant apples made of roses, enormous pumpkins (800-pound ones!), horses made of plants, cornstalks made of corn, etc. Between the lobby and the fountains outside, I could easily spend the rest of my life in the Bellagio.
Mom and I spent the rest of the afternoon, walking around and watching the fountains. We stopped at the Sugar Factory (under the Paris), where we saw every kind of candy you can imagine. They even have a create-your-own Pixie Stik maker. We also stopped at Serendipity for their famous frozen hot chocolate. Calories don't count of vacation.
Next, we met up with our good family friend Massimo for dinner and a show. We ate at the Wicked Spoon buffet in Aria. This place was unreal. It had a gelato bar and a personalized macaroni and cheese station, where you tell the chef what cheese and what mix-ins you want. I chose cheddar cheese, onions, and ham. Delicious.
After dinner, we made our way to Cirque du Soleil's Viva Elvis! Let me explain: If Vince Vaughn is my #1 celebrity crush, then Elvis is #0. I have loved Elvis since childhood, so I was beyond excited for this show. After being escorted to our seats, we realized one of our chairs was broken, so they moved us to the front row. So, Elvis was practically in my mouth the entire show.
The show was absolutely fantastic. It was perfect for the Elvis fanatic because it told his life story (focusing particularly on his childhood, Army days, marriage to Priscilla, and stint in Vegas) and it was perfect for non-Elvis fans because the performers were incredible. The music, as always, was fantastic and the performers were interactive with the audience. Personally, I think it rivaled the Beatles' Love, but I'm pretty biased. The only downfall was that clips and pictures of Elvis were constantly being shown on the screen and I could not peel my eyes from him. I think I missed half of the performances because his face is so distracting.
The next morning, Mom and I went to the pool to relax. I could have spent the rest of the day there. However, we decided to walk down the strip toward Mandalay Bay. We stopped in New York, New York for lunch at a sports bar that had the most impressive bobblehead collection I have ever seen. In addition to Brian Urlacher, Chad Ochocinco, Chris Cooley, and Sidney Crosby, I was really happy to see a Ben Roethlisberger Miami bobblehead in the collection. Love and honor.
After lunch, we walked down to RM Seafood in Mandalay Bay for some blind ice cream tasting. If your table can correctly identify all 16 ice cream/sorbet flavors, you get the $18 sampler for free. As a self-proclaimed ice cream aficionado, I figured we would fare pretty well. I was completely wrong. The flavors are insane and different every single time. We got 2 of 16 right - although I should mention that they don't count it right if you don't write it exactly. Here were our guesses and what they ended up being:
Flavor #1: They tell you it is vanilla bean, so that you can keep track of where you start on your guess sheet.
Flavor #2: Our guess? Celery sorbet. Actual flavor? Celery sorbet. This was instantly recognizable and kind of disturbing after a taste of vanilla.
Flavor #3: Our guess? Currant ice cream. Actual flavor? Blueberry banana sorbet. I absolutely loathe bananas, but I did not taste a hint of them in this. I definitely got the berry flavor.
Flavor #4: Our guess? Whipped cream ice cream. Actual flavor? Strawberry ice cream. Strawberry is one of my favorite ice cream flavors and I can assure you this tasted nothing like it.
Flavor #5: Our guess? Bananas foster ice cream. Actual flavor? Wild mint tea ice cream. No way. I didn't like this one bit, hence the banana guess.
Flavor #6: Our guess? Lemon sorbet. Actual flavor? Ginger lemonade sorbet. They didn't count our guess right. This tasted exactly like the lemon freezes at baseball games. Delicious.
Flavor #7: Our guess? Cantaloupe ice cream. Actual flavor? Carrot sorbet. I didn't pick up any hint of carrot. I think the color threw us off.
Flavor #8: Our guess? Banana ice cream. Actual flavor? Maple anise ice cream. What is anise? Again, I didn't like this one much.
Flavor #9: Our guess? Rhubarb ice cream. Actual flavor? Blueberry buttermilk ice cream. Despite how good this sounds, this was the third most disgusting flavor in the sampler.
Flavor #10: Our guess? Cappuccino ice cream. Actual flavor? Coffee ice cream. They didn't count our guess right. I hate coffee, so I didn't like this, but it was my mom's favorite.
Flavor #11: Our guess? Honeydew melon sorbet. Actual flavor? Yellow watermelon sorbet. I've never heard of yellow watermelon, but it definitely had that refreshing melon taste.
Flavor #12: Our guess? Orange sorbet. Actual flavor? Orange tarragon sorbet. I hate artificial orange flavor, so this made me gag. What the heck is tarragon?
Flavor #13: Our guess? Pesto ice cream. Actual flavor? Thai basil sorbet. Wrong. Just wrong. So shocking and gross.
Flavor #14: Our guess? Coconut ice cream. Actual flavor? Coconut ice cream. Delicious. This was my favorite and I could have eaten more.
Flavor #15: Our guess? Pistachio ice cream. Actual flavor? Avocado ice cream. I love avocado as much as the next person, but this was pretty gross.
Flavor #16: Our guess? Sour cream and onion ice cream. Actual flavor? Onion balsamic ice cream. This instantly triggered my gag reflex. A crime against humanity. I nearly threw up. The most disgusting flavor on the sampler.
Despite some of the horrific flavors, we had a great time tasting the ice cream and laughing at our horrible guesses. I highly recommend this to anyone with a love of ice cream and adventurous taste buds. Keep in mind: Just like everything else is Vegas, it's a lot of fun, but the house always wins.
After the ice cream tasting, we met Dad and drove to Hash House A Go Go in M off the strip. I wasn't remotely hungry, so the sight of this food was almost nauseating. The plates were humongous and one meal was enough to feed three people. I ordered the soy barbeque ribs, but Mom's sage-fried chicken benedict made for the best picture. This is the favorite of Man vs. Food's Adam Richman.
Friday, Mom and I laid out and swam for a few hours before I bid farewell to the coolest pool I've ever seen.
We checked out of the Jockey Club and made our way to Terrible's again. This time, Mom and I played two games of intense Bingo. I was the only person under the age of 40, but I absolutely loved it. There is no worse sound in the world than someone else calling out, "BINGO!"
After Dad got his video poker fix, we went to the Clarion Hotel to see Cashetta, the Extra Large Medium. Translation: A drag queen pretending to tell the future. Tickets must have been super cheap because this was ridiculous. According to Cashetta, the world will not end next year, John Travolta is gay, and Hillary Clinton will play a major role in the upcoming election. In the most accurate prediction of the night, Cashetta said that I was at a stand-still in my life and had no idea what to do about it. She told me that I need to get moving and I should do what I love. So, it looks like sports journalism school for me, eh? Sorry, Dad. I blame it completely on the cross-dresser in Vegas.
After the show, we drove three hours to our pit stop in Hesperia, California, but I'll leave the California fun for tomorrow.
Hahaha no worse sound than someone calling Bingo, some how I remember that sinking heart feeling from playing it in school. Even if the prize was only a tootsie roll.
ReplyDeleteGlad you had a great trip!
Ohhhh, this looks like so much fun! I've been looking up places to eat for a (potential) NYC trip, and Serendipity is on everyone's list; I didn't know they had one in Vegas too! Looks like you had a great time - jealous! Take me on your next vacay, please?!!?
ReplyDeleteYour trip looks like it was so much fun! The blind ice cream tasting is really neat...but there's no way I would have gotten all those exotic flavors right. I'm a huge fan of Man v. Food. I always check out the restaurants he's visited when I travel to a new place!
ReplyDeletewould have loved to be there w/u! looks like u had an amazing time =)
ReplyDeleteVegasss!!!! It looks like you had a blast!
ReplyDelete