Vegas 2.0

Vegas again, you say? Yeah baby! This time it was just me and my honey. We jetted off without our kiddos for a fun few days in the sun. The weather was absolutely beautiful; sunshine and 70-80 degrees. If you are interested here is the play by play....it seems as though we are becoming Vegas connoisseurs.

After arriving in sin city our first stop was to the famous 4 Kegs. It was featured on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives a while back and we got the must have stromboli. Although it was tasty, I wouldn't waste the gas or time to drive out there again. It was a sketchy neighborhood and the food was only ok.

The next day was our featured event...the Las Vegas Motor Speedway Nascar race!! We weren't really sure what to expect, although we did drive a big F150 truck hoping to blend in. We fueled our tummies up at the Bagel Cafe; which was super delish. Chris got their smoked fish plate, and I had more traditional homemade cinnamon french toast. We made it to the track in time for pre-race entertainment and driver introductions. The sun was out, the bleachers had backs on them, we saw Marie Osmond sing the National Anthem, and the Thunderbirds  did a few fly overs. Then, the cars came out. They were so stinking fast and loud! Part of the reason I wanted to go was to see in person how fast they really were. It was pretty amazing to watch them start the race. All those cars accelerating so fast just inches from each other. Crazy! I thought that it would take forever since it was a 267 lap race, but the time just flew by. We did need earplugs after a little while, but we had a blast!

Afterwards we stopped for tacos and empanadas at Tacos de Los Toritos; which was tasty. Then later that evening we went with a bunch of Chris's family to the most amazing place ever: the Lotus of Siam. It is hands down the best restaurant ever! It is a Thai place off the strip and in a strange out of the way location. If you even sorta like Thai food, you need to go here. I like super spicy food, and I ordered my curry as a 7 on their 1-10 scale. Let's just say, I could barely handle it, but totally worth it.

Our next day was more good food and fun. We started the day out right at Babycakes for creative and tasty pancakes. I got the rocky rhode pancakes which were seriously chocolate piled high with marshmallows, nuts, and whipped cream on top. Chris had a more normal carrot pancakes with eggs benedict. Afterwards, we went to go burn off some of our accumulating calories at the Red Rock Canyon park. It was our second time there exploring and it was great again. There are many, many hikes to do and the desert scenery is gorgeous. We even went off the trail a few times to scramble up higher. It was lots of fun to do together without worrying about kids trying to keep up.

After our hike we stopped for a quick treat at Nielsen's Frozen Custard. It was tasty, and perfect after our hike in the sun! Then we made our way to the Monte Carlo to check in.
The hotel lobby was nice, and the pool was already open for the season. We went up to our room, which was nice, but kinda older and a bit outdated. The bed was comfortable, but our shower would not get hot. That was the only real bummer about our stay there.

We got cleaned up and dressed up nice to head to dinner at The Capital Grille on the strip. It's a fancy pants steakhouse. Our food (steaks, asparagus, truffle fries) was really tasty, and it had a great view, but probably too spendy for what we got.

After dinner, we walked across the street to the Venetian for the show Human Nature's Motown. It was 4 white Aussies singing all sorts of motown hits. It was in a small theater so we got a really great show! It was pretty entertaining. Look up human nature on youtube for a clip of them.

The evening would not be complete without more food, so we went to the Grand Luxe Cafe for the most amazing dessert ever! We had the beignets. That was our first time getting them. If you don't know they are a cross between a donut and a sopapilla. I should have snapped a pic, but when they came out  we devoured them immediately. There was powdered sugar sprinkled on them, and they came with 3 dipping sauces; raspberry, chocolate, and glaze. MMMMMmmmm. Sooo good!

We tried to sleep in the next day, but with the time change and our usual routines, we ended up awake at 8am. We hit up the casino's buffet since it was included in our stay. It only reaffirmed our desire to never pay for a buffet. Not worth it at all. After that we headed out on the strip to walk, people watch, and shop. It was fun to explore new places. We found the world's tallest chocolate fountain at Jean Phillipe's Patissere at the Bellagio. Of course, we also needed a small treat of gelato and a key lime tart while we were there. When we had walked forever, we stopped at Gordon Ramsey's BURGR restaurant at Planet Hollywood. I had the Hell's Kitchen burger, and it was tasty. I don't know if it was worth $13, but it was good, and we can now check that place off the list.

After lunch, feeling super full, we opted to head to a movie. It felt good to sit and relax for a couple of hours while we digested. We had a dinner reservation that night at Todd's Unique Dining. We ran right from the movie to dinner even though we were still a little on the full side. :) The food was good. I had short ribs and Chris had a meatloaf. The salads were amazing, and Chris really liked his tuna appetizer.

We headed back to the strip after that to walk around. We explored the M&M store and the Coke store. It was pretty fun to taste samples of soda that they sell around the world. Some were good, but others were difficult to even taste. One tasted like fizzy scope. Ewww!

After that, we actually went to another movie! Yep, two in one day. Hey, we were on vacay! And since Vegas never sleeps, guess what we did at midnight when our movie got out? Yep, we headed back to the Grand Luxe for more tasty apps and beignets! Wow, we really ate soo much. I feel sick just typing all this. We made it back to our room about 2am. Party animals!

Our last day in Vegas was spent eating more at the Bagel Cafe again, and then exploring the National Atomic Testing Museum. Apparently, they were still testing lots of nuclear bombs in the Nevada desert while we were kids up until about 1989. Craziness. It was neat to talk to some of the older men that actually worked there. Kinda fun and nerdy activity to kill a couple hours before our flight.

Overall, you can see that we packed in our fun and our food while on our trip. We had a fabulous time, and can't wait to go back. Although we are taking suggestions on perhaps trying out a new place  for our next getaway. Thanks a bunch to Grandmas and Grandpas and Aunts and Uncles for making it all possible. Chris and I are grateful!!