Vegas MM 2013

My girls' weekend was in Las Vegas this year, which meant we had one of the biggest turnouts yet as we were able to tap into the west coast crowd. 

While I was gone, Mary spent some time in North Carolina with her daddy, papa and big sister.  I don't think I'll ever get used to watching her board a plane without me.  She, on the other hand, doesn't understand why I have to walk her all the way to the gate.  She knows what to do at security, which screens to look for to check her gate number, and when to board the plane depending on what "zone" number she is.  She even knows how to find Dunkin Donuts for our traditional airport snack.  For such an independent little girl, she sure does struggle with independently getting herself ready for school, or independently tidying her room.

 

 

 

This was my second visit to LV, I came here a few years ago with Mary and my mom.  We rented a convertible and took a road trip across the desert, around the grand canyon and back across Hoover Dam.  I was excited to come back; I (surprisingly) really like Las Vegas and there's so much more here than I first expected there to be.  It was hot. HOT.  I think it hit 115 most days we were here. 

  

Alicia and I took the same flight from Dallas and met a few of the others at the airport.  We cabbed to the hotel and checked in at the Aria. 

 



 

The Aria is a five star relatively new hotel (maybe only a couple of years old, I'm sure it wasn't here on my last visit).  It was gorgeous.  Our rooms were wonderful, remote control drapes and touchscreen TV, we even had a telephone in our toilet.  I was taken away by this and tried many times to call someone while they were on the toilet.  I just thought it would be kinda cool.  Now it just sounds weird. 

I would be rooming with Cheryl, who is one of my favorite people in the world.  She is always up for just about anything.  She is also a serial napper and can take 20 minute sleeps which I think must be a talent.

 





 

We had great views of the strip, but really weren't in the rooms much to enjoy this (or to call someone in the bathroom).

After checking in, we took a stroll around the Aria and the promenade while the others trickled in. 

 

Interesting whistle restaurant, Sandy and me.  It was Sandy's 40th birthday this LV weekend :)

 

 

We tipped $2 to have our photo taken with some showgirls.  Then, we wondered how much we could make if we dressed up all glitzy and charged "tips" for people to have their photograph taken with us.  We also decided that we wouldn't encourage our daughters to become students in Las Vegas.

 

 

The pools area was equally impressive.  We toyed with the idea of renting a cabana for a day but couldn't justify the $800/day when we really didn't want to spend a whole day at the pool.

 

We were hungry, so we ate at the Todd English pub.  I tried their Bubble and Squeak and it was a bit fancier than my mum used to make.  However, it probably wasn't as good (not that my mum is an amazing cook, you need a chisel to eat her rice pudding; sorry mam, but Mike and James will back me up on this one!  You have other talents :).

 

It was getting late and some of the others had arrived so we met them in the lobby and headed back out.  When you're in Vegas, you have to eat.  There are so many wonderful restaurants, so we headed to Gordon Ramsay's Burgr to see what all the fuss was about.

 

 

 

Those of us who had eaten earlier were only up for dessert.  The dessert menu consists of milkshakes, topped with pudding, cream and a cookie.  Although it was a little disappointing that there wasn't much variety, the shake/pudding/cookie was delicious.  The parmesan fries were also a big hit at the table.  So, Burgr has a simple burger, fries and shakes menu, but the quality of our food was very good and I would happily return.

 



We also found this cool knife that rests with the blade perpendicular to the table.  Why don't all knives have this design? No more buttery mess on the table.  Only a group of moms would have a table discussion about this.

 



Back at the hotel, we noticed this bomb detection dog in training.  I've never seen a dog so focused on his job and, despite the hundreds of people walking around him (although, oddly, not in the photo), he sat still, followed instructions to the word, and suppressed all urges to be petted.  My dogs would be jumping onto people's shoulders, chewing up their luggage and peeing on the blackjack tables.

The dog handler told me off for taking a photo of the dog.  I did ask permission from a lady in his entourage, I just didn't ask him.  Apparently that was the mistake - he is the photograph-authorizer.  I gave him my "you are being quite rude" look and walked away.  I blame his uniform, many people are much nicer when they take off their uniform.  I'm not sure why he didn't want me taking a photo of the dog, I didn't distract the dog.  Maybe the dog is in witness protection and I just blew his cover. 

The first night, I watched Aimee play Blackjack so that I wouldn't look like a complete fool when I decided to join a game.  I started playing the next day.  I had some ups and downs and finally called it a day when I had a handsome overall win.  Aimee played with a group of good spirited young men who were celebrating college graduation.  Their chips had a different color to any chips I played so I'm guessing they were bigger spenders.

The next day, we went to Venetia and some of us took the gondola ride.  Cheryl came very close to another expensive footwear purchase.  Cheryl has the best legs of anyone I know and could pull it off if she wore dead badgers strapped to her feet.

 

chocolate fountain

Then it was back to the hotel to try out the pool.  One thing I like about Vegas is the service; we didn't have to leave the pool once to order, and fruity drinks just taste better when you're floating in a pool.  Alicia (the unofficial photographer-of-the-bizarre) took some photos of a guy swimming in his underwear, and we all welcomed Becky and Sarah who had driven in from Utah and California.  Oddly enough, Alicia didn't take any pictures of someone getting arrested in an alley on this trip.

ADDENDUM:  Of course Alicia got a photo of someone getting arrested.  After reading my blog, Alicia texted me this:

The bike police

 

That night, we ate at Julian Serano and celebrated Sandy's 40th. 

We had tickets (or our name was on a list, I don't remember) for the Gold Lounge.  It was 80's night.  Americans must have grown up with different 80's music than I, because they never once tapped into Erasure, Wham or Shaking Stevens.  Either that or our DJ figured that anything before he graduated high school (in 2012) was good enough.  While in my happy phase, I developed a plan to blow up hundreds of balloons and fill Sandy's room with them before she woke up the next morning.  However, I later forgot all about this plan.  It's the thought that counts. 
This was a fun night but everyone knows that some things that happen in Vegas stay there!

Saturday, a few of us visited the Bodies museum.  I worried it might be too gruesome, but most of what we saw didn't even seem real and I had to remind myself I was looking at human body parts.  Some of it was hard to take seriously, such as the oriental man posed with a basketball about to shoot a hoop. 

That night, we had tickets to see Ka, so we took an early dinner in D'Vino.  Although the food was good, the wine list was a little disappointing for an Italian food and wine bar.

The show Ka was beyond words.  I have never been so amazed by a show.  The entire theater design, the stage set, the technology, the performances... it all took our breath away.  We attended the 7pm show. Tragedy struck during the 9pm show when one of the acrobats fell from her harness and was killed during the final battle scene.  This saddens me so much; these performers have such awe inspiring skill and this lady died performing an act that literally gave me goosebumps. 

We met later at the Bellagio piano bar for drinks and chat.  It seems there was a technical problem with the fountains so the show was not as impressive as I remember it. 

 

 

Earlier that day, we had visited the Cupcakery, winners of The Cupcake Wars a few years back.  That night, we hung out in Kathleen's room and ate our cupcakes.  I don't remember which flavor I bought, but I definitely tasted a little heaven and some puppy dogs tails.  Definitely recommend. 

The next morning, we ate a patisserie breakfast and headed to the airport.  Alicia and I would be on the same flight back to Dallas that was supposed to arrive at 4pm.  I needed to be at Mary's gate by 9pm to meet her off her flight.  Panic ensued when our flight was delayed, and then delayed again.  Andrew stepped up and offered to fly to Dallas to meet Mary.  Luckily, my flight got me into Dallas around 8pm and I made it to Mary's gate in plenty of time. 

I was super glad to have Mary back and we stayed the night in a hotel.  Tomorrow, we would head to the UK for a month.