Vacation Part I: Fabulous Las Vegas

Greetings, friend

We have sadly returned from a decadent week in the West. I thought I'd indulge a little and sort through the memories by way of reminiscing about the experience. Thanks to all who passed on their tips, tricks, and favorite places in that part of our beautiful country. And now, the rundown.

Saturday
The alarm went off at 4:30am, and we sprung out of bed giddy with the promise of 8 days of recreation, fantastic food, and rendezvouses (how does one make 'rendezvous' plural?) with friends both old and new. An empty-road drive to IAD, an hour kicking around the airport, and we were on our way to Vegas.

We checked in to our suite/room at the Venetian around noon and promptly began exploring the grounds. It is certainly an impressive resort portraying a sanitized, Disneyfied version of Italy's Venice. The real Venice is a breathtaking, singular place to find oneself and while no contrived themed resort could truly capture its magic, the Venetian is still a very nice place to be. And most importantly, great Italian food can be had...for a price (but in US Dollars and not Euro!) Our first stop was at the fake Piazza San Marco for some tasty wine, cheese, pasta, and salad at Mr. Batali's casual Enoteca San Marco.

After lunch we explored the Venetian's brand spanking new adjacent sister resort, The Palazzo for a while before cruising the strip. We popped into a dive casino where I managed to lose a few bucks over the course 30 minutes or so on a cheap roulette wheel. After some more walking about we made our way back to the hotel and hit the gym for an hour or so before cleaning up for dinner.

Saturday night's dinner was a special affair. We paid a visit to the brand spanking new Dos Caminos in the heart of the brand spanking new Palazzo. Having an "in" with the chef, we were treated (literally) to an extensive and exquisite tasting menu of fabulous, fresh, modern mexican grub. Outstanding guacamole, fresh salsas, perfect cocktails, ceviches, empanadas, fish, giant shrimp, chorizo, ribs, and a dessert plate that went on for miles. We were sent on our way extremely fat and extremely happy. Intending to have a big night out on the town, we promptly fell asleep due to copious food ingestion and bodies on Eastern Time clocks.

Sunday
We woke up reasonably early given our early bed time and dragged our overfed faces to the gym. After getting cleaned up we picked up discount tickets to Cirque du Soleil - Mystère, for later that evening, and then made our way down to Caesar's for a light brunch at Mesa Grill where we split a tasty spicy chicken and sweet potato hash with poached eggs. Mmm... Ambling around the strip, we fell into a reasonably nice, cheap casino across from Caesar's where we had our most successful blackjack stint and learned the basics of craps. After that it was off to a silly pass through Madame Tussaud's wax museum for which we had tickets as part of a "resort pack" promotional thing. Another session of blackjack (less successful than earlier) and we headed back to the Venetian for some further exploration, shopping, and an almost-trip to the pool.

For the evening, we attended the Cirque du Soleil show which Wacky Neighbor summed up beautifully. I'm having recurring dreams where I am somehow able to effortlessly climb poles upside down using only my hands. This show was well worth it for the amazing feats of acrobatic hullabaloo. After the show it was a late dinner at B&B Ristorante (Babbo of the West, complete with beef cheek ravioli and grappa di moscato. yum.), followed by some quality chill time at Blush in the Wynn. (Notable event - leaving the Wynn, I turned $1 into $23.75 on a single slot machine play. I subsequently lost $20 of the winnings on red. Stupid.) And with that, our time in Vegas was quickly coming to an end. (Another notable event at the Wynn was watching this dude play $1000 minimum blackjack.)

I find Vegas somewhat...odd. It's undoubtedly very fake. And it's a money pit. And it has to be one of the most unsustainable cities of modern times given its location and resource needs. While I don't think I would plan a trip specifically to Vegas, I would stop by en route to other places on that end of the country. We had a good time, we ate well, and we saw a great show.

Monday
The other notable thing about the Venetian is the presence of a Bouchon Bakery. The Vegas version was unsurprisingly overpriced, but the coffee was second to none. Coffee on Monday was on the go. A cab to the airport and we were off to San Francisco.

To be continued...