Las Vegas, A Food Destination

We took advantage of some time off to take a trip to Las Vegas once again. Vegas is an easy trip from Colorado as there are a lot of inexpensive flights and, since we have a timeshare there, inexpensive rooms. This was our fifth trip to Las Vegas, but for us, it isn’t about gambling or even the glitz and glamour.  We actually used our trip to have some down time, relax, enjoy some incredible food, and simply connect with one another.  And yes, we stayed on the Las Vegas strip, albeit in the Trump Tower, which allowed us to get away from the noise of the casinos.

Fountain Outside of Caesar’s Palace
Statue of Liberty at the New York, New York Casino

If you haven’t been to Las Vegas lately, you might be surprised by all of the top chefs with restaurants in the casinos.  Las Vegas has gone through several transformations over the years.  Obviously, everyone knows about the early days when Sinatra, the Rat Pack, and the mob ruled the town.  Then, in the late 80’s and early 90’s, they tried to become a family friendly destination.  After losing millions in revenue, it was a return to the original formula as they rolled out the “what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas” campaign.

Thai Calamari
Cheese Board

Now, it is definitely a destination for “foodies”.  Wherever you turn, you’ll see signs and billboards for the famous chefs and their restaurants.  You see names like Emeril Lagasse, Mario Batali, Bobby Flay, Giada, Gordon Ramsay, Wolfgang Puck, and many, many more.  You may have to fight your way through the casino floors and the incessant ringing of the video slot machines, but you’ll be well rewarded if you do.  The days of the cheap buffet and the nickel steaks are definitely a thing of the past.  The food is fantastic and, depending on the time of year, you’ll want to make reservations if you want to enjoy the creations of your favorite chef.  Maybe, if you’re lucky, you’ll even see your favorite chef in person or perhaps another celebrity enjoying everything that the Las Vegas strip has to offer.

Deviled Eggs
Foie Gras

Obviously, there are also a ton of shows, with every large casino offering some sort of Cirque Du Soleil extravaganza.  Magicians, comedy acts, and a plethora of singers.  Night clubs too, can be found to meet every style and taste.  But there are other things to do as well.  There is the top of the Stratosphere, the CSI Experience, the Titanic Exhibition, the Bodies Experience, Mob Museum, Siegfried and Roy’s Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat, Pin Ball Museum, helicopter tours, tours to the Grand Canyon, and much more.  We’ve done many of these and they are all well worth a try, although many of them can be quite pricey.

Fountain inside of the Wynn
Paris Hotel and Casino

As we mentioned before, this was a relaxing trip for us, so we made our way through several restaurants.  The highlight was dinner at the Eiffel Tower Restaurant with its spectacular views of the Bellagio fountains.  We also ate at Gordon Ramsay’s Pub, Emeril’s Plate, the DB Brasserie, Cucina by Wolfgang Puck, the Nine Fine Irishmen, and many more.

Las Vegas Strip
Caesar’s Palace

If you’re thinking about going to Las Vegas and have never been before, you really should go, at least once.  Every time we visit, we always see something that we haven’t seen before.  Vegas isn’t just about gambling and shows, but from our perspective, it is an adult destination.  We see a lot of families walking along the strip, taking pictures with the many costumed characters, but you’ll also be constantly barraged with flyers for strip clubs and adult shows.  So, definitely visit Las Vegas, but in our opinion, you should leave the little ones at home.

Rack of Lamb
Beef Wellington
New York, New York Casino and Hotel
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Christmas in Vegas

We have a couple of timeshares and last year we had a week that we had to use or we would lose it, so we decided to avoid the normal family drama of the holidays and go to Vegas.  We had never really considered going to Las Vegas over the holidays, so we weren’t sure of what to expect.  We had a full seven nights, which is really too many nights for Vegas, but we were staying at the Trump Tower, which doesn’t have a casino, so at least we had a place to go to get away from the noise.  Our youngest daughter was joining us for three nights in the middle of our stay, so we had two nights before she joined us and two nights after she left.  We would definitely need the nights towards the end to try and recover from spending three nights with a twenty-five year old, way to much eating and drinking for the two of us who had both turned fifty that year.

Holiday Carousel
Christmas Tree

First thing about Christmas in Las Vegas is that the casinos don’t really do much to celebrate Christmas, so the strip is just like the strip at any other time of the year.  New Year’s Eve was definitely their focus and there were bill boards and advertisements for all of the special concerts and parties that were coming to town.  There were a few hotels that did some displays, such as the Bellagio, the Venetian, and Caesar’s Palace.  Other than that, it was business as usual for the casinos.

Decorations at the Bellagio
Penguins at the Bellagio

We’ve been to Vegas several times, so we were pleased that there were far fewer crowds in town for the week, which was nice.  Most of the people that were there seemed to travel from overseas and were likely going to be there for a couple of weeks.  The days of the cheap buffets and steak dinners are definitely a thing of the past and now Las Vegas and the strip is home to restaurants touting celebrity chef names in every corner of the casinos.  Dinner on the strip can cost you more than an evening of gambling, but the food is definitely excellent.

Pete and Dona at a Restaurant
Mexican Appetizer inside Caesar’s

We always take in a show when we’re in Vegas and have done several of the Cirque Du Soleil shows, but we decided to go and see Penn and Teller.  We wanted our daughter to see their show, which is a lot of fun, and the two of them take time after the show to talk and take pictures with everyone from the audience.  Afterwards, by attending their show, you’re able to get into the Voodoo Lounge at the Rio, which is the nightclub that they own and is on the roof of the Rio.  You get some amazing views of the strip as well as some tasty cocktails.

Dona and Our Daughter with Teller
Pete and Our Daughter at the Voodoo Lounge

We actually flew home the day after Christmas, exhausted, but Christmas Day was probably the strangest day of the trip.  Apparently there are extremely cheap flights from California to Las Vegas if you’re willing to fly on Christmas Day, and people were apparently very willing.  Lines to check into hotels were a mile long and if you wanted to get a bite to eat at one of the restaurants, you had better be willing to wait.  It was a sudden, and unwelcome, change to what had been a somewhat quiet week, at least in terms of Vegas.  It is unlikely that we’ll ever do Christmas at Las Vegas again, but in the end we had a lot of fun and made some interesting memories.

Pete and Dona in Gondola
Pete with Holiday Decorations
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