Memorial Day Weekend in Vegas

Before I start on our recent trip to Vegas, I wanted to let you know that our photos from our trip to Puerto Vallarta can be found here.

So since there was the long weekend, I decided that it would be a good time to go to Vegas again. This time, we stayed at the Bellagio in a penthouse suite. We knew that there was a special lounge for checking in, but we couldn't find it at all. Nick asked one of the people at the counter (she was just standing there but wasn't available for check-in) and she showed us the very discreet, unmarked door to this area. We were checked in immediately and so we headed off to our room. The suite was huge, with a really large living area (which, in retrospect, is not something that we really need in a hotel room--it's not like we're entertaining anyone when we're there), and two bathrooms off the main bedroom, both with TV's in them. Nick took a video of the room, which we'll share with you once he's uploaded it.

Our trip was actually very busy, which Nick liked 'cuz that meant less time for me to lose money gambling. After we dropped our luggage in our room, we headed off to find a snack and then to our spa appointment. Nick had the watsu again and I went with the raindrop therapy, which involved drops of oil being dropped on my back, followed by a massage. It was interesting, but I'm not sure I'd do it again. I liked the sensation of the oil being dropped on my back, but that was only like 20 minutes of the entire session...I wished it was longer. Afterwards, we had dinner at Michael Mina, which was wonderful (but we were very, very full), and then we walked to the Venetian to see the Blue Man Group. I had never been any of their shows, but had seen them on TV, so I was expecting 90 minutes of them hitting pipes which they would move in order to change the tone. But they incorporated a comedy routine, which fit very well with their concept, and overall, it was very enjoyable.

The next morning, we woke up rather early for us on a weekend to get ready to be taken on a helicopter ride of the Grand Canyon (photos can be found here). Neither of us have ever been in a helicopter, and I was incredibly scared I would get sick due to turbulence. But there was no reason for me to worry at all...yes it was bumpy, but it wasn't a left/right bumpy, which gets me very sick. And even though it was turbulent, I wasn't scared at all like I get in airplanes sometimes...I actually felt safe in the air. The views from the copter were amazing and flying through the canyon to see the layers of rock was incredible. We landed and had lunch before flying back and taking one pass over the Vegas strip. It was a wonderful experience and now I won't hesitate to fly in a helicopter again.

After some shopping (did you really think I would go to Vegas and not buy some Vosges?), we headed for the Wynn to see Le Reve. According to Nick, it was theater in the round 'cuz the water stage was in the center, and the seaters were essentially rings radiating out from the stage. The show was amazing, with wonderful artistry and an impressive stage that went from a pool and transformed into a multi-tiered fountain. There weren't very many acrobatic sets though--the show seemed to focus more on the story of a woman trying to find her love (I think), so there were many dance segments.

When the show finished, we went to the MGM Grand for our dinner reservation at Joel Robuchon. Our thinking was, it's a three star Michelin restaurant that has availability for us, so why not? We had the crazy 14-course degustation menu and were not disappointed (although, I'm not sure if it was really worth the $385/person cost). There was an amazing bread presentation with something like 15 different types to choose from. The dishes were fantastic and their sizes were appropriate given how many courses there were. We had frog legs for the first time there, and really, it tasted like chicken. Really good, tender chicken though (also, I kept thinking that I'm eating Kermit, which sort of made it harder to eat it). One of the last courses was a dish of spring root vegetables, but what made it special was the very miniature size of the vegetables. The carrots were, I swear, less than an inch tall, and there were onions that were the size of a pea. It was all very, very cute, and very delicious. After the dessert courses, we were presented with the ice cream selection and then an insane confection tray with 45 different items to choose from, all made in-house. If my stomach wasn't on the verge of exploding, I would have tried one of each, but instead, I had the apricot gelee, coconut marshmallow, and fleur de sel caramel, all of which were fantastic. If they were available in a box to take home, I would have sooo purchased one.

The next day wasn't too exciting. We had a couples massage at the spa. The massage was nice, but it was disappointing that the Bellagio spa didn't have more options for couples, or a longer massage option (the one that they had was 50 minutes long). I looked at the Wynn's spa menu, and they offered various other treatments which could be added a la carte to any couples massage. We had lunch at Noodles, which was the Chinese restaurant in the Bellagio. It was overpriced for what it was, but the food was good. I spent the last 45 minutes before leaving for the airport on Roulette, where I had awful luck and lost all my money. But at least I was able to last 45 minutes. One man came up to the table with $500, asked for $25 coins. He put $200 down on the first spin of the wheel and lost (in fact, everyone lost), and then put the rest on the next spin and lost again! And then he left as if nothing really happened...it was quite amazing to watch really.

Oh, one thing I forgot to mention was that a few of the casinos had the new Star Trek slot machines (unfortunately, the Bellagio was not one of them). The seats had speakers in them, so if you won, your seat would vibrate, which made for a very strange sensation. One thing with this game that was different from the ones that I've played so far, and admittedly I haven't played that many, was that you could create an account with the game so that if you left and came back, you could sign in. The reason being was that there were certain bonus games (you started out with two games) that you could unlock by winning medals, and the only way that medals seemed to be awarded were through bonus games. You needed 40 medals to gain a rank, and I think unlock more games. To give you an idea of how hard it was for me to get medals, I was lucky enough to win the bonus round twice, and only got 5 medals. I would have needed to play for a lot longer if I wanted to gain another rank. It was still a very entertaining game, but since there were only 4 machines in any given casino, it was hard to find one that was open. Maybe next time when we visit, there'll be more open seats.

So that was our Vegas Memorial Day Weekend...I hope all of you had a great long weekend as well. The next trip that we have planned is in the middle of June to Boston for Nick's cousin's wedding.