Q's Adventures: Viva Las Vegas

In the past, when I’ve gone to Vegas, I’ve always started off my blog recap with something along the lines of “What happens in Vegas…GOES ON MY BLOG!”  And while this is still true, I’m starting to see that this play on the popular “stays in Vegas” phrase is not so unique anymore.  Hell, on the flight to Vegas Thursday night, the flight attendant, when we landed, told us “remember, what happens in Vegas no longer stays in Vegas…it goes on facebook.”  Or some semblance of that.  Anyways, it irritated me.  That’s my joke…and its supposed to be about my blog!  Not freaking facebook!  Granted, I posted pictures of my trip on facebook before I got a chance to lay out this blog post, but that’s beside the point!  Or is it?  Shit…I fucked up.

Anyways, looks like I’ve gotten sidetracked before I even started my actual trip post!  I went to Las Vegas this past weekend…a nice Thursday night through Sunday noon stretch of time.  I went with Elaine, Bubba, and Trizza…and the 4 of us generally had an awesome time.  I will say, this was a rather different Vegas trip that I am used to.  It still had some of the staples that makes a great Vegas trip so great (good food, good people, good shows)…but it turns out I’m no spring chicken, and cannot quite do Vegas the same way I did before.  I also lead a somewhat different lifestyle now, and it leads to me doing things a little differently.  But, as is usually the case, Vegas was still awesome.

Elaine and I got in Thursday night around 9, got to the hotel without a hitch (no, seriously, our checked bags were already on the carousel by the time we got there…no waiting at all), and then hooked up with Bubba and Trizza to hit the strip.  The first stop?  DRINKS!

Yes, that's a 50oz frozen alcoholic drink…with an extra shot.  Needless to say, we started our trip off right!  These were purchased in Mandalay Bay.  We then wandered down through the Luxor (our old stomping grounds), the Excalibur, and finally into NYNY.  We made our reservations for dinner the next evening at Gallagher’s, and hung out a bit.  I want to say we called it an evening shortly thereafter and retired to our hotel rooms, but the 50oz drink was long gone by that point, and things are a little fuzzy.  Let’s just move on to Friday…

Friday I woke up, and all 4 of us hit the gym in the hotel!  I know, I know, I’m the worst vacationer in the world.  My first thing to do after a night of drinking in Vegas is to go work out.  But, this is the new me!  Anyways, Elaine hit the elliptical for half an hour, Trizza did some elliptical and then some treadmill, Bubba walked uphill on the treadmill while I ran on the treadmill for 45 minutes…and then the two of us did a shoulders workout.  Back to the room to shower and grab a quick energy bar breakfast.  Then Elaine went to meet up with an old high school friend for lunch and baby visiting while Bubba, Trizza, and I wandered down the strip.  We bought show tickets for the weekend, and then eventually got down to Pink’s for lunch!

Pink’s is an LA institution…and by far the most delicious hot dog I’ve ever eaten.  They opened up a spot at the Planet Hollywood hotel (fitting), and Bubba wanted delicious Pink’s for his birthday lunch, so we indulged.  I got myself their famous chili cheese dog.  It was amazing.  Then we wandered into the Miracle Mile shops.  Bubba bought some art, and we wandered through the stores.  Also stopped off for a drink, where, of course, I found the Hawaiian bar and got a mai tai (I’m a sucker for fruity rummy drinks…what can I say).

Elaine met up with us at the shops, and we wandered back to the hotel to change for the evening.  That evening included dinner at Gallagher’s, and then Cirque du Soleil’s Ka that evening.  So we got all dressed up and looking gooooooooooooooood!

So, this is where the comment about me being no spring chicken comes into play…and the time when I realized that I just cannot hit Vegas quite as hard as I once did.  Ka started at 9:30.  Seriously, in Vegas, that’s barely the beginning of the evening.  And I’ve seen the show before, and it is very very good.  Yup, I nodded off and started falling asleep.  All of us did, actually.  Couldn’t even last til midnight.  Christ, I am getting old…  Needless to say, after the show we all went back to the hotel to sleep.

And sleep I did.  Did not wake up for a good 10 hours.  10 HOURS!  Man, hadn’t slept like that in a long, long time.  Upon awaking, it was time to quickly get ready for the day, and then the 4 of us went to the MGM Grand Buffet for brunch.  It was...underwhelming.  Guess I'll need to stick to the Bellagio Buffet from now on.  After that, down the Strip we went.

We went to the Paris, to try and get tickets to the top of the Eiffel Tower, but they didn't sell future tickets.  Ah well.  So we headed into Caesar's and went to the Forum Shoppes.  Elaine and I were on a mission to find the Numb Bar there, as we had heard from one of her friends that it was legit.  We found it, and got another round of big ol drinks while Trizza and Bubba did some shopping.  After they met back up with us, we wandered into the Bellagio to watch the Fountains and then head into the Conservatory...a favorite place of mine.  Really, I just love everything about the Bellagio.  Anyways, the Conservatory was all set up for Summer.

From there it was back to the hotel to get ready for the evening.  Learning our lesson, we had tickets to the early (6:00) show for Recycled Percussion.  This was a super fun show.  Very interactive.  Upon entering, we were all given something metal and a drumstick...and we could bang on it when requested.  The performers were very talented as well.  Actually, the show started with them drumming while suspended upsidedown above the stage!

Later on, some people got pulled up on stage from the crowd...including Bubba!  They were given monkey masks and got to dance around.  Bubba did our group proud!  After that, we were off to the Paris to have dinner at the Eiffel Tower Restaurant.  Had never been there before, and let me tell you...oh. my. gosh!  Freaking delicious!  It was really an incredible meal, from start to finish.  And the view was perfect.  We were there just at sunset...and had a panorama view of the strip from Aria to Caesars.  We dined as the lights of Vegas slowly rose around us.  So amazing.

After dinner, Bubba and Trizza took off, and Elaine and I had the evening to ourselves. First things first, we needed to head to the top of the Eiffel Tower.  The view of the strip from up there is really quite gorgeous.  And it provides a very interesting view of the fountain show at Bellagio across the street.  The following picture I captured from up top, and seems to have been met with positive reviews...

Sometimes you just point, shoot, and get super lucky!  After we descended the tower, we went across the street to witness a few fountain shows from up close.  It is seriously my favorite thing to do in Vegas.  I could sit there for hours watching them...although I won't actually put anyone through that! :-P

So pleasant.  After two fountain shows, we slowly meandered our way back down the Strip to the hotel.  Another successful night in Vegas!  I thought it was very enjoyable.

Sunday was get away day.  Just woke up, packed up, checked out, and headed to the airport.  One easy flight later, we were back to real life (which, honestly, its pretty great in general...just not Vegas-like, ya know!).  Another successful Vegas trip in the books!

Anyways, wanted to get this up before I leave again this Saturday for the next Q's Adventure...this time a week in Central Oregon!  Look for my next posts later next week!

Cheers!  And happy travels!