When one approaches a certain age a “Bucket List” starts to form. Time’s a tickin’ away here, folks. I’ve crossed a few items off recently, well some just technically, but we’re forging ahead. Our goals for this trip were to see the Grand Canyon and experience Las Vegas, baby. We had just five days to accomplish this. I had hoped to see Sedona too, but time would not allow. Our flight over Nevada looked more like view of an alien planet.
The Sierra Madre or Mars?
Suburban Las Vegas.
On our road trip down south last fall, I dipped my toe into the world of Airbnb. Things went so well I looked into the same for Vegas. To my surprise, there are “owners’ suites” that can be rented right in certain hotels. This seemed like the best of both worlds. I secured a suite at the Trump Plaza. I can hear your collective groan.
Mr. Trump’s Hotel was really gorgeous.
Gorgeous lobby dining area.
The fixtures throughout were opulent.
I was more than impressed with this room. All the furnishings were solid and in perfect condition.
Comfortable Bedding
Storage Console.
Fully equipped mini-kitchen.
Large screen TV we never turned on.
Cozy living area.
Double sink bathroom. I cloud have done without the scale, thank you.
Ginormous Jacuzzi Tub. A Godsend after walking around Vegas all day and night!
High end toiletries.
A view right out to the strip!
Just don’t look down.
I was thrilled with this room. We will be spending two nights here, then later on in the trip moving to the world famous (and very expensive) Bellagio Hotel. Spoiler alert: I liked the Trump better. There were several points of comparison that we’ll explore once we get there, but one thing I loved about this hotel was that it was NOT a casino. It had a boutique feel and was very calm a quiet, unlike the other resorts here. It was very peaceful to come back to after all the over-stimulation of the strip. Speaking of which, let’s check out out!
Trump provides a shuttle to the Caesar’s Palace every twenty minutes.
And we’re here!
We were pretty well starving at this point. Chef Gordon Ramsay has several restaurants on the Strip, ranging from a Fish and Chip Shop to “take out a second mortgage” fine dining type deals. We popped into his Pub right at Caesar’s. I wanted to do some “celebrity dining” so I figured this might be a good middle ground.
The Pub
Nice enough.
Beer Keg wall decor.
Substantial Cutlery.
We were famished, but between the very high entree prices (thirty bucks for fish and chips) and trying to eat somewhat healthy, we ended up splitting a salad along with a couple beers. This set us back FIFTY DOLLARS! You don’t just loose your money at the slots here.
The first of many walks through casinos.
Finally we are setting out to explore. This was a simply gorgeous day!
Outside view of Caesar’s Palace.
The newest of Chef Ramsay’s properties. We will not be eating here.
The afore mentioned Bellagio.
The Paris Hotel.
Hakkasan Nightclub at MGM, featuring “World Famous DJs”. No, thanks.
We walked around a ton. I’m sparing you the hundred or so pictures I took so far. We were ready for a break from the sun, plus my very comfy shoes I walked all over Chicago in suddenly were attacking my feet.
Time for a (double) whisky.
Artsy photo of the ceiling as I recline on a couch.
Jeff getting a lesson in Black Jack.
Cashing in his winnings! This trend wouldn’t last.
All casinos packed all the time.
I don’t remember where this was. Everything was gilded.
I bandaged my poor feet and we headed out! I’m such a trooper.
Man, I love palm trees.
New York, New York. We never went in.
I later found out that the Tram system is comprised of former Disney Monorail cars. I would have gone on had I known! I know that’s weird.
We actually did have a plan, and that was to visit the Mandalay Hotel, to check out their aquarium.
We made it!
We bought our tickets and headed in. This place wasn’t huge, but the presentations were really impressive.
Oh, hello.
They were headed to school.
The initial portion had a Mayan theme. Really well done.
This next space made you feel you were in the skeletal hull of a sunken ship!
The piece de resistance here are the shark tunnels! This was as cool as it sounds. It was crowded with people, so for you to see it, I had to lift a pic from the interwebs.
A wee pic.
A view from within.
A favorite shot.
Jelly.
The gang gets back together.
We hung out for quite a while.
This was a great take. Had I done some more research I may have found a coupon, but even full price it was worth it.
Another view of Mandalay Bay hotel
Our next stop was at the Cosmopolitan hotel. This is where I had planned to have some dinner at another “celebrity chef” spot and have a drink at the swanky bar in the lobby. Our plans changed slightly.
Chandelier Bar, where would would decide not to have drink.
This was gorgeous!
Ooh la la. We decided the drink prices here would be about as opulent as the atmosphere.
We made our way to David Chang’s Momofuki. I had looked online at their menu and saw a lot of affordable and tasty options I was pretty psyched about.
Momofuku.
We sat at the bar and ordered some wine. As I looked at the menu I just didn’t see the options I had remembered. It menu was quite schizophrenic. There were a few small bite choices and then went way high, like $48 for noodles on up to set meals in the hundreds of dollars. We decided to have a couple of those small bites and move on.
Pork Belly Bun
Shrimp Cake Bun
These two tastings were absolute perfection. They were seven bucks each and just about two bites. Here’s the thing: Now that I’m home and reviewing menus for this post (yes, I do that), I’m seeing tons of choices and reasonable prices like I remembered. Maybe because the menu was different for the bar? Who knows?
So another fifty bucks and no full bellies. I know I’m sounding like a real cheapskate here. I’m not, really! It’s more about value. I don’t mind laying down the cash for a great meal but these two stops just seemed excessive. Lesson learned. Stay away from celebrity restaurants.
Speaking of value, I next set out to find something cool I read about. At the Cosmopolitan they have what’s called “Art Vending Machines”. They are converted cigarette machines which now dispense ciggie pack sized pieces of art for just $5.00!
Art-O-Matic
My Lil’ piece of art!
This is such a cool idea! I kinda wished I got a couple more. Next time.
We set about for some more exploring and pursuit of some actual dinner. We wandered into the beautiful Aria Hotel because a friend said there was an amazing whisky bar there. Don’t worry we didn’t have whisky for dinner.
I’m not sure what this is. It should be a bar if it isn’t.
We stumbled upon a this reasonably priced pub. Ahhh, an Oasis!
Can’t get much simpler than that!
The Pub Menu.
We threw in the towel on healthy for this meal.
Wings for the chaser.
In a turn of coincidence, again, looking up the menu for this place for our purposes here I discovered that it was opened by celebrity chef Todd English, but things didn’t work out so well. In short time they just dropped his name from the sign and re-worked the menu. I’d say it was for the better.
Now that we had a good meal on board, we were ready to venture off to old Vegas!
Up Next: The Search for Elvis begins!