Packing for the trip, a very sad and inquisitive cat....
Excalibur Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. My brother suggested we reserve through the hotel directly in hopes of a room upgrade. Totally worked, thank you Nate!
This trip the weather proved to be a little bit cold. The first night it started snowing and we almost lost it, but weather prevailed the rest of the week.
Early mornings on our Las Vegas excursions mean trips to Tix 4 Tonite for discount show and dinner tickets. Another fun tradition for our vacation.
Our first Tix purchase got us two-for-one tickets to Cirque du Soleils "Zumanity" at The New York, New York Hotel and Casino. We loved our Cirque experience last year with Mystere (at Treasure Island) and were hoping for another acrobatic feat of brilliance. While Zumanity was interesting, as Becca so eloquently states: "I'm all for sexual opennes, but if I wanted to go see a peep show in Vegas, I would have gone to see a peep show in Vegas!" Kathy was unavailable for quote because she was covering her eyes the entire show... YIKES!
The new CityCenter in LV. It is amazing!
One of my favorite activities in Vegas is to hit up Hash House a Go Go for breakfast. Becca isn't a huge breakfast foods fan, but she kindly allows me to eat there multiple times on each trip. Hash House--or Ho Ho a Go Go, as we call it--is known for huge portions (see Man vs. Food, for example). I just love their food and the atmosphere of the restaurant. Previously, we've driven out to their location on West Sahara; a fifteen minute drive from the strip. Now, however, there is a new Ho Ho a Go Go open in the Imperial Palace on the strip. Walking to the hotel builds up an appetite, a quick jog through the casino and up a private escalator lands you in the restaurant's lobby. Amazing!
If you're paying attention, you'll realize that this trip was the trip of culinary delights! Becca and I decided that last year was our "show" trip--we saw Phantom, Mystere, the Titanic exhibit, etc. This year, however, was laced with FOOD, FOOD, FOOD!!! It was amazing. For example, the giant A doughnut that you see featured below ushered me into a much needed sugar coma that got me through the first half of Zumanity. :)
On the escalator heading back into our hotel, The Excalibur. We also stopped to talk to Elvis along the way!
Becca's constant decision: what color jacket to wear??? My constant response: they're all the same, dear. :) Isn't she cute?!
The Burger Bar at Mandalay Bay was a suggestion from my brother, Nate. This place is killer! The food is amazing and see that TOWER of FRIES? Yes, please. Mandalay Bay is one of our favorite hotels on the strip and we'd love to stay there some day. Among the places we want to visit: Minus 5 Ice Lounge, RM Seafood, the amazing beach, and Aureole, the fancy schmancy restaurant that features wine angels who float up and down this tower. 
One place in Mandalay Bay that we managed to get to was the Shark Reef Aquarium. This is a must in Las Vegas if you're into sea life. Sharks, huge sea turtles, sharks, a lively octopus, sting ray, and did I mention HUGE HUGE SHARKS?! Such a fun day. We spent about 5 hours at this place making it well worth the $17.00 admission fee.
Continuing with our cuisine adventures we decided to hit up the Hard Rock Cafe that is in front of the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. It was rather random of us to eat here because we're not big "chain" folks, but something about the Hard Rock was calling our name. It turned out to be one of the BEST things that we did the whole vacation. Here's why:
This is hands down the BEST frozen drink that either Becca or I have ever had. All good things were happening here on the Tropical Rock. So, so good that we had two of them. Included were pink cherries in honor of breast cancer awareness. A socially responsibly mixer? done!
This apple crisp, on recommendation of our server, was a game changer for me. I'm a big fan of apple crisp, but this one changed my palate for this stuff. So delicious!
Finally, and the real reason it was such a great night, our server Tara! Becca and I are usually friendly with serve staff (because we ARE serve staff), but this one went above and beyond. We bonded with Tara almost instantly and chatted with her the entire evening. She is just a lovely person and it was a blast to talk with her about her life in Las Vegas as well as dispell (and confirm!) rumors about what that weird state Utah is like. She was awesome and really made our night. Thanks Tara!
Here's a random shot of Becca checking in with Momma Janene who was graciously tending our baby. Ellie was doing just fine thanks to Mom and Taylor!
When in Rome, do as the Romans do. When in Vegas, eat at a buffet! To continue eating ourselves into oblivion we decided to hit up a buffet on the strip. We wanted to go big before going home, however, so we went to the number one buffet on the strip. The Buffet at The Wynn is a pricey penny at $35.00 per person, but we splurged on this night and ate our hearts out. This buffet was amazing! Here are the dessert plates we managed to scrape up. This creme brulee was incredible! Mouth watering just thinking about it.....We headed back to our hotel via The Palazzo and Venetian. These hotels are gorgeous. While wandering through we found Bauman's Rare Books, a specialty bookstore that housed some of the most amazing original books from authors such as A.A. Milne, Charlotte Bronte, Mark Twain, Joseph Conrad, Edgar Allen Poe, Walt Whitman, and Ernest Hemingway to name a short few. Becca and I were nerding out in a big way in this store and loved looking at the old titles and thinking about how rich our reading heritage is. Whew! Loved it.
And before we left, one more round at Ho Ho a Go Go. :) This chicken fried chicken was out of this world. Holy cow...
Upon our return we brought back a very happy kitten who was well taken care of at grandma's house.
Becca got crazy sick upon our return home, but that seems to also be a tradition as well! It was a great trip. We look forward to next year, already!
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