Las Vegas: Back to Vegas!

So in September 2012, Ben and I decided we wanted to do a second annual trip to Las Vegas.  This time we chose a condo hotel, the Vdara since it is a non-smoking, non-casino hotel in the center of the strip.  It came with a small kitchen and fridge which we really didn't need, but the fridge was nice to keep bottled water cold.

The hotel lobby, bar, hallways, etc. were nice and our room was great. Big and swanky and definitely our taste. The bathroom was huge with a luxurious tub and great shower. It was generally quiet. The hotel elevators were really fast too.

The pool it was just OK. Because the hotel is surrounded by other buildings, it is HOT even under the umbrellas. Three hours in the early morning/afternoon was all we could stand.

Our American flight was delayed so we got to Vegas about an hour later than planned.  We were given a room on the 17th floor with a view of the Bellagio and Cosmopolitan pool with a little of the strip peeking in between. We could see the tippy top of the fountains when they went off.

We unpacked and checked it all out (loved that bathroom!) but at 1:30 were starving. The plan had been to go to Mesa Grill for lunch but they stopped serving at 2:30 so we just ended up at the Bar Vdara for a quick lunch and caught the end of the Ranger game. I had my first (delicious) cocktail of the trip.

I had a (huge) turkey club and Ben had the patty melt. Everything was pretty good.

We took our first walk over to Bellagio to see the conservatory and wander around.

We are not big gamblers but we were thinking of maybe trying a blackjack table this trip so we found a video BJ machine to "practice" to see if we could remember basic strategy by heart. We did ok but quickly lost so we wandered over to the slots.

We wandered a bit until I saw a machine called Kitty Glitter.

We sat down and put in $5 and just like that won $12 on a $.60 bet. Sweet. We kept on playing and then it happened.  We got what I had only read about. We got The Bonus. 15 free spins! Wheeee! We are giddy! Look at it go! $9.80 more yay! In the end we won $20.75 and got a drink each. I am hooked. From then on in every casino, I hunt for Kitty Glitter.

We walk away "winners" and decide to go see Aria which we did not see last year because it looked "so far away." We stopped and saw our first fountain show on the way.

We looked around a bit at Aria and decided to hit happy hour at a place called American Fish. We each got a drink and shared the truffle mac & cheese, the prime rib sandwich and a lobster roll.

We decided to call it an early night and went on up to our room to catch the rest of the Thursday night football game and hit the hay at 10:00!

Day two. Up at 6:30 am, Ben did a quick workout at the gym and then we decided to go see if we could eat on the patio at Mon Ami Gabi at the Paris hotel.  At 8:30 am, the  patio was crowded but we got a seat. I got the traditional breakfast with eggs and toast and orange juice and hubby got the blueberry French toast.  We thought it all quite delicious and a good value for Vegas.

We walked through Paris (no Kitty Glitter that I could find), peeked at the Gordon Ramsay menu and took a few pictures.

We walked to Flamingo to see the wildlife habitat.

We walked to Venetian/Palazzo. Man it is sooo big.

We couldn't find Kitty Glitter so we tried a machine called Lil Lady--but she took our money in a very un-ladylike manner. Boo. But we got a drink and then wandered around finding Delmonico where we would be eating that night and taking some pictures.  We crossed over and went to Mirage to pick up our Cirque du Soleil tickets for the show Love. We found a Kitty Glitter and I got excited--but it was a $1 machine, not a penny. Too rich for our blood.

We then walked to Caesar's Palace and decided to eat at Mesa Grill for lunch since we missed it the day before.  We ate at Mesa Grill last year and Ben was eager to go back. We shared the chicken and black bean quesadilla appetizer and the pork tenderloin sandwich and it was good.

We wander back to Bellagio as I am ready to get back to "my" Kitty Glitter machine--enough of these imposters! We put in our usual $5 and get up to $46.25! Ahhh, Kitty Glitter, I will never leave you again! We play a little more cashing out at $30.

We go back to Vdara to freshen up for dinner at Emeril's Delmonico. We go to happy hour at a place called V-bar and I order an Orange Creamsicle martini which ranks as one of the best cocktails I've ever had in my life. Deeelish. Ben orders a Jack & Coke.

We got to Delmonico a little early and sat in the lobby. We decided to get the chateaubriand for two which came with asparagus and mashed potatoes. We decided it was average, not bad by any means, just not great. We were too full for dessert as usual. We had been given a table by the kitchen which Ben had his back to but I could see the comings and goings the entire meal and it was pretty distracting.

After dinner, we decided to go back to Bellagio and--you guessed it--Kitty Glitter! Ahh, but she was fickle this time, taking our $30 (notice how we upped the ante) but it did give us 45 minutes of fun playing as well as 4 free drinks so we were still happy. Back to Vdara and when we get back to the room, I notice my right foot is hurting a little. I figure I must have tweaked it or something walking.

The next morning, we decide to go down to the pool when it opens at 8:00 (which is no problem since we are up at 6:30 once again). But first we walk over to Aria for pastries at Jean Phillippe (something I have on my Vegas bucket list). I got the apple strudel and Ben got a chocolate croissant and chocolate milk, all very delicious. I also take a picture of the huge chocolate dragon outside the restaurant.

We arrive at the pool at 8:30 and there are some people there but we have pretty much our choice of seat. I wander around wondering how best to avoid the death ray of sun that is known to shoot down and choose seats facing the hotel. We had a nice morning enjoying the hot tub and pool in the shade and I had a pina colada at 9:30 am--only in Vegas right?! By 11:30, Ben wanted food so he pried me out of my chair so we could go have lunch at Holstein's at the Cosmopolitan.

We got to Holstein's where we get a Drunken Monkey shake, I get a Hen House burger which is topped with a fried egg and Ben gets the pork belly sliders. We had a great waitress who helped us with our choices and everything was delicious. That might have been the best burger I've ever had!

Back to Kitty Glitter and we sit down and look for a waitress as I was very excited to try a Cosmo chocolate martini. Alas, it was not to be as we never saw one the whole time--a repeat of our experience here last year. And we lost $11--why do I keep straying from my first love?!

Back to the Bellagio we go and there she is waiting for us. We put in $20 and she rewards our loyalty with another bonus and a $50 win, yippee!

Back to Vdara to change for dinner and Love. We have reservations at a Chinese restaurant Wing Lei at the Wynn hotel. This was Ben's pick of the trip. We took a cab to Wynn and our cabbie was a very obnoxious, loud, cursing, woman driver. I couldn't wait to get out of there.

I had never been to Wynn so we went early to see it.

We walked around and looked at everything and then decided to play a little (even though there was no Kitty Glitter). I ordered a chocolate martini from the waitress and it came in a real martini glass swirled with chocolate--delicious! After two of these, I told Ben we needed to go or I wouldn't be able to eat dinner.

Wing Lei was so quiet and elegant the servers practically whispered. The china on the table was so exquisite, I hated the thought of actually eating off of it.  We ordered traditional American Chinese dishes: hot and sour soup, spring rolls, kung pao chicken, and moo shu pork. This might have been a mistake. The food was ok--but it was no better than what you can get at any good local Chinese place in your hometown for 1/4 of the price. Maybe if we had ordered something more adventurous, we would have been more amazed.

We walked and then trammed over to the Mirage for the CDS show Love.  Love for me was slightly underwhelming as the acts were not what I was expecting. But once I realized that this was going to be a different kind of show, I got over it and really enjoyed it. Ben loved it.

After Love, we walked down to Bellagio for a round of Kitty Glitter ($20, no wins, but a drink each) and called it at night. By now, my foot is really, really hurting and I am starting to worry a little about what I might have done to it.

On Sunday morning when I wake up, I can barely walk. My foot is really, really painful. We had no real plans for this day which was good because walking is going to have to be kept to a minimum. So back to the pool we go at 10:00 sitting on the same side as the day before. It is the hottest day of the trip so we spend the first hour in the pool. We decide to have breakfast on the patio at the pool cafe. I get a basic breakfast and Ben gets a breakfast burrito. The service however is not very good and we actually saw others complaining. We went back to the pool for awhile but by 1:00 the heat was beating down on us through the umbrellas and we were ready to go.

We decided to see if my foot could make it back to the Bellagio, taking the tram this time. We found Kitty Glitter but she gave us no love this time on our $10.

I had wanted us to go to Hyde on our first night but since we were off schedule, we didn't make it. So Ben suggested we go over and we got a lovely table on the patio right in front of the TV for Sunday night football. Perfect! I had two bellinis, one a white peach, and one a pineapple passion fruit. Delish. We also got sliders and potato crisps. We saw 4 beautiful fountain shows and watched the game, ate and drank and it was a blast.

By now, my foot is really hurting and even Kitty Glitter has lots its appeal. I decide we can leave Bellagio, which we came to really love.

We walk/hobbled to Aria again and catch the end of the really exciting Sunday night football game outside the Sportsbook. Ben is now hungry so I suggest Lemongrass since he loves Thai food. I just munch potstickers while Ben gets his standard Thai basil chicken. He did not love it however--he said it was totally bland.

Back to our room and the next morning we had a quick breakfast and headed home another fun Vegas trip in the books!  I ended up with a stress fracture and was off of work for another day once I got home.  Guess I'll need to look into better Las Vegas shoes for future trips!

San Francisco Day 7: Total Bliss

We woke up on Saturday and ate breakfast at the hotel restaurant, Trace. It was good, albeit over $50 for just Ben and me. We left Nick to his own devices as Ben and I had massages scheduled at Bliss spa at the W. I absolutely was counting the seconds to this massage and it did not disappoint. My therapist, Dennis was great. The spa has cheese, brownies, tea and spa water in the lounge.

After our treatments, we checked out the pool and hot tub area which is outside of the spa and is a common area for all guests. Unfortunately, it was full of small kids and the acoustics were terrible, with every child's scream at ear-piercing decibels. I was determined to get in the hot tub, kids or no, but when we turned on the jets, nothing happened. We were basically left sitting in a tub of hot water. With splashing, screaming kids. Needless to say, we left.

We decided to find Nick and go ahead and do a little walking as it was a gorgeous day, the warmest we had in San Francisco. The W isn't located in the most happening area of the city and we had to walk quite a ways to find anything, finally stopping at an Irish Pub for a light lunch. We walked back to the W to change for our dinner at Gary Danko.

This was our last dinner of the trip and we definitely ended on a high note. The service and atmosphere was excellent and the food very good. I chose the 3 course meal and Ben the 4 course so that we could split the seafood course. I started with the lobster salad and Ben got the ahi tuna. I loved my salad and Ben said the tuna was good, but drenched in an acidic sauce.

The second course was the scallops which we split, and they were huge and buttery, melt in your mouth.

For the main course we both got the filet which came with duck confit potatoes which Ben didn't care for but I loved. The steak was good--cooked perfectly to medium and very enjoyable.

For dessert, I got the chocolate souffle which was heaven and Ben got the cherry flambe dessert that they prepare tableside, very dramatic and also delicious.

Our bar that night was a total surprise from Nick. We took a cab to the Tenderloin to a speakeasy called Bourbon and Branch. Nick had to give the girl at the door a password to get in. Since I was carrying my dainty dinner purse, I had not carried my ID but thankfully she let us in anyway. No cameras were allowed so I have no pictures but it is apparently a place which was a true speakeasy back in the days of prohibition. Pretty cool! The drinks were strong and we were tired so after one round we called it a night and thus ended our wonderful trip.

We loved San Francisco and everything we did and saw there.  One day we would like to drive up Highway One along the southern California coast and end that trip with a couple of nights in San Francisco.  It will be great to be back.  Goodbye for now San Francisco!

San Francisco Day 6: Napa Valley

Breakfast the next morning was pastries from Bouchon which were delicious. Ben got the famous chocolate macaroon which was good. I got a strawberry cheesecake pastry which was so good, I wished I had gotten two of them. It had a short line which moved quickly.

Then it was off to Domain Chandon (Yountville) for the classic champagne tasting which was $18 and included your flute. I was very excited about this!  We got there an hour after opening and it was very busy and some offerings already sold out.  It was fun though and the grounds were beautiful.  If you like them on Facebook, you can get a 2-for-1 coupon which we were sorry to have missed. 

Cheers!

So knowing that, we decided to search the internet for any other discounts and we found one for the Fransciscan in St. Helena. It has a beautiful fountain in the front perfect for pictures.

It wasn't busy and our server was attentive and great, throwing in a couple of freebies, including a port when we mentioned we liked it.  We did 5 wines for $15 (with our 2 for 1 coupon). I liked the wines but after Chandon and no lunch, I was pretty tipsy when I left.

Lunch was at the Calistoga Inn and Brewery. It was a nice place to sit outside, have lunch and hubby got to try a local beer.

The highlight of the Napa part of our trip was the Sterlings Vineyard (a surprise from Nick) where we took a ski lift type thing up to the vineyard getting a beautiful aerial view. Then we got to self-tour the winery with five tastings along the way. We didn't care for the wine really but it was definitely a fun tour.  This was a planned stop but we found a $5 off coupon as well.  We did the regular admission for $20 which got us entrance, a self-guided tour, 5 tastings and a souvenir glass.  We really enjoyed it!

We drove back to San Francisco and checked in at the W.  We chose the W hotel because we wanted something totally different from the Le Meridien and since we were only going to be there for basically a day and a half, we didn't put a ton of thought into it. I will totally admit that the draw for me here at the end of the trip was the spa and the hot tub, both of which I could not wait to use.

The room was fine, very modern and trendy. The bed was not as comfortable as the Le Meridien, but we didn't have any problem with noise.

That night we had dinner at the Slanted Door, another great meal. We had the Imperial Rolls appetizer which was one of the best appetizers I've ever had anywhere.

We decided to check out the W hotel bar, the Living Room (which is the same one we have here in Dallas) and after two $12 (each) Jack and Cokes for the boys, called it a night.

Tomorrow would be our last full day and we were already sad to see our trip coming to an end!