We decided to go to Denton for NYE since it's the same distance to the airport. We ate dinner at Barley and Board, walked around the square and went to a few bars.
We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn. Here we are ready to go out:
The first stop was our favorite place, the Paschall Bar. I had a champagne cocktail--this would be a theme this trip!
Dinner at Barley and Board:
The restaurant had a little photo booth set up for pictures.
Out on the square:
I just love the Denton courthouse:
Here's to 2019!
Our flight on Tuesday was delayed so we got to Las Vegas later than we planned. Our room was at the Luxor Hotel which is Egyptian themed. People love taking pictures of the lobby with all the statutes.
Our first free room in Vegas!
We shared some small plates and had a cocktail at Libertine Social in Mandalay Bay. Here's to another great vacation!
After dinner, I called it a night and Nick and Ben went and played video poker until about 1:00 am.
On Wednesday we spent the day touring downtown and the Arts District. This is a part of Vegas Ben and Nick have been to several times. It was nice to get away from the strip and explore a different part of Vegas.
Ready to go:
We had breakfast at one of our favorite places EAT. I got the traditional breakfast.
We walked all around downtown and the arts district, visiting lots of cool stores and antique shops and then went to some bars at night.
The arts district had lots of murals that were fun for pictures.
We went to the guys' favorite place, the Downtown Cocktail Room, right at 4:00 for happy hour. I had a drink called a Killa Kiwi, it was delicious!
We went to a place called Evel Pie for pizza, a place inspired by Evel Knievel. I only took a picture of my pizza though!
We walked around downtown and played a few games at the D. I really wanted to play the horse game Sigma Derby but it was too crowded.
We ended the night back in the arts district at The Velveteen Rabbit.
On Thursday, we spent the day on the strip, went to Chinatown, a part of Vegas we had never seen, had dinner at the Luxor, and then spent the night playing video poker.
We lounged around some that morning and didn't leave the room until after 11:00 when most places have stopped serving breakfast. I really wanted a breakfast sandwich at a place in the Cosmopolitan hotel, so that is where we went first. But the line was out the door so we got donuts at District Donuts, which is in a new food hall at the Cosmo.
I wasn't really impressed with this place. The donuts weren't fresh, the counters were all crowded and dirty and I really wanted to leave as soon as we got our donuts.
We decided donuts weren't enough so we went and got a slice of pizza at one of our favorite places, Secret Pizza. I love me some Las Vegas pizza!
Next we went over to my favorite hotel, the Bellagio, so I could get a mimosa, see the conservatory and play my favorite slot machine, Kitty Glitter. I have to go to the Bellagio every trip, it's just something I can't miss!
The conservatory was still decorated for Christmas. It was really crowded and this is not the guys' favorite thing to do so I took a few pictures as fast as I could.
There was a beautiful horse and carriage but it was hard to get a picture of the whole thing. You could walk right through it so we walked through it to leave.
Next we went to the Petrossian bar so I could get a mimosa.
We found my favorite machine Kitty Glitter and played and won $30 and I got another mimosa. That's a win in my book!
We went over to the Cromwell so the boys could play video poker. Then we took a Lyft over to Chinatown to see that area and to have a drink at a bar called the Golden Tiki.
We loved this bar. I love tiki drinks since they generally aren't very strong. The drinks were good and also cheap since it was happy hour. We had some drinks and some spring rolls and we had good service too.
Who doesn't love a flaming cocktail in a coconut?!
We went back to the Luxor and had a pretty forgettable meal at a Mexican restaurant. Then we went over to the High Limit room at the Luxor for video poker. Nick had $75 in free play which we turned into $69 cash. We put $40 in the machine and we played for over four hours on $40! That is low rolling at its finest!
Since we don't bet big we don't win big but it's just for fun anyway. I took some pictures of our biggest "wins."
The waitress would bring us whatever drinks we wanted plus Fiji water. After drinking and playing for all that time, we were all ready for bed around 12:30.
Friday was our last full day. I wanted to go see the new Eataly food court at the Park MGM and we were going to end the night at our favorite lounge, the Skybar at the Waldorf Astoria.
We woke up feeling pretty rough after the last night's poker session so we lounged in the room for awhile and left the Luxor around noon. We headed over the the Park MGM.
We walked over to Eataly which I was excited to see since it was supposed to have lots of different stalls with samples, pastries, pizza, etc. But when we got there, it was completely packed, it was hard to see anything, and all the lines were really long. I think I am just not a food court kind of person.
I was determined to try something so Ben and I got some pastries to share. They were really good and I'm glad I tried them, but they weren't worth the time we spent standing in line for them.
Still hungry, we decided to go get a burger at Bobby Flay's Burger Palace. I was completely off of my diet on this vacation! But we walked so much it didn't matter.
I wanted to go next door to the Aria hotel so I could claim my free cocktail that I had a voucher for at a bar called Alibi. We ended up having the same waitress we had last time we were here. I couldn't get the champagne cocktail I wanted for free, so she had the bartender make me something very close that I could use my coupon for. It was yummy!
We decided to go try this place called the Ghost Donkey at the Cosmopolitan. It is hidden in the same food court we had been to the day before. The only way to find it is by the donkey on the door.
This is mainly a tequila bar but they did have one rum drink so that is what I had. It was a cute place with friendly bartenders. But it was small so I was glad we got there right when it opened. We probably won't come back but it was fun to try once.
We went over to another bar at the Cosmo, Beauty and Essex that Ben and I had been to before and we wanted Nick to see. Unfortunately, we didn't have a good experience so we just had one drink and an appetizer and left.
So then we went over to our favorite place, Skybar, in the Waldorf Astoria, the hotel Ben and I had stayed in on our last trip when it was still the Mandarin Oriental. It has become our tradition to come here every trip on our last night. Luckily, it was all the same, still the same great cocktails and that beautiful view!
After all the drinks, we needed some food so we went back over to Aria for a slice of pizza at 550. I have never had so much pizza in one trip but it's so good and so cheap, it's hard to resist!
We went back to Luxor and back to the High Limit room for another night of video poker. Ben and Nick each put in $40 and like the previous night, we were there for hours. The boys were playing triple poker and on one hand, we drew 4 cards to a Royal Flush, which is what every video poker player dreams of getting. This meant we had 3 chances of needing only 1 card to get it. And we finally got it!
It didn't pay anything since we weren't playing max bet, but it was still exciting! I finally called it a night around 11:30 but the guys played until 2:00 am. It's a pretty cheap way to have some fun. Video poker is definitely the way to get the most bang for your buck in Vegas!
On Saturday, we all slept in again, had some breakfast, and then it was time to head home. We had great time as always. I'm always happy to come to Las Vegas, but I'm also always ready to get home after four nights.
Ben, Nick and I will be vacationing together again in April for my 50th birthday cruise to the Caribbean!
