Las Vegas for the First Time

Once again we stuck with our recent tradition of traveling around Christmas. Usually we are gone during Christmas, but we decided to get a tree this year and stay home. We went to Las Vegas for the first time. I thought I would hate it, considering I don't like "nightlife" that much and I expected to get tired of the artificial-ness. I actually really liked it. I loved seeing Cirque Du Soleil twice. I really liked Mystere, but wasn't a big fan of Ka. Anyway, there were more shows I would have liked to see, but we ran out of time. There were lots of things to do for the Holidays. We went to several hotels - The Bellagio, The Wynn, The Venetian, and Caesars Palace. With the last two being really cheesy and fake, while the others were actually really pretty. We LOVED the Cosmopolitan. It was quite entertaining just to walk around and see all the art, bars and restaurants. It was all very entertaining to look at.

We got there on Friday night and went out to dinner at Holsteins, a fancy burger place. I don't think I've ever eaten that much food. We started out with a chocolate peanut milkshake (alcoholic of course) and deep fried pickles,  then we all ordered burgers, which were huge and very good. When I was definitely ready to be done eating, the waiter surprised us with desserts made by Carlos from Top Chef. I am a huge fan of that show and could not miss an opportunity to try them.

On Saturday we took a drive out to the dessert to visit some friends and their dogs. The scenery was really pretty just a few minutes outside of Las Vegas. We got back and met up with the family for Tapas at Firefly. This place was okay. Not amazing. Everything was really spicy and just average tasting. After Finley went to bed, we went out to a Cirque show. Ben walked home pushing me in a wheel chair. Oh yeah, I tore/pinched my meniscus. It turns out it's OK to walk, but I didn't want to risk ruining my knee so I got pushed all around Vegas.

On Sunday we toured the Bellagio and Caesars Palace and then went to Mandalay Bay to the aquarium. See Vegas is really kid friendly! Then we went out to Ethel M Chocolates to  see the light display and get some handmade truffles. So good!  We had to see the "Winter in Venice" show at the Venetian. This was the cheesiest thing we saw in Vegas. I really can't even explain it, but it was bad. The only interesting thing was the ice skating rink made from plastic instead of ice. Then on Monday we started out with a huge breakfast at Hash House Agogo, where we were served portions that were so massive. I ordered a hash, which was served in a full sized cast iron skillet. Ben's Fried chicken benedict was very tall. To keep Finley entertained we then went to the Lied Childrens Museum. She loved it. It wasn't as good as others I've been to, but it's always fun to give her the opportunity to explore and not have to be strapped into her stroller. Later we went to an early dinner at China Poblano at the Cosmopolitan for some Chinese & Mexican food, owned by Jose Andres and then another Cirque. We were busy!

We couldn't leave Vegas without trying a buffet. Ugh. I won't do that again. We went to the Wynn buffet for lunch. It was gross. The food was okay - typical buffet/cruise food. Nothing special but lots of choices. After another drive to the desert, we got our plane back to Seattle!

Surprisingly, I can't wait to go back!