My husband and I went Feb. 3-5th. I hadn't realized when we picked the dates that it was Superbowl weekend and I guess if you're not at the Superbowl then Vegas is the place to be. It was a little busy but not bad.
We stayed at the Venetian.
All the hotels are just huge and so unique. We enjoyed walking the strip and touring the lobbies. They go all out in Vegas.
This is the lobby at the Venetian.
The conservatory at Bellagio.
A few of the hotels were still decorated from Chinese New Year celebration. They had just beautiful decorations. A lot of smoke breathing dragons.
We don't gamble so we mostly walked the strip and toured the hotels and some of the shops. We got many miles in that weekend. The first night when I went to take my shoes off, my socks had holes from rubbing up against my shoes so much!
Of course, we did a lot of eating too. Our first meal was Friday afternoon when we arrived. We went to the food court in the Venetian/Palazzo area. We ate the best hamburgers at Johnny Rockets. We don't have those here. It was 50's style and we sat up at the counter.
My hamburger had swiss cheese and grilled onions. So yummy!!
Friday night we ate at a restaurant also in the Venetian. I believe it was called Grand Lux Cafe. We were so tired and just wanted something close. We were very pleased. My husband had excellent grilled trout with grilled green beans, and some very tasty mashed potaotes. I had shrimp scampi pasta. It was seasoned with garlic, lemon, and a few other things. A little overpowering but still good.
Huge shrimp!
Saturday morning we ventured over to Margaritaville for breakfast. We got there just in time because they only let 1 more table in after us for breakfast. It had a really nice atmosphere. My breakfast was absolutely delicious!
My omelette had swiss cheese, avocado, & smoked bacon.
Saturday afternoon/evening we decided to try a buffet and went to Harrah's since hubby wanted some prime rib and it was close to where we were at the time! He had seen an ad somewhere along our walk of the strip. We hit just at the right time without even knowing it. It was 2:50pm and they were just getting ready to switch over to dinner so we still got the brunch price but got a little taste of brunch foods then the switch to dinner. Wow! So many things to choose from. I enjoyed little bits of all kinds of things! My husband enjoyed his prime rib and the crab legs. It was also pretty quiet in there since it was mid afternoon. When we walked by later on in the evening there was a line to get in. We didn't eat anything else later that night.
Sunday morning we went over to Denny's since it was right near our hotel. I was not impressed at all and would not recommend it. We had poor service and the food was not good. Afterwards we wandered over to Starbucks for some coffee to warm us up. It was a little chilly and then we walked part of the strip. Sunday morning about 9am there was not many people out so it was a nice quiet walk.
We met some lovely people over the weekend. I've apparently inherited the chatty gene from my mother and tend to strike up conversations with people. We met a lovely couple on the shuttle from the airport, they were from Prince Edward Island, Canada in town for the George Strait concert. They gave us the good advice to ignore the annoying people passing out cards along the strip. We met a very nice gentleman while waiting for the Bellagio Fountains Friday afternoon. His wife was in Afghanistan for work and had sent him there for his birthday. I forgot to ask where he was from but he had a very thick southern accent. On our walk back from Mandalay Bay we found the tram and took it to Excalibur since our feet were so tired. We visited with a couple from Southern California who visit Vegas every few months and were just so excited for us for our first trip out there and that I had won our vacation. We encountered a very nice lady from Nashville Saturday night while we were people watching at our hotel. She was so fun to visit with. She was there with a friend and both their daughters. This lady we were visiting with had just finished law school and her daughter had brought her to Vegas to celebrate. So many friendly people but of course there are some strange ones as well but I try to avoid those that look a little questionable. :o)
I do have to say I met one of my good friends on a trip to Miami a few years back. We struck up a conversation at the hotel or bus tour we were on. She, of course, turned out to be a normal person and I am so happy to have met her. Anyways, sorry to get sidetracked. Just don't be afraid to conversate with those around you! You never know who you might meet! Back to Vegas now.
While we were at the airport waiting for our flight back to Minneapolis there was a little odd moment. The gate next to us was boarding and the gate our plane was at, was deplaning. All the sudden there was 3 loud beeps over the intercom and some code word and all the gate doors were shut. The whole area went quiet. We waited for about 20 mins then another announcement came on and the doors were opened again. We never did find out what happened but it was a little strange. Luckily our flight boarded in next 20 mins and we were on our way home!
We really enjoyed our weekend away. The weather was nice, sunny and about 60. Seeing the Bellagio Fountains, the volcano at the Mirage, and just walking the strip were definitely the highlights of our trip. People watching was also very entertaining! It was so nice to have time just to hang out together and not be on a schedule. We were so very happy though to get home and see our boys! It's always nice to go on vacation but always so very good to be back home!
Glad to finally see this post! So happy you had a good time. It is fun to meet people from all over in Vegas. And yes, you have inherited the chatty gene, but that's a good thing or we might not have gotten to know each other! Keep posting, girl
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