As most of my buddies already know, I have a great excuse for visiting Vegas several times each year. My elderly mom lives in a retirement community in Henderson, NV, which is only a short drive from Vegas. She's starting to slow down quite a bit these days, but is still rather self-sufficient and doing okay (thank god!).
It's always nice visiting mom, but she always asks me the same question every time I see her, "When are you gonna get married and make me a grandma!!!". I figured that after all these years, she'd start getting tired of asking me that same old question, but I guess moms will be moms, no matter how old we get!
Oh well, my friend (since she prefers to remain anonymous, I'll refer to her as "C") did accompany me on this trip, so maybe there's still some hope.
I departed from Chicago's Ohare airport on an American Airlines 757 at around 9:15 am on Saturday (10/8). My flight arrived in Vegas at around 11:30 am (Vegas time). Unfortunately, I was traveling solo, since "C" couldn't make it out to Vegas until Monday. However, it did give me the opportunity to spend more time with my mom and visit an old friend who lives locally. It was a pretty uneventful flight, except for the extremely hard landing at McCarran. The landing was so rough that I was afraid the tires would blow out! I suppose the wind had something to do with it, since I heard later that wind gusts up to +30 mph were being reported. Actually at one point, I was thinking to myself that our pilot needed a refresher course on how to land 757's.
After retrieving my luggage, I headed straight for the Hertz rental car booth. Since I receive a corporate discount from Hertz (even when I'm not traveling on business), their rates are usually just as competitive as most of the other lower priced rental companies. Anyways, although I reserved a mid-size, they didn't have any available so they gave me a free upgrade to a full-size (Toyota Camry) which was fine with me and I was on my way to the Monte Carlo.
Monte Carlo Hotel & Casino
It's not a real "flashy" hotel like some of the bigger themed hotels, but that's what makes the Monte Carlo rather appealing to me. They have a very spacious checkin/checkout area as soon as you enter the lobby and you don't have to walk through the casino to reach the elevators which is very convenient. This was my 6th stay at the Monte Carlo over the past 5 years and I've had no major complaints in regards to their rooms, facilities, or staff. Their deluxe rooms have always been comfy and clean. The folks at the front desk, the service staff, and casino hosts have all been very friend on all my past visits (including this one).
On some past visits, I've also stayed at the Luxor (another one of my favorites), Bellagio (very luxurious), Sahara (nice room rates if you're traveling on a tight budget), and the San Remo (soon to be Hooter's Hotel & Casino in 2006), but I always seem to be drawn back to the Monte Carlo.
I decided to surprise "C" on this trip and reserved us a spa suite with a mountain view. The suite consists of a single room with a wet bar, frig, TV, sound system (w/Bose speakers), King bed, and a huge Jacuzzi that sits near the window (totally awesome view at night!). The only gripe I had was that the bathroom was rather small for a suite, but it did have a full walk-in shower with a steam sauna option. Most suites that I've stayed in at other hotels usually had a very spacious bathroom with "his" and "her" sinks, but not this one.
The Monte also has a number of amenities that we didn't get the chance to check out such as the pool, spa, and fitness center. Perhaps that's because I'm not much of a pool or spa kinda guy and working out while I'm on vacation, well that's not my idea of having fun! "C" loves to workout every morning, but I think she was having too much fun to even consider hitting the fitness center during our week long stay.
The Casinos
Although neither of us are big gamblers, I do like to try my luck playing the slots every now and then. In April, I actually got lucky at the Mandalay Bay and won $2500 after feeding about $20 into a dollar slot. Unfortunately, no such luck at any of the casinos we visited on this trip. By the end of the week, I think we managed to visit every major hotel/casino on the strip.
Anyways, the things that we really enjoy doing while in Vegas are seeing the attractions (that only Vegas can offer), the shows, and dining at some great restaurants.
The Shows
"O" at the Bellagio and "KA" at the MGM Grand
We managed to see both "O" and "KA" on this trip to Sin City. I've seen all 4 of the Cirque du Soleil shows in Vegas including Mystere and Zumanity, but this was the first time that "C" ever saw a Cirque production. She was really impressed! I can't really say which of the 4 shows I liked the best because they're all incredibly good in their own special way. However, I was sorta disappointed in KA considering all of the hype that I've been hearing from the critics that it's the best Cirque show to date.
It is a very good show, but it could have been a lot better. The massive stage designs are truly amazing in KA and the theatre itself is extremely impressive, but they're the stars of the show. I came across with the impression that all of this "hardware" overshadowed the talent of the Cirque performers. So, was it worth the $150/seat for good seats in the orchestra section? If you're a Cirque fan like me, I'd have to say YES!!! However, I think it's one of those shows that most folks are either gonna love or hate.
Tournament Of Kings" at the Excalibur
If you'd like to go back in time to the days of Camelot, King Arthur, and the Knights of the Roundtable, the Tournament Of Kings at the Excalibur is a really cool dinner/show event that's worth checking out. Jousting, sword fighting, acrobats, the court jester, sexy wenches, and you get to eat dinner like in those olden days, i.e. with your fingers!
I've always wanted to go, but an event like this is no fun if you're doing it solo. So with my Gweneviere by my side, I felt just like King Arthur as we entered that arena and was seated at a table in the front row. The seating area in the arena is arranged into several sections, each representing a different country. The "King" of each of those countries are the participants in the tournament, so each country basically had their own cheering section in the audience.
The show itself was very entertaining and a lot better than what I had imagined. Dinner was also very good which included tomato soup, roasted Cornish game hen (very moist and tasty), broccoli (yuck, I hate broccoli!!!), baked potato wedges, dinner roll, and an unlimited supply of pepsi or diet pepsi. Alcoholic beverages are available at extra cost.
One thing that was really funny though, there was an older couple seated next to us and when dinner was served, they broke out their "Latex Gloves"! I guess that they didn't wanna get their fingers dirty!
StarTrek Experience at the LV Hilton
This was my third visit to the Star Trek Experience at the LV Hilton, so now you all know that I'm one of those Trekkie fans! This was another first for "C", but after going through the Klingon Encounter and Borg Invasion a couple of time, she has now been assimilated into a real Trekkie!
Before we left, we decided to grab a quick snack and drink at Quark's bar. The Klingon that was roaming around and making various comments to the customers was really cool.
Cheetah's
With Vegas being known as "Sin City", what better way to spend an afternoon than a visit to one of their famous strip club. Well, "C" wanted to surprise our friend who lives in Vegas by inviting him to lunch. However, we didn't tell him exactly "Where" we were taking him. We told him to meet us at our hotel and that lunch is on us! Well, when I pulled into the parking lot at Cheetah's, you could just imagine the surprised look on his face! There was no cover charge during the time we arrived and they had a "free lunch" special with their 2-drink minimum. However, we found out that they don't cook food on the premises, but order all of their menu items from a nearby restaurant. Anyways, we all ordered the spicy chicken fingers. A really bad choice on our part! They were terrible!
Oh well, needless to say, the girls were all HOTTT and our friend had a great time (…and so did "C" and myself …LOL). So bad chicken fingers and all, we all ended up having a blast!
The Restaurants
Well, we didn't eat at the same place twice, so between breakfast, lunch, and dinner, we covered a lotta ground. These are just a few of the places that we tried during the week (at least those that I can remember).
Monte Carlo Cafe
Although I've stayed at the Monte Carlo before, I've never tried their Café. So we decided to have breakfast at the Café on Tuesday morning. The place was packed, but we only had to wait a couple of minutes to be seated. The service was prompt and our waitress was friendly. "C" had the eggs benedict and I had a plain omelet with bacon and hash brown potatoes. Overall, the food was rather good and I'll probably stop by again if I decide to stay at the Monte on my next trip.
Lucky's at the Hard Rock Hotel
I think it was Thursday morning that we were debating where to have breakfast. Since we both haven't check out the Hard Rock Hotel on previous trips, we decided to see what they had to offer. After roaming around the Hard Rock for a while, we came across Lucky's and decided to give them a try. They serve your basic breakfast fare, nothing too fancy. I ordered a short stack of pancakes which also came with scrambled eggs, ham, hash browns, and toast. I love pancakes and these were very fluffy, light, and tasty! I think "C" has become addicted to cheese omelets because she had them for breakfast 3 days in a row!
House Of Blues Restaurant at the Mandalay Bay
Voodoo Shrimp anyone? If you go the House Of Blues Restaurant, be sure to order the Voodoo Shrimp. It's totally awesome! They grill the shrimp in a sweet, spicy sauce and serve it over cornbread …Yummy!!! Their cuisine is mostly Cajun style, so I was sorta surprised to see grilled teriyaki salmon as an entre' on their menu. Of course, we both just had to give that a try and found it to be excellent!
It's nice to know that there's a good place in town that serves Cajun cookin', since it's one of my favorite cuisines. I plan to give this place another try, the next time I'm in town.
Monte Carlo Pub & Brewery
This a popular sportsbar/microbrewery located at the Monte Carlo Hotel. A pretty nice place if you'd just like to grab a beer and quick bite to eat. They serve your basic American fare, i.e. burgers, etc., and at night they have a live band and dancing. We tried their bucket of shrimp appetizer (yummy), quesadilla, and chicken tenders which were all very good.
Il Fornaio Cucina Italiana at New York New York
We stop by New York New York for breakfast one day and found this nice little Italian restaurant. Nice place to "people watch" if you sit out on their patio. Food was very good. I had your typical high cholesterol breakfast …scrambled eggs, smoked bacon, crispy hash brown potatoes, and a cappuccino. However after seeing the cheese omelet that "C" had ordered, I wished that I had ordered the same thing. It looked incredibly mouth watering!
Fusia at the Luxor
Hamada's of Japan at the Luxor is now closed. I dined at Hamada's this past April, so it was a big surprise to see the place dark with a big sign on the door telling customers to try Luxor's newest Asian restaurant, Fusia.
The menu at Fusia is sort of a blend of different Asian cuisines …Japanese, Chinese, Thai, etc. I'm really glad that we decided to give this place a try because their food and service were incredible!!! "C" had the ahi tuna and said it was to die for …the best she's ever had. I tried the sea bass with a Thai noodle wrap that was stuffed with stir-fried veggies …very good!!! I'd definitely give Fusia a 5 star rating. If you like Asian cuisine, I highly recommend that you give this place a try the next time you're in Vegas. I don't think that you'll be disappointed.
Oh, and if you get a waitress named, Sri (she's from Indonesia), she a real down to earth type of gal, very friendly and nice. When we asked her if she knew of some good sushi restaurants to try, she was nice enough to recommend a couple of places, along with driving directions. One of them is Japan Go at the Hyatt Regency at the Lake Las Vegas Resort in Henderson.
Japan Go at the Hyatt Regency -Lake Las Vegas Resort in Henderson
Wow, my mom lives in a section of Henderson that is not too far from the Lake Las Vegas Resort and I never knew that this place even existed until now. Well, we didn't have too much time to do much exploring of the Lake Las Vegas Resort, since our main goal was to dine at Japan Go. However, this is a very upscale resort from the looks of things.
Japan Go is a not a huge restaurant, but it's very elegant and has a very romantic setting. The view for the restaurant at sunset and at night is totally breathtaking. The view of the mountains and lake are totally awesome and we even saw a few gondolas cruising along the waterway, just outside the hotel and restaurant.
They have a pretty good selection of sushi and other Japanese dishes on their menu, along with several different specials. However, we both decided to order sushi. Not too surprising, eh? I forgot the names of the sushi rolls that "C" had ordered, but they were the daily specials and looked very Yummy! I like a variety of sushi/sashimi, so I ordered the sushi dinner, which was excellent! However like most upscale restaurants that I've tried, they don't serve gigantic portions. So if you want to gorge yourself on sushi, the sushi dinner alone may not be quite enough.
Overall, I'd give Japan Go a 5 star rating for atmosphere and 4 stars for their cuisine. If you like Japanese cuisine (and excellent sushi) with a beautiful, romantic setting, I'd highly recommend giving this place a try. However if you're looking to pig out on sushi and don't care about the atmosphere, you may need to try one of the other places in town.
In closing, I'd have to rate this as being one of my top 3 trips to Sin City, even though we didn't have much luck when it came to gambling. The weather was perfect all week (sunny, mid-80 during the day, cooling down to the high 50's-60's at night). "C" and I were able to get away from the real world, relax from our usual hectic days at work, and spend some quality (and romantic) time together. We saw some great shows and dined as some fantastic restaurants , but we both wished that it didn't have to all end so soon!
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