Weekend in Vegas

Last weekend, I went to Vegas for the first time. I feel as though I’ve spent a lifetime (or, ya know, 10 years) speculating about what Vegas would be like, so it was great to finally see it for myself.

We had a great weekend walking around checking out the hotels (we saw 14 different hotels, but who’s counting?), seeing shows, dining, gambling and laying out at the pool.

The first night we got in pretty late, so we  checked into our hotel, Aria, and then explored some other hotels along the strip. We ended the night with a drink at the Cosmopolitan hotel.

The next morning, we got up early to work out in Aria’s gorgeous gym.  It was one of the nicest hotel gyms I’ve head the opportunity to work up a sweat in. That said, I’ve never seen a hotel gym so busy.  After some more touring, we had some lunch on the strip and did some shopping.

We had dinner reservations at Koi, which was fabulous.  I think I liked it better than the one in New York.

Tuna tartare with crispy rice

Lobster tacos

Sashimi roll

Tiger roll

Black cod

So much food!  But so delicious.

After dinner, we had tickets to Britney Spear’s Piece of Me show.  There were highs and there we lows, I think this  NYTimes article kind of sums up my thoughts. It was great to see Britney and the show itself was pretty impressive, but come on Britney, gimme more.

After Britney, DJ Pauly D was actually djing at our hotel, so we had to check that out.  He was actually pretty good and seemed really excited to be djing, which was refreshing.

I woke up really early on Sunday to try and go to Yoga with Dolphins at the Mirage.

 

At first I thought I would be doing some kind of aqua yoga with the dolphins.  Okay, pretty silly.  Then I wondered if both the dolphin and I would be instructed simultaneously–me being on land and the dolphin in the water of course.  Eventually, I realized that was probably a bit far fetched and that I would just be observing the dolphins while doing yoga from land.  After several unanswered phone calls to the spa to book a class, I decided to just show up and hope a spot was available.  No dice.  All sold out. At least I got a good walk out of it.  Frank and I ended up doing a nice run instead.

After the run and checking out the Wynn and the Encore, we were famished.

I had some fish tacos to fuel the journey back to Aria. 

We spent the afternoon at the pool and grabbed some drinks on the strip right across from the famous Bellagio fountains.

For our final night, we had dinner at Michael Mina. So many Vegas restaurants are ones that we have in NY, so we were excited to go somewhere that we wouldn’t otherwise be able to try.  We had a huge meal, but  it was too dark to get good pictures, so I’ll just share my favorite course, which was a delicious cod.

After Michael Mina we had tickets to “O,” which was great.  After some gambling and a nightcap, our Vegas vacay come to an end.

So how did Vegas compare to my assumptions? Here is what stood out to me…

The Weather: it was fantastic! It was 82 degrees (hello pool deck) in February! Basically the opposite of NYC winter weather, which leaves something to be desired.

Tacky or Opulent: I’d say opulent.  Vegas was far less tacky than I imagined. At least on most of the strip, things were way over the top, but more refined than I expected. I think all the flash added to the indulgent mood of the city.

Walking: We did so much walking. Probably 5-6 miles each day. This was awesome.  That said, walking in Vegas could be annoying.  The streets were packed and people sure do mosey in Vegas.  It was kind of like being in Times Square at all times. Also, I had never experienced anything like the elevated walkways that are used to allow pedestrians to cross the streets at major intersections.  I really think cars get an unfair advantage.

Overall, it was a really fun time and a welcome break from winter.

Bye Vegas, I’ll be back someday