My girlfriend aka Big Sis, Karen (who now resides in paradise, literally) started an annual tradition for my birthday. She would take me to Vegas. I believe it started on my 35th? Heck, it's been awhile since that first Birthday trip and what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, right? Well, at least those lost brain cells do - HA!
So when I met my hubby (then boyfriend), he took over the honors (if you will); as my girlfriend lived too far away to keep the tradition going (every year).
She and I do, however, still meet up in Vegas for my birthday (when we can). It's definitely difficult to go there and not think of her. I mean, we've had some rip roaring times. We would always stay at NY NY and visit our favorite bartender. He's still there and when either of us go (with or without each other), we always try to stop by and say "Hi" to him.
Anyway, I was thrilled Jim decided to take 4 days off work (what a gift) while I'm on my 2 week vacation. So we packed up the Prius and left this past Wednesday night (7/23); arriving in "Sin City" about 11:30 p.m. This time we stayed at the Mirage (our first time at this resort). We decided to crash (instead of gamble) to get an early start on Thursday.
Thursday, after a tasty breakfast at the Carnegie Deli we gambled a little. My first time playing "eBay" which is appropriate for the both of us (as many of you know). It was a lot of fun and I won $90 right off the bat! We wandered around from machine to machine until we became bored.
Next we walked (yes, I said walked) over to the Bellagio (beautiful resort) and had a late lunch at "Olives". One of our favorite destinations. We sat on the patio and enjoyed the water show.
"Olives" patio enjoying good food and good company.
"Olives" patio watching the water show.
After lunch we found a really fun slot machine there called "Invasion from the Planet Moolah". We both did really well playing that game. I know my girlfriend, Karen would love this game (if she hasn't already discovered it on her own?). Why? Because it has cows in it. What a kick!
I got in trouble for taking this picture. No cameras in the casinos. Hmmm...why didn't anyone get annoyed with the eBay picture???
After awhile, we walked back to our Resort, went upstairs (took the elevator - thank goodness), and Jim took a nap while I relaxed and did my nails. After a power nap of 2 hours Mr. Black awoke refreshed and we headed downstairs for some dinner at BLT Burgers (a casual eclectic burger joint). I think we were done with walking so we took the tram from the Mirage to Treasure Island. Not my favorite casino as it's super smoky (poor ventilation), though we made the most of it (as we weren't really tired). We finally got back to our pad crashed around 1:30 a.m.
After room service delivered breakfast around 9 a.m. Friday found us at Mirage's Secret Garden & Dolphin Habitat I took pictures of all the furry (and not so furry "dolphins") creatures. However, did you know that dolphins are born with hair, then lose it? Yeah, me neither. Anyway...
Tigers resting in the heat of the day.
White Tiger cooling off in the water.
5 three month old tiger cubs. They were so fun to watch.
Check out the size of that paw. They will grow to 500 lbs. Wow!
Most of the babies were napping except for this extraordinary cub. Check out it's markings.
After the garden we walked (again with the walking) across Las Vegas Blvd. to the Venetian and their newest tower "Grazie". Wow! It's just insanely amazing all the money that goes into these resorts.
Not only that, the MGM Mirage is building this huge City Center on the strip where you can buy a condo (which they tried to sell me - Ha! And can you believe they tried to entice me with two pieces of chocolate!? Helloooo - maybe a $100 could get me to think about it. Okay - or a large box of chocolates). There are 4 towers going up along with a casino, etc. Check out the link above. It's suppose to open in 2009. Let me tell you, it took us forever to walk (yes, walk) from the Bellagio past this hunormous construction site to the NY NY resort. The site is situated between Bellagio and Monte Carlo.
But I digress, after strolling around the Venetian, we headed back to the Bellagio for another late lunch (but this time) at Noodles. They serve Dim Sum (YUM). We then gambled a little and took off to our next destination - NY NY to see if our favorite bartender was working (which he was). He served us several yummy martinis (my choice - Pearl Pomegranate and Jim's choice - Grey Goose). We must have sat and played Black Jack slots for over 2 hours. I'm going to brag and say I used the same $20 and walked away with $80; while my dear, sweet husband invested many $20's; but we had fun, nonetheless.
Then off to dinner at Border Grill at Mandalay Bay. This time we only had to walk the bridge to Excalibur and caught the monorail to Mandalay Bay. Thank goodness, because I'm telling you we put a lot of miles on our Crocs. And can I tell you that if you don't own a pair of Crocs you should really consider buying a pair. Ours were a gift from Karen (who lives in paradise). Now I understand the saying..."a gift that keeps on giving". They are so comfy and I can honestly say that we had to have walked at least 10 miles total and my puppies weren't barkin. But I digress, again...
So off to dinner at the Border Grill. A very tasty dinner indeed. And then we gambled just a smidgen more and then saw a very funny comedian named Jim Gaffigan "The Sexy Tour". If you haven't seen or heard of him, rent his DVD "Beyond the Pale". He does this shtick on "Hot Pockets". A real hoot! So after the show we wandered back to NY NY via monorail, then over the bridge to MGM (gambled a little bit more), wandered back to the Mirage via monorail (again, thank goodness) and then to bed about midnight. We're pretty early crashers when it comes to long days drinking and walking (not driving).
Today was our last day in Vegas. So we started it with a healthy breakfast "room service". Packed up our things and had the bellman hold our luggage while we played a little more. We hopped from one machine to another. My last day always seems to be my best day. I was up. And then I was down. But in the end, Jim and I played video Roulette and I walked away with a little over $100. We headed out of town around 1:30 p.m. Stopped in Baker for lunch at the Mad Greek (another tradition) and got home about 6:30. We also hit quite a storm while driving through the desert (see video). Fortunately , Jim was behind the wheel as I was stressing out beside him while the lightening was dancing in the sky (Ugh!).
Desert Storm
What a fun trip. But it's a great feeling to be home. And an even better feeling, we get to pick up our fur babies from Paws Pet Resorts tomorrow morning and I have 3 more days with my hubby until he gets back to work on Wednesday. I'm really going to enjoy these next 8 days off of work.
I have to say, my hubby actually does a pretty darn good job with planning the trips to Las Wages (as you can see from the pictures).
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