We quickly headed off to dinner - another buffet, this time the Bellagio. I'm not sure if it was that we were all so hungry (we'd been eating mostly PB & J out of the trunk all weekend) or that it really is an amazing restaurant but it was some of the best food I've ever had. Well worth the near $30 a person price. And I made it my goal to try new foods that night. I ate quail (I did not know it actually looked like a bird when they plated it), buffalo (a little tough), veal osso bucco (some awesome stew!), sweet potato mash (heaven on a plate), pesto mashed potatoes, etc. Then we hit a fountain show outside the Bellagio and walked down the strip visiting the Monte Carlo, New York New York, and the M & M Factory before collapsing into bed.
Tuesday Mom surprised us by taking Ang and I to the spa in Bally's. We all had massages and then had full use of the spa for the afternoon. We hot tubbed and showered and were completely pampered. Dad enjoyed himself at several casinos but met us for a trip to the new Planet Hollywood's Miracle Mile shopping mall. Then we got all gussied up to go to the Venetian to see Blue Man Group. Here's an interesting fact: we actually had tickets for Wednesday but luckily the customer service there rocks and they got us the same seats for that night. What a show! It's not even possible to describe it except to say there are men in blue paint making music, making us laugh, and covering the entire audience in paper. You have to go if you ever get a chance. And pay the extra for good seats, it's worth it.
Wednesday we discovered the wonder that is Paris in Las Vegas. Paris is where we would eat many a snack (i.e., exquisite, expensive, so worth it pastries), meal, and spend a lot of our time. Paris is connected via walkway to Bally's and guess what, we never ate at Bally's. Not one meal.
This was the day we went to the top of the Stratosphere, well part of our group did. Dad hung out with the slots, then we went to the Wynn buffet for lunch. Three words: homemade coconut ice cream. So worth the price. The food was okay (I know, I know, I've now become a BIG TIME food snob if I'm saying the freaking Wynn has just okay food) but what most impressed us was the actual dessert chefs making the dessert as we watched. And the array of sugar-free options for Mom. Rock on Wynn! (Just don't expect us to play golf there - $500 greens fees and the woman didn't even offer to make us a tee time.)
To burn off our millions of calories we spent the afternoon shoe shopping (while Dad worked the slots): we found out that Vegas has not one but TWO zappos.com outlet stores. Hundreds of pairs of shoes in our sizes. It was great. Mom and I walked away with a pair each but don't worry - at the mall Ang made up for it. We found magnalite pans that we just had to get (mom swears by hers thirty years later) so into our already small and fully packed car we added two large boxes of cookware! And by the way, this would be the only day that I'd make a profit at the slots - I put two bucks into a quarter slot machine in Paris later that night and walked away with twenty. Didn't pay for the shoes or much else but it sure was fun!
Thursday we managed to get in line early enough to actually eat breakfast in Paris at the Village Buffet. Good food but a bit pricey for what we ate but I did have a fresh crepe so why am I complaining? This was also the day of the naps. Exhausted from walking and eating and pushing slot machine buttons we all crashed and either slept or read for a while before heading to the Palms for our second buffet of the day. A decent meal for the cheap price, I had Thanksgiving dinner as every buffet has turkey and potatoes and the stuffing here was so good. But the Palms underwhelmed me. Not sure if I was expecting more of what I see on tv at the celebrity poker tournaments but it wasn't anything too exciting, at least not at three o'clock in the afternoon. From there we parked at New York New York and trammed down to Mandalay Bay then walked through the Luxor, Excalibur and then MGM where the lions were sleeping. Glad that exhibit was free.
We decided to go out that night and headed down to Napolean's piano bar in Paris. While singing along to old favorites and sipping cosmos we celebrated being together and of course, headed next door for some dessert.
Friday, our last day in town (for a few days at least). We were preparing to go out walking when the fire alarm went off. Now, if anyone out there knows my sister Angela, you'll know that this caused a certain amount of panic in our room. Having been through a fire, she was understandably upset, especially when we opened our hotel room door to be greeted by fire fighters in full gear asking us to stay IN our room. So we did, for an hour while the alarm sounded and a voice told us loudly over the intercom in our room to stay calm and await instructions. Over and over and over again. Turns out it was a faulty motor in a shaft somewhere. All I can say is it's a good thing we all made it out of that room in one piece!
Once the fire trucks left we headed to Caesar's to browse and then to the Bellagio for a goodbye lunch buffet (by far the best in town). Then we got all dressed up to go back to the Bellagio to see Cirque de Soleil's "O". Again, a show that's almost indescribable. There was acrobatics and diving and swimming and a story involving audience members and clowns and again, well worth the price of great seats! It's no wonder the show's sold out every single night. We concluded our evening with dinner in Paris, where I had a hamburger topped with brie. Amazing.
On Saturday we took my parents to the airport (seriously almost as easy to navigate as Yuma's or Howell's airport - well designed) and picked up Susie Hanner, our friend from Howell and hit the road for phase two - road trip to San Francisco.
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