It was a big family meet up in that bright light city. Most of the crew flew in Friday night and we hit the casinos running. It worked out really well as J was landing at 10pm, D&B at 10:10pm, and M&K at 10:21pm (we were actually concerned we would be delayed because that is what happens when you fly with Michael). As it turned out M&K were 30 minutes early and everyone else was late, we were waiting at the gate when D&B stepped off the plane - which was awesome. We met up with our driver and soon we were all in an Escalade cruising to the Golden Nugget in style.
We spent Saturday afternoon throwing some dice and playing card games. I was not a winner, but J did really well - thanks for dinner! Saturday night we hopped in a cab to the Wynn. None of us had been there before, what a beautiful casino. The entrance has a large walkway filled with trees wrapped in white lights and beautiful flowers. Yes, some of the flowers are fake, we tested them and some are not, we tested those too.
Michael had done some research (he planned the entire trip) and Steve Wynn has recently become a vegan, now all of the restaurants on his property offer vegan options. This worked out well for our crowd. We enjoyed a really tasty dinner at the Italian restaurant, Allegro. They had three different vegan options, J was thrilled. I tried to eat relatively light and enjoyed the Caesar salad as a starter and the bean and grain soup for my main course. The guys both had spaghetti and meatballs. Wow, the bowl of pasta was huge - it could have easily been a family style portion of spaghetti. The flavor was fantastic and I think they both ate more than they wanted because it was hard to put down the fork. B had selection of bruschetta, an appetizer, as her main course. There were three different varieties and I think the Italian peppers and sausage was her favorite. After dinner we walked over to see Encore and it was just as amazing as the Wynn.
Sunday the O's came to join the party, they had to drive through a rain storm but after they arrived we headed to the Strip once again for dinner and a show.
We ate on the patio at Olives in Bellagio. Every 30 minutes we were treated to a front row seat of the water show. The food was Mediterranean inspired with bright and interesting flavors. The wine list was presented on an iPad, so high tech.
The bread basket was a great starter with soft rolls and crispy cracker sheets and two different tapenade spreads. MomW and MomO each had the prix fixe meal and were kind enough to share bites with the table. MomO and I shared her started, corkscrew shrimp, and she had a perfectly cooked piece of Chilean sea bass for dinner. I went with a fig and prosciutto flatbread for my main course. Even though it was considered a starter, it was a very large potion. The rosemary crust was topped with fig jam (hmm, maybe an idea for Christmas), gorgonzola cheese, and paper thin slices of prosciutto. Luckily BDO was sitting right next to me and he didn't let any of the delicious prosciutto go to waste once I was full. BDO started with the charred tomato gazpacho, it was a cool choice for the warm evening. And for his main he really enjoyed the beef carpaccio that was served over a bed of greens and a portion of gorgonzola polenta. (MomO and BDO have been staying away from carbs and each have lost quite a bit of weight. BDO gained 6 pounds while we were in Vegas - we were a bad influence! He has since lost it all and it back down to where he was before the trip.) MW started with the Boston Bibb salad (pictured below) the greens were topped with shaved onions, Maytag blue cheese sprinkles, and a toasted walnut dressing.
The birthday girl enjoyed a special dessert. And then she and Dan headed off to see Rod Stewart. They thoroughly enjoyed the show and were all smiles when we met them afterwards. (It was actually really sweet, we were waiting for them at the show exit doors and as soon as Michael's dad saw him he had a big smile on his face and walked right over and gave Michael a big bear hug. He is a huge Rod Steward fan and tickets to the show were his Father's Day present. He could not have been happier.)
J had to go back to work (boo!), after she dropped her parents off at the theatre, she headed to the airport and the rest of us walked to the conservatory garden in Bellagio. The garden was filled with over sized birds and flowers.
Unfortunately it was also filled with over sized crowds. With more rain headed our way, we scooted over to Caesar's Palace and lost some money playing games while we waited for the show goers.
After a long, tough day in a cabana at the Golden Nugget pool (not so much, it was not surprisingly, quite relaxing), we spent our last night enjoying dinner at Hugo's Cellar. Hugo's is a classic steak house with waiters in tuxedos, roses for the women, and flattering dim lighting. The service is exquisite and the food is old school fantastic. My favorite part of the meal is the salad cart and custom mixed salad. Any time food is prepared table side it is automatically better and this salad is enough for a filling meal. (In fact, that is all MomO had for her starter and dinner.) We were hoping to have room for table side cherries jubilee or bananas foster after dinner, but that salad is just so filling. Well the salad, and the steaks and chicken and everything else we ordered.
After dinner we headed up to Binion's steakhouse for the view of the Vegas lights and a nightcap. I'm pretty sure none of us went right to bed after that drink so I even though it was intended to be a nightcap it was more of a second wind cap.
The four days flew by and it was the perfect way to end July birthday season. We should do it again next year!
