Vegas - August 2012

Many moons ago, Bob and I flew to Las Vegas the first time... to get married.  Neither of us had ever been, but I liked the idea of buying a wedding package and being done with it.  It turned out we liked Las Vegas enough to return.

I would have never ever ever considered going in August, because of the heat, but I got some very important news:  Cirque du Soleil's Viva Elvis show would be ending on August 31st.   It was the most recently opened Cirque show in Vegas, and I had been wanting to go, but assumed it would be there the next time since Cirque shows seem to last forever.  We saw O on our last Vegas trip and the auditorium was only 1/3 full.   I finally convinced Bob he wanted to go and got tickets for the last possible weekend in August.

We decided to stay off the strip this time, which was a good choice for us. I selected a Hampton Inn in Summerlin, which was convenient to our other activities.  It was about the same price, but included easy access to parking and free breakfast.  And we didn't need to walk a mile to get to our room, which is a hallmark of those huge casino/hotels on the strip.

We went to pick up our tickets at will call before dinner and found this great bust. 

We had dinner nearby (if anything is close on the strip...) at Jaleo.  This is a favorite restaurant of mine in DC and I was excited to learn they opened a location in Vegas.  The food was the same - great, but the vibe here was more polished and modern.  

 The food is served tapas style.  One dish came in a shoe.  Not very appealing.  EVERYTHING else was delectable.

We returned for the show and had the best seats in the house.  We were in the second row and this was the view of the stage. 

 

( The theater door handles!)

The show was so good.  My favorite Cirque show, actually.  I wish I could recommend it, but it is no more.   Sad.

The next day we rented bikes at McGhie's, as is our custom. We have a million great shots of Red Rock Canyon and it doesn't really change.  But we did get a nice picture together this time.  It was HOT HOT HOT.  We each emptied a 70 ounce Camelbak before the ride was over.  The ride back to our hotel felt like riding in an oven.  I will never subject myself to that again.   Usually a loop around the Red Rocks, with 2000+ feet of elevation gain in 5 miles, is epic but in a good way. It was torture on a hot day like that.

After we cooled down and took a nap, we played a round of black light mini-golf.  My friend Donna turned me on to this pleasure in Portland and I think it's a great idea when traveling.  This place wasn't as pitch black dark as the Portland location, but it was fun nonetheless.  

Me with King Putt

We don't gamble and I don't enjoy the masses of people on the strip, although I do love the water show at the Bellagio.  Despite this, the city always entertains us.  We laid pretty low on this trip due to the heat, but we were already talking about what we'd do next time.