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Always Packed for Adventure!

It's the destination and the journey.

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2nd Anniversary Trip- Serendipity, Donkey and Jubilee

Two celebrity chef restaurants in a row? Why not? On Monday, we slept-in and ate brunch at Caesar's Palace in Gordon Ramsay's Pub and Grill. It was burgers and fries ( I mean chips) for both of us. This is definitely the place for a fancy, high quality burger. The decor is fun too, a low-rent Timothy Oulton. 

I had been dropping hints all weekend that I wanted a frozen hot chocolate at Serendipity 3. I've made the home version from a packet mix many times, but I had never actually drank one at the restaurant. We go to Vegas all of the time, but this experience had been eluding me, until now! Stars aligned, we shared one of their signature drinks at the outdoor bar. 

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We demolished it in five minutes. Heaven.

A cute picture outside of Caesar's Palace. 

We went to Red Rock Canyon in search of wild burro. It was very, very windy.

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We found one burro. He was our friend, until he realized that we didn't have food for him.

In the evening, we cleaned up for our big anniversary night out.

It started with Jubilee, Bally's long-running, old-style Vegas topless revue show. That was a mouthful! Here are a few pictures that we took the day before. 

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I have no idea what I expected the show to be, as any expectations were immediately erased by the experience of Jubilee. We got prime seats, right in center, in the second row of tables. This was far too close. Jubilee is a grand spectacle and needs to be viewed from a bit of a distance. There was just no way to take it all in up-close. The theater is small, so even the back row would feel close to the action. 

Jubilee has an identity crisis. One moment, there are singers doing jazz standards, the next dancers doing a Samson and Delilah sketch, then all of a sudden, they are on the Titanic as they crash into the iceberg, there's a bit of tap-dancing, some guys doing the robot, boobs, feathers, sequins, et...Nothing is cohesive. Sometimes it's serious, like a segment with beautiful ballet dancing, but most of the time it's just corny. 

The show is awesomely-bad. I was shaking from trying to contain my giggles. It's completely ridiculous. Christopher Guest is in on this, I'm certain. However, that doesn't mean that there isn't talent or enthusiasm on the stage. All of the performers were very talented, I just had to think that Jubilee is where their dreams went to die. It's so bad. 

The other amazing aspect of the show was the clear tension between the two lead female singers. When each was individually in the spotlight, they shone, but the minute it was the other's turn, the one that was in partial shadows shot daggers at the one performing. They seemed to try to "out-sing" each other. This competitive/hate had nothing to do with their characters or a theme of the show. It was utterly compelling. When we walked out of the theatre, Dan had noticed it too, and said that they need to make a behind the scenes reality show of the Jubilee cast. Brilliant.

We splurged for dinner at the Eiffel Tower Restaurant. This restaurant has the best views of the strip. Giada pales in comparison. We were given a table for two by the window. Here was our view. Spectacular.

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We went with the tasting menu, which included bison, lobster, and foie gras. Delicious, but so filling that we barely made it to the dessert. Dan even did the wine pairing and cheese course. 

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Our server, who was the absolute best, even brought us a bonus dessert. 

Our second anniversary vacation was a success! 

tags: Serendipity 3, Serendipity 3 Las Vegas, Frozen Hot Chocolate, Frozen Hot Chocolate at Home, Frozen Hot Chocolate Serendipity 3, Gordon Ramsay Pub and Grill, Gordon Ramsay Pub and Grill Las Vegas, Best Burgers in Las Vegas, Celebrity Chefs in Vegas, Red rock Canyon, Red Rock Canyon Las Vegas, Tourist Red Rock Canyon, Pictures of Red Rock Canyon Nevada, Wild Burros Red Rock Canyon, Views of Red Rock Canyon, The Wild Burros in Red Rock Canyon, Las Vegas, Las Vegas Must-Do List, Las Vegas Anniversary Vacation, Las Vegas Shows, Las Vegas on a Budget, Jubilee Las Vegas, Topless Show Las Vegas Jubilee, Did Christopher Guest Direct Jubilee, Jubilee Theatre Bally, Where to Sit for Jubilee, Jubilee Costumes Ballys, Jubilee Reality Show Vegas, Ballys Reality Show, Titanic Scene in Jubilee, Samson and Delilah Sketch Jubilee, Tap Dancing Jubilee, Ballet Jubilee, Awesomely-Bad Jubilee, Awesomely-Bad Vegas Shows, Old Style Vegas Revue Show Jubilee, Eiffel Tower Las Vegas, Eiffel Tower Restaurant Las Vegas, Best View in Las Vegas Eiffel Tower Restautant, Most Romantic Restaurant in Vegas Eiffel Tower Restaurant, Special Occasion Restaurants Las Vegas Eiffel Tower, Giada Cromwell Las Vegas, Jubilee Cast Singers Hate Each other, Singers in Jubilee, Views from Eiffel Tower Restaurant, Tasting Menu Eiffel Tower Restaurant Las Vegas, Pictures Eiffel Tower Restaurant Las Vegas, Foie Gras Las Vegas, Bison Las Vegas, Wine Pairing Eiffel Tower Restaurant Las Vegas, Paris Las Vegas, Bellagio Fountains, View of Bellagio Fountains from Eiffel Tower Restaurant, Eiffel Tower Restaurant Anniversary Dessert
categories: Eat, Watch, Visit
Thursday 11.26.15
Posted by Karen Lea Germain
 

2nd Anniversary Trip- Bally's Las Vegas

Six months is a long time to go between Vegas trips. We were itching to go, so it was an easy choice for our second anniversary mini-vacation.

We woke up early on a Saturday and drove to Big Bear Lake to meet with our contractor. After a quick meeting and a detour to the zoo ( we had to visit the raccoon saloon), we were on our way. These two are just plotting their jail break!

The primary reason for our Big Bear detour, was we wanted to see how easy it is to visit Vegas from the mountain. Unfortunately, our experiment was thrown out, when we encountered major traffic in Baker. Using the traffic app Waze, we were able to find an alternative route through Death Valley. Ultimately, when we rejoined the freeway an hour-ish later, we ran into the same vehicles that we had left behind. However, driving through the desert was a prettier, more adventurous route. Some of the road was just dirt!

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We arrived at Bally's in the late afternoon. 

Bally's is an older property, with a prime location in the middle of the strip. It was an easy walk to Paris and Bellagio. Because it's not as new or glitzy as other properties, the deals are good. Upon check-in, we were offered a spa suite upgrade for forty more a night. We took the offer. Here is a look at our suite.

The entry- 

We had a partial strip view, where we could see the Bellagio fountains and the Eiffel Tower. The decor looked dated in style, but definitely on the newer side. It made me think of Mad Men.

The major room feature was the jacuzzi tub. It was huge. Unfortunately, the jacuzzi had a blown fuse. and although we called maintenance, it wasn't repaired until the last night of our stay. We had several bubble-less baths.

Our only other room issue, was noise on the Sunday of our stay. I'm not sure if it was coming from Drai's or a club at Paris, but there was loud, thumping dance music until early in the morning. I couldn't sleep. Other than that specific issue, the room was very quiet. 

On either side of the tub, we had closets ( tons of storage) and next to the closets, his and her vanities. 

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The toilet and shower were tucked in the back. The shower was very small and darkly lit. It's like the room underwent a remodel, but they didn't touch the shower.

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The bed was very comfortable and I liked the sitting area. Overall, this was a very inviting and spacious room, definitely a bargain. Also of note, all of the staff were very friendly and welcoming, especially noticed at check-in and the valet. Bally's is old, but it has a nice vibe.

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We didn't spend much time inside the casino and we didn't eat at any of the restaurants inside Bally's. We did however, have a drink at the Indigo Lounge. 

We wandered in on Halloween night, to find it practically empty. A small middle-age ( older than us) crowd gathered to hear a live 80's cover band. The band was okay, but the bartenders kept all of the TV's running during the show. It was distracting to us and disrespectful to the band. We made the mistake of ordering off of the Halloween special menu. Here is what we got...

Two Kool-Aid tasting Bacardi drinks in pumpkin sippy cups and tee-shirts. The drinks were awful, the shirts unnecessary. We ended up leaving it all in the lounge. The vibe of the Indigo Lounge just felt wrong, and although it was inexpensive, it was a waste of our time. Here is a picture of the lounge the next day. 

Bally's and Paris are connected via an internal walkway. That night, we had dinner at Yong Kang Street, a Chinese dumpling and noodle house that features dim sum carts. We were exhausted from the drive and famished, causing me to forget to take pictures of the experience. If you like dim sum, it's not to be missed. The food is reasonably priced and the atmosphere is fun. 

After dinner, we headed to the Fashion Show Mall. Dan had forgotten to pack nice shirts ( I'll have to use that excuse the next time I want to go shopping on vacation), so we went to Nordstrom to pick up a few nice things. I'm a huge Nordstrom fan and I have to admit, that the men's department in Vegas, has the best stuff. It's unique to what is sold in Southern California stores, more playful designs and vibrant colors. Louder clothes. I snuck in a quick peek in my department and came away with an adorable faux fur vest. Happy Anniversary to us!

Even though it was Halloween, there was very little evidence of anyone celebrating it in Vegas. The best we saw was five college-aged girls dressed up as different versions of Britney Spears. They totally rocked it!  I prefer Christmas to Halloween, so I was pleased to see this in the mall. Hey Santa, I saw a lot of things in Nordstrom that I'm adding to my list...



tags: Last Vegas Review, Las Vegas October 2015, Big Bear Zoo Raccoon Saloon, Big Bear Lake to Las Vegas, Waze App, Waze App Review, Death Valley Detour, Baker to Vegas Traffic, Baker Detour Death Valley, Death Valley Pictures, Second Anniversary Trip, Bally', Bally's Las Vegas, Bally's Las Vegas Pictures, Bally's Las Vegas Good Value, Bally's Las Vegas Suite, Bally's Las Vegas Trip Review, Where to Stay in Las Vegas, Our Trip to Bally's Las Vegas, Bally's Las Vegas Strip Views, Best Location on the Strip Bally's, Pictures of our Room in Bally's, What Hotels is Bally's Close to, Eiffel Tower Las Vegas, Mad Men Style, Drai's Noise Las Vegas, Noise from Paris Club in Bally's, Bally's Las Vegas Friendly Staff, Bally's Indigo Lounge, Bally's Indigo Lounge Pictures, Halloween Bally's Indigo Lounge, 80's Cover Band Bally's Las Vegas, TV's in Bars, I hate TV's in Bars and Restaurants, Bacardi Halloween Drinks, Indigo Lounge Bacardi Halloween Special, Alcoholic Drinks that Taste like Kool-Aid, Paris and Bally's Connected, Yong Kang Street Restaurant, Yong Kang Street Las Vegas Review, Dim Sum in Las Vegas Yong Kang Street, Chinese Food Las Vegas, Las Vegas Noodles, Las Vegas Dumplings, Las Vegas Fashion Show Mall, Vacation Shopping, Faux Fur Vest Nordstrom, Best Nordstrom Location Las Vegas, Nordstrom Men's Department, Nordstrom Los Angeles or Las Vegas, Halloween in Las Vegas, Halloween Britney Spears Costumes, Is Halloween Big in Las Vegas, Christmas Decorations Fashion Show Mall
categories: Sleep, Visit, Eat
Friday 11.20.15
Posted by Karen Lea Germain
 

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