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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

Our second anniversary vacation was a success!

Las Vegas March 2014- Silverton Casino

Our Las Vegas must-do list always includes a stop to the Bass Pro Shop. In a city where everything is large than life, nothing is quite as spectacular as the Bass Pro Shop. It's a spectacle. The store is located adjacent to the Silverton Casino and on our Christmas trip, we spent a little time gambling in the hotel. When I say little, I mean little. It didn't take a whole lot to have the offers of free rooms, slot tournaments and dining credit come our way. We decided to take them up on an offer during a weekend in March.

Silverton has a nature/lodge theme, with wood beams and wildlife art. The theming of the Bass Pro Shop spills over into the theme of the hotel. It's cozy. We liked the decor of the casino and anticipated that it would carry over to the rooms.

This is a small hotel and we were given a room on the top floor with a partially obstructed pool view. Our room was basic, but it met all of our needs. Did I mention that it was free?

The bath tub was too small and shallow for a proper bath. I loved that they featured Bath and Body Works products. Rainkissed leaves smelled wonderful.

My favorite part of the room was the reading material. What other hotel are you going to get this?

Our room had a funky smell when we arrived, but it was late and we didn't call to complain. The next day, we noticed the smell when we came back from the pool. It was awful. We called and within ten minutes a nice woman from housekeeping came to the rescue. We were moved to an identical room, minus the smell and she gave us a handful of vouchers for our trouble.

Every single staff member that we encountered at Silverton was super friendly and helpful. Seriously, they were giving Disney a run for their money in the customer service department.

This was first really warm weekend of the year and I was very excited to use the pool. We practically had the pool to ourselves. It was too early in their season to have staff working the pool area, so no cocktail service. The pool is tiny and a concrete jungle. It wasn't very nice and I can't even imagine it on a busy day. The pool complex desperately needs an upgrade.

We had food credit and coupons, so we tried several of the restaurants. I was most impressed with the cafe, which has good quality food with a wide selection. It's inexpensive and the restaurant is pretty with a continued nature theme. I was less than impressed with the buffet, especially steer clear of "Polynesian Night." Ick.

The best spot in the hotel is at the Mermaid Bar, which has chairs facing a giant aquarium. It's mesmerizing. Several times during the day, the aquarium has shows with women dressed as mermaids, who swim with the fish, sharks and stingrays. They have a smaller aquarium with beautiful jellyfish.

We enjoyed our stay at Silverton, but it doesn't compare to staying on the strip. Silverton is a much quieter casino that attracts both an older crowd and large families with young children. We fit in neither category. Since the pool is a disappointment, it's not really a warm weather hotel. We found ourselves leaving the Silverton frequently to get to the strip for entertainment and better food options. The hotel is clean and safe, but very basic. You can't beat staying for free, but I wouldn't pay more than fifty-sixty a night for a room here. That said, if you have a car, it's probably cleaner and nicer than comparable hotels on the strip. Plus, it has the best staff in Vegas!

Las Vegas Christmas 2014 - Golden Nugget

I've spent the majority of my adult life complaining about Christmas. I love the holiday and the time of the year, but I resented the hassle and forced following of family traditions. I was tired of always having to spend Christmas Eve eating at the same restaurant, followed by a tour of the neighborhood to see the lights and then present opening. Christmas morning was always the same, stocking stuffers followed by cinnamon rolls and then sitting around until we ate turkey at 2pm. I guess it was the adult in me that wanted to strike out and form my own holiday traditions, yet being an only child in a small family, I felt that expressing my desires would lead to hurt feelings.

Christmas 2013 was sad and awkward. My aunt, who was my last living relative, passed away just a few days before Christmas. Dan and I brought all of our presents back from her house and we opened them on Christmas morning. I couldn't sit around our home, so we went to the movies and saw The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. We ate pot roast that I made in the slow cooker for our holiday meal. Honestly, it was the low fuss holiday that I had always wanted, but it still didn't feel right.

As this Christmas approached, I realized that it would be the one where I felt the absence of my family the most. The previous year, I had been in a bit of a shock, but this year, I was feeling it. I actually missed those traditions that I had complained about, but mostly I missed the family that I shared them with. I wasn't ready to move forward with anything related to Christmas as I knew it. We decided to get out of town and Vegas was calling.

Neither of us had ever stayed in Downtown Vegas and since the Golden Nugget had ridiculously cheap rates, we thought that it was time to give it a shot. We caught a flight out of Bob Hope International on Christmas Eve and rented a car for our four night getaway.

Our first impression of the Golden Nugget was favorable. The lobby and check-in areas were tastefully decorated and we were quickly ushered through check-in with friendly staff. On the walk to our room, we could see the pool complex, which is simply amazing. In the center of the pool is an enormous aquarium with sharks and a water slide through the middle. We went on a tour of the shark tank during our stay, so more on the pool in an upcoming post.

We had asked for a room away from the elevators, hoping for less noise. This didn't work out for us. Our room was miles from the elevator and we still had plenty of noise. The Golden Nugget is both a party hotel and a hotel crawling with families. We had plenty of noise from both. Worse than the people, was a church located outside. The bells from the church rang every hour throughout the entire night. Since it was Christmas, they chimed carols. It was a tad creepy, because although we could see the entrance, we never saw a single person enter the church or even congregate on the steps. It appeared abandoned.

Our room was okay. It felt very much like an older, lower-mid range strip hotel, like The Flamingo or The Tropicana. There was nothing wrong with the room, it had all of the basics, but there was also nothing particularly special. The one feature that I did appreciate, was a small vanity with a lighted make-up mirror. The bed was also notably comfortable.

After getting settled in our room, we hit Freemont Street. Although teeming with colorful characters that provided plenty of excellent people watching, we quickly learned that Freemont Street is not our scene. It's like Hollywood Blvd, kind of scummy. We listened to some country music (which I like), grabbed a drink and took a picture of the Christmas tree. In about thirty minutes, we were done. The only other time that we walked down Freemont Street during our stay, was to grab a coffee at Dunkin Donuts.

The location of the Golden Nugget is probably the single biggest reason that we would be unlikely to return. Most of the days of our trip, we found ourselves driving to the strip for entertainment or to our favorite place, the Bass Pro Shop. There just wasn't enough that caught our interest in downtown. I think it's a great place if your interests revolve primarily around gambling and cheap alcohol.

My favorite thing about our hotel, was the wacky and quite frankly, inappropriate holiday decorations. The "fairy elves" look like they've been engaging in some naughty behavior (probably out on Freemont Street) and I love the polar bear cub that looks like he's puking. There is little that I love more than Christmas decoration fails. Hilarious!

I can't decide which of these elves is my favorite. The expressions are priceless and so, so inappropriate.

This guy enjoying his reindeer ride?

or this guy? I'm not even sure what he's enjoying, but he's clearly pleased with himself. Maybe it's his chef's hat with the gingerbread man flair? Snazzy!

A stay at the Golden Nugget wouldn't be complete, without taking a moment to admire the golden nugget.

We had a fun time during our Christmas stay at the Golden Nugget. As I mentioned, if this hotel had been located on the strip, we might consider returning, especially when on a budget trip. However, downtown held little appeal for us, so we are unlikely to return.

My biggest regret about our stay, was not having the opportunity to try out the pool. It looked fabulous, definitely competition for some of the nicer strip properties. It was just far too cold during our stay. The pool is a big enough draw that it might even sway me to return.