My family and I spent a couple days in Sin City to celebrate my youngest brother, Cyler's, 21st birthday. Most of his friends are still underage, so he had the pleasure of being accompanied by Mark and I, our parents, and our brother, CJ. Since I am the "planner" in the family, I made all of the arrangements for the weekend.
When CJ turned 21 we also took a weekend trip to Vegas. Two of his friends, Mark, and myself all stayed at the Excalibur and lived large that weekend—I completely understand that the words Excalibur and lived large have no correlation because that partiuclar hotel is nothing fancy, but we weren't in the room very much. We ate at the best restaurants, gawked over an incredible Cirque de Soleil show, Mystere, and enjoyed bottle service at club PURE in Cesaers Palace.
When planning this trip, I had to take into account both of my brothers vastly different personalities. First, Cyler has a girlfriend, so hanging out in clubs wasn't something he would be into. Second, he is more mellow and could be considered more of a "home-body", so I knew he wouldn't want me to plan a weekend with non-stop adventures.
I have had a few friends who recently stayed in Vegas and mentioned to me that the Golden Nugget (which is downtown) had recently been renovated. I checked out the prices and they were drastically lower than anything on The Strip. We paid about $100 a night with taxes and fees [BTW: they charge you a "Fremont Experience" fee because the hotel sits on Fremont street—LAME!] The hotel was nice. My family arrived before Mark and I, so they checked into all of the rooms for us which was nice because we didn't have to deal with the headache and lines. The rooms were spacious and didn't feel crammed or claustrophobic. I enjoyed the open space in the room and in the bathroom too. The tub/shower was a nice size and there was sufficient counter space. The decor was slightly old-fashioned, but, to be honest, I wasn't expecting much—so I was impressed.
When we arrived in Vegas, my family was at the ice bar inside of the Monte Carlo. The bar is called Minus 5 and everything inside—including the cups you drink from—are made of ice. This is the second time Mark and I have been to Minus 5. There is another one inside of Mandalay Bay (which was the first one in Vegas) and I prefer that one over the one inside Monte Carlo. Although it is smaller and more dimly lit, the Minus 5 inside of Mandalay Bay felt more welcoming and exciting for some reason. The bar offers ice block seating that is covered with (what I hope to be fake) animal skins and loud music to get everyone amped up. The bar is only -5 degrees Celsius, so it isn't too cold to sit in and hang out for a little while. They give you gloves and coats to wear, but if you're up and moving around you will be fine in just a sweatshirt. We didn't stay inside very long because 1.) we were tired from driving and sitting through traffic and 2.) my family had already been in the bar for about 30 minutes and were getting over it. I bought the boys a shot and we left.
Can we take a moment to appreciate the true shittiness of my front camera? My face looks like part of it is frozen from being in the bar! (I recently upgraded to an iPhone 6-YAY!!!)
The next morning we made reservations at one of my favorite eateries in Vegas for brunch: Serendipity 3! I am so glad we had reservations because a group of 2 came in to get a table was told the wait would be 45 minutes! We were a group of 6 so I can only imagine how long we would have been sitting around. I LOVE this place! The portions are huge, the food is flavorful & colorful, and they have some of THE BEST desserts. I always start off my meal with their frozen hot chocolate—and yes that includes breakfast. I can't even begin to explain how delicious this huge mound of chocolate and whipped cream tastes. My whole family shared it and everyone was delighted by it's rich, creamy, amazing taste! It basically tastes like the best hot chocolate you have ever had, but frozen. Plus the whipped cream they top it with tastes like it is freshly made with each order. I would recommend trying frozen hot chocolate if you ever get the pleasure of eating at any of the Serendipity restaurants.
To follow the frozen dessert appetizer, I ordered a veggie omelet. It had sun dried tomatoes, American cheese, and artichoke hearts in it. They included a side of potatoes that were crispy and golden brown. The seasoning they use is zesty and savory.
After brunch we walked around the strip, in and out of the hotels, so Cyler could get a taste of Vegas. We stopped by the frozen slushy booth and got some alcohol filled treats.
We stopped to watch a pretty impressive street preforming group do some break dancing. They were very entertaining and energetic. Sometimes street performers can be one of the most entertaining part of The Strip.
That night we went to Jean Georges Steakhouse in the Aria for dinner. We had reservations and were seated promptly, but after that the service began to decline quickly. We sat for the better half of 30 minutes without being offered water or anything to drink. My dad finally got up and asked our waiter to attend to out table. About 10 minutes later they finally brought out our water and bread. It was another 15-20 minutes before we were able to order our food. I ordered the lobster, which was mediocre. For the price of the food, I expected higher quality and better taste. As for as the ambiance of the restaurant, I would have expected much better service. The waiters did not seem to care if their patrons were satisfied or not. They did bring my brother a small dessert for this birthday, but it certainly did not make up for the lack of quality this establishment displays.
I strongly believe any Vegas vacation isn't complete without experiencing a Cirque du Soleil show! We saw Zarkana at the Aria. It wasn't the best Cirque show I have enjoyed, but it was still great!
My favorite part of staying at the Golden Nugget was the free access to their 'ocean-esque' pool! This pool has a water slide that runs right through a shark tank. It was pretty cool to get up close and personal with some sea-life in Vegas.
Vegas is fun... about once a year. I think I've had my fix for another 12 months. :-)
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