Week 25 (Continued) - Las Vegas, Nevada ("The Entertainment Capital of the World")

Hello Family and Friends,

Let me just start by saying we absolutely needed more time in Las Vegas. It just so happened that I turned another year older while in Vegas. Brett went all out for my birthday and got us this amazing sweet which was large enough to accomodate a theater and a baby grand piano.

We may just have an artist on our hands. Atlas did a very good job of pressing one key at a time.

The massive living space between the entry foyer and theater room.

In the theater was also a song book and dual microphones for karaoke. There was a ginormous bathroom with a huge with a jacuzzi tub! For me, a soaking tub is better than a massage.

Bruce and me touring the hotel bathroom with double sinks, jacuzzi tub and vanity.

So once I finished my tour of our suite, it was time to figure out food. We were staying at the Venetian and Brett told me it had 8 restaurants, which I already thought was excessive. He was grossly mistaken, there were 32 restaurants plus a two level shopping mall with an indoor canal offering gondola rides. We would need at least a week just to explore our resort alone.

It's not just the Venetian that is like this. We also went to the Bellagio to see the "O" by Cirque du Soleil (the Bellagio also has a full two story shopping mall, but no gondolas). The "O" was only one of the four Cirque du Soleil shows offered in Vegas.

Curtain call of "O" by Cirque du Soleil

The "O" is a water show with a lot of ariel tricks. My favorite piece was towards the end when these 3 female contortionist were performing hand stands on top of each other. The show after the show was seeing the Bellagio fountain show.

The Bellagio fountain and light show that occurs every 15-30 minutes.

We also went to Caesars Palace in order to eat at Gordon Ramsay Hell's Kitchen. Ramsay is my favorite TV chef.

Tried Chef Ramsay's famous Beef Wellington and was not dissapointed

Of course in Vegas fashion, Caesars Palace is also the location of one of Vegas' most famous buffets, "Bacchanal Buffet". Our stomachs were just not big enough to eat at all the places.

Vegas is truly a city unto itself. I was overwhelmed in the best way by the Venetian, Bellagio and Caesars. Not to mention the other famous resorts that we didn't go to like the Wynn, MGM Grand, Paris Hotel, New Yorker, Mandalay Bay and Treasure Island. We just walked through the Flamingo in our attempt to avoid the Vegas heat.

Our car thermostat reading 113 degrees Fahrenheit of dry Vegas heat.

Vegas heat is so hot and dry that when you walk under the water misters that are spread along the strip, the water evaporates before it can actually reach you. I'm always cold, but the Vegas heat was driving me into the air conditioning. I am also the type of person who is always up for something active, especially when I'm with Brett. He walks so slow it looks like he is walking backwards. But I was taking the escalator over the stairs due to the oppressive heat. Brett claims that he rather Vegas dry heat than Florida humidity, but in Florida humidity I'm still thinking about going for jog, in Vegas, no way!

There are only two negatives of Vegas: many of the casinos smell like cigarettes (there are a few smoke free properties), although it wasn't as strong as I expected; and outside is too hot. However, you don't have to go outside because everything is within the resort. The most interaction we had with the casino was walking past it and we learned to avoid it completely by walking through the mall.

The best way to describe Vegas is an a-la-carte cruise on land. This birthday definitely makes it on the list of memorable birthdays and we must make it back to Las Vegas for more special occasions.