Las Vegas - We're coming back! Day 4

[abiknox]

Day 4 – Sunday 29th March 2015 2015

Index is here

I woke at 8am today and Aaron followed at 9am. We had a quick word with Laura and arranged to leave the hotel at 10am, but when we knocked for her she was still in a towel with wet hair! She told us to go for breakfast without her but as today was a car day and we were going to eat on the road it wasn’t an option so we told here we would pop down to the casino and pick her up in 30 minutes.

We hopped in the lift and went in search of Gordon Ramsey’s Burger restaurant at the hotel. We were determined to get a good meal in tonight and it came highly recommended. Unfortunately though with Laura only eating chicken the menu wasn’t suitable. We also had a look at a few other options but nothing suited.

We picked Laura up, her feet were in a bad way and by this point none of her shoes fit her apart from flip flops . We tipped the valet $5 again and were soon on our way. I wanted to go to Dennys for breakfast, I had a 20% voucher and was after seeing the infamous man with the fake nose & dog from Daytonas trippys but Aaron wanted his steak tips & eggs that he loves so much at Ihop so we headed there. No real complaints from me though, I’m a big fan of Ihop too.

We went to the one on E Tropicana Avenue as it was near Walmart & the Gun Store that we wanted to visit afterwards. We were greeted and seated right away. The restaurant was pretty busy but we had really good service and the food was fabulous too.

Aaron had the steak tips with a diet coke and I had the sampler with an OJ, both came with a stack of pancakes. Laura went for 2 bacon, 2 eggs & hash browns with a side of strawberry & banana French toast & a Sierra Mist.

We paid up $50 plus tip which seemed quite pricey for Ihop but it was worth it, I suppose if you order steak for breakfast its not going to be a cheap one.

We popped into the Gun Store next for Aaron to have a gander and then carried onto Walmart. They had fully charged scooters in the entrance so we managed to flag down a member of staff who set Laura up on one and away we went. It was so good to have her off her feet for a while so she could enjoy the shop. We bought a few bits between us, mainly water, sweets ect and along with a baseball out little lot came to $24. Laura bought similar bits, plus some cooling pouches for her feet & a baseball glove for me we planned to come back to get all the sweets /chocolates to take home as no choccie would have lasted in the heat!

Back in the car we programmed sat navvy to the Hoover Dam and were on our way.

I really like this drive, it goes by quickly. Before long we were pulling into the parking area at the dam & parting with our $10 fee. We got the lift down and spent a while exploring the dam and taking some photos. It really is something to be seen!

After an hour or so, we jumped back in the car and drove to the section of steps where you can access the bridge. I was determined to get up on it as we had missed it last time. I told Laura she was welcome to wait in the car but she was determined not to miss anything. Thankfully there was a ramp which made the incline more doable and me and Aaron walked it with her slowly to make sure she made it to the top. Soooo worth it, the view of the dam is incredible. We spend a short time up there before making our way back down, I skipped ahead down the steps as I was really conscious of how hot it was getting and I could feel myself getting sun burnt.

Next up, North outlets. This was the first time we had visited here ones and I quite liked it. We managed to get Laura a wheelchair from the information desk so that made it easier too. The first buy was the Prada glasses Laura had been looking for, we must have been in 6/7 shops to be told every time that they are $300, a new range and probably wouldn’t be discounted anywhere. This shop however and I forget its name, had a promotion on where you got $25 off $100, $50 off $200 and $75 off $300 which made the glasses $225 Happy days, the popped them in a lovely gift box for us too. So that was Laura happy!

Kenneth Cole was up next, I managed to get a pair of sunglasses $50 down to $25 and then my luck continued on Converse where I managed to get the classic white ones I needed and another pair + a T-shirt for $80 total.

Oakley was next and in here we got some real bargains on the sunglasses. Aaron pretty much buys Oakley’s every time we are in the US (usually because he has lost his last pair)! The cheapest we have got them for previously has been $80 so he was in heaven this time around when there were pairs with 40% off the already discounted price! He chose a pair and Laura got some for her dad too, one pair $51 one pair $47. Absolute steal! If we had more space in the suitcase it would have been worth getting Aaron another couple of pairs for spare too.

We left the outlets after a while and I programmed the Sat nav in for the hotel, somehow though, I managed to select Las Vegas Blvd North instead of South and we drove 20 minutes out of our way! It was quite funny because I had mentioned to Aaron that I hadn’t seen the strip in a while and then we ‘reached our destination’ in the strangest of places that wasn’t Planet Hollywood! Oops, error fixed and we were soon turned round heading towards the very visible strip!

This error made us quite late arriving back at the hotel and at 8pm we decided to leave again at 9pm. Tonight the plan was to take Laura over to the Cosmo for the campfire cocktail in the chandelier bar and then we decided we would head to Margaritaville for dinner as Laura had pre pricked her buttermilk chicken meal here a few months before.

We played a few slots in the casino but drinks waitresses were no where to be seen so we carried on over the road. We aksed at the first bar about the campfire cocktail and were told it was only available downstairs, we head downstairs to be told it was only available upstairs! Arggg! Eventually after having a word with another barman we were told they no longer offer the cocktail. I saw another option on the menu for a drink with marshmallow topping on so I asked if he could do 2 chocolate martinis with that on top which he agreed to & Aaron had a Long Island. I stayed and watched them get made while Aaron & Laura grabbed a seat! Boy did he go to town on the marshmallow $50 plus tip for a round of drinks seemed steep but we were determined to have a good night and they were worth it imo. I then had a Long Island Iced tea while Aaron had a Vesper $37.00 plus tip. Me & Laura were both a bit giddy by this point, those chocolate martinis had been strong!

We walked over to the hotel car park and grabbed a taxi to the Flamingo trying to save Laura’s feet, the only thing is when you have to walk to the back of the hotel to get the taxi and then get dropped at the back of the other hotel where you have to walked to the restaurant at the front, you might as well have walked the strip! The taxi cost $10 plus tip and the night time drive was good fun.

We made our way to Margaritaville and got seated. They then handed us a menu, a very restricted menu that had a couple of starters and a few burgers. Oh no, we were too late for the normal menu! Time had got away with us and it was 11pm, they stopped serving the normal menu at 10.30pm and there were no chicken options available now. It was so annoying, we just couldn’t catch a break with our evening meals. Aaron had a bit of a meltdown at this point, we were so looking forward to having some nice meals out with Laura and showing her what we love about America and we were just out of luck! In hindsight, it was our own fault for not checking times but at the time it seemed like the end of the world and we were all pretty devastated that another night hadn’t worked out.

We started walking back towards the hotel without much of a plan. A lot of the escalators and lifts were out again and we were all in really bad moods! Finally we decided to pop into Cabo Wabo as our two previous experiences there had been good and we got seated in the main restaurant again.

Aaron ordered a beer, I had a diet coke & Laura stuck with water. Food wise, me and Laura had pretty much lost our appetites so she just went with a starter portion of the chicken taquitos, I went for the buffalo wings and Aaron had the Jack burger, the waiter asked us if we wanted the burger cut in half so we agreed as I planned to try some.

A couple of minutes after we ordered, the waiter popped back as he had forgotten what we ordered drinks wise, Id seen him write it on the back of the food order so pointed that out to him and he flipped the paper over to see his notes the drinks arrived shortly after, followed by the food.

The halved burger came on two separate plates with a full pile of chips each so that was fabulous, the two starters were good too. Me and Laura didn’t manage much but Aaron cleaned the plates and the food was all really good !

After the waiter had cleared the plates he bought over a wrapped souvenir glass for us and said it was for being patient with him, he was one of the best waiters we had so this wasn't necessary but it was a nice touch non the less and its now sitting proudly in our kitchen waiting for Aaron to make me a Pina Colada!

The bill came to $57 plus a good tip. We were back in the room at 1am.

You'll be happy to know that for the next few nights, our meals were really good

[Guest]

Looking forward to reading more :-)

[daytonababe]

I'm glad the meals started to improve :-)

You MIL's (who doesn't look old enough to be a MIL) feet look really swollen in the pic of her standing with Aaron, she must have been so uncomfortable.

[Enchanted]

Hoover Damn pics are amazing! Poor Laura with her feet, mine have swollen 3 times now but thankfully it's happened on the way home on the plane each time! It's a horrible feeling
Glad your food improves! Like you, the foods always a major part of our trip!

[UncleLatch]

The bridge over the gorge downstream of the dam is an amazing bit of engineering in its own right. Super views if you aren't nervous of heights

[k4ti3-x]

What a cutie your waiter was giving you a free souvineer glass. Your cocktails from the Cosmo look amazing but so expensive :'( glad they were strong though makes them worth the money I suppose!

[florida girl]

Lovely photo of Aaron with his Mom . You sure do love your cocktails I can never manage many as they put so much alcohol in them such a lightweight.

[SuzyM]

Another good day - I like the look of the chocolate martinis

We're not doing Vegas as part of our West Coast trip in August, and I have never been, but I am starting to see the attraction of going in the future

Suzy

[abiknox]

Originally Posted by princess_chazy

Looking forward to reading more :-)

See more...

Thanks

Originally Posted by daytonababe

I'm glad the meals started to improve :-)

You MIL's (who doesn't look old enough to be a MIL) feet look really swollen in the pic of her standing with Aaron, she must have been so uncomfortable.

See more...

Yes me too! It was about time we got some good food !

MIL feet don't even look too bad in that pic considering how they were by the end of the week, the one foot was almost black with pressure! I felt so sorry for her.

Your're right though, she doesn't look her age, or act it for that matter

Originally Posted by Enchanted

Hoover Damn pics are amazing! Poor Laura with her feet, mine have swollen 3 times now but thankfully it's happened on the way home on the plane each time! It's a horrible feeling
Glad your food improves! Like you, the foods always a major part of our trip!

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Ooh another one with swollen feet, I didn't know it happened to so many people Mine do it to a small extent but nothing that would ever cause me discomfort like it did to Laura, It was awful.

Originally Posted by UncleLatch

The bridge over the gorge downstream of the dam is an amazing bit of engineering in its own right. Super views if you aren't nervous of heights

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The whole place is just awe inspiring isn't it! I think if we are lucky enough to go again we will partake in one of the dam tours. It does fascinate me that it was all achieved so long ago! The bridge is incredible also though, like you say!

Originally Posted by k4ti3-x

What a cutie your waiter was giving you a free souvineer glass. Your cocktails from the Cosmo look amazing but so expensive :'( glad they were strong though makes them worth the money I suppose!

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I know! He was lovely! The Cosmo cocktails were fab, I suppose you do pay a premium if you're sitting in a place like that and then ask for bespoke drinks as well! It was a very expensive squirt of mallow fluff!

Originally Posted by florida girl

Lovely photo of Aaron with his Mom . You sure do love your cocktails I can never manage many as they put so much alcohol in them such a lightweight.

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Oh yes we do, Aaron in seriously into his mixology so cocktails are always high on our agenda! A couple of them this trip really were strong! The MIL is a lightweight and was all over the place after her marshmallow one!

Originally Posted by SuzyM

Another good day - I like the look of the chocolate martinis

We're not doing Vegas as part of our West Coast trip in August, and I have never been, but I am starting to see the attraction of going in the future

Suzy

See more...

Its a fascinating place, we missed it off our West Coast trip last year as we knew we were doing it in March but otherwise we probably would have made the time to fit in! There is so much to see & do and the atmosphere that comes at night is unrivaled anywhere else I have been. We have done a couple of full weeks there now and will leave it a while before we return but Im sure we ill be back one day!

West Coast is looking likely for us for hubbys 30th bday in March 2016! We loved it so much

[DLS1005]

Hoover Damn pics are amazing! I can't wait to go here! Another good day, shame about your meal again! x