Viva Las Vegas!

Derek and I have been talking about heading to Vegas for years.  Earlier in the year when he found out that he was scheduled to present at a conference there, we decided that it would be the perfect time for us to head west together.  It was the perfect opportunity since his meals, air fare, and lodging would be paid for through work.  So, the only thing I had to pay for were my meals, air fare, and activities.

Derek's mom came to our house to stay with the kids and we flew out of Bloomington early on Wednesday, September 14th.  I was very nervous about leaving them all the way up to the minutes we boarded the plane.  Addy of course was ecstatic about spending four days with Grandma because she knew that Grandma would spoil her (and Carter) rotten.  

Our trip to Vegas didn't go as quickly or smoothly as planned.  Our flight plan had us flying from Bloomington-Normal to Atlanta to Vegas.  When we arrived in Atlanta we boarded the plane on time, but sat waiting for clearance to proceed to the runway.  Eventually we deplaned the plane for computer malfunctions and waited about 40 minutes to board a different plane.  We finally got to board our new plane, only to deplane once again, but this time it was due to engine problems.  Eventually we reboarded the first plane with a new computer installed and were on our way to Vegas!

Wednesday afternoon after checking in we explored a bit of the strip and purchased tickets to Derek's choice of shows--The Amazing Jonathan.  Then we headed back to the hotel to get ready for our first night on the town.  For dinner we headed to Bobby Flay's restaurant--Mesa Grill in Cesar's  Palace.  We are huge Food Network and Top Chef fans, so we really wanted to dine at a few of the famous chef's restaurants while we were in Vegas.  The food was amazing--really spicy, but very tasty!  After that we headed to see The Amazing Jonathan.  Derek has seen him several times on Comedy Central.  He is a comedic magician, but mostly a comedian.  His show was very funny (although a bit salty with the language) and we didn't get called out in the audience t participate, which was a major plus! 

Our first view of the world famous strip

Gardens of the Bellagio

Posing in front of a picture made of plants at the Bellagio

Thursday Derek had his conference all day and I explored the stip and all of the touristy attractions that make it famous.  It's not a big surprise that even though the kids were not with us, one of my first stops was the M&Ms store.  It is a huge, multi-level store with nothing but merchandise emblazoned with those sweet little guys that everyone loves. 
After Derek finished his conference for the day we met a few people from his firm at the steakhouse at the hotel.  It was a wonderful meal and we had a lot of fun chatting with everyone.  People from Pinnacle live all over the U.S., so it's always fun to get together with them to catch up and get to know them more.

M&Ms Megastore

A view of the Eiffel Tower from the grounds of the Bellagio

On Friday Derek attended the conference again while I did more exploring.  He did manage to sneak away for lunch as he and I headed to Huber Keller's restaurant--The Burger Bar.  Derek loves his hamburgers and this place was a favorite!  After Derek finished his final session at the conference he and I headed out for our last  night on the town. We headed north on the strip to check out the Venetian and ate at Emeril's restaurant--Table 10, which was great.  The inside of the Venetian is beautiful  with the gondolas floating through and the inside painted like the streets of Venice. After that we headed to the Mirage to take in  my show choice--Love by-Cirque du Soleil.  The show started at 9:30, which was 11:30 our time and crazy late.  Thank goodness for afternoon naps, or I would have never made it through our late nights in Vegas.  The show was fabulous.  I would recommend it to anyone and everyone visiting Vegas.  The acrobatics synchronized to Beatles music was like nothing I have ever seen.  You are surrounded by the show and there is SO much to take in.  We ended the evening with a trip up the Eiffel Tower, which was a great way to end our trip.  Although I must admit I was a bit nervous going up in the glass elevator.  I guess my tolerance for heights just aren't what they used to be. 

Posing in the Ventian

Eiffel Tower at night

Derek was 100% sober when he posed with this frog at the Venetian!

Despite the 90+ degree temperatures we  managed to put quite a few miles on our tennis shoes during the three days we were there.  When they say that Vegas involves a lot of walking, they're not joking!  We enjoyed seeing the over the top hotels with their reproduced landmarks and crazy architecture.  The gardens insides the Bellagio were beautiful.  While we were there workers were working day and night to change over the gardens for the fall season. It was fun to see what it takes to perform such a dramatic transformation.  We also enjoyed seeing several fountain shows at the Bellagio, the volcano at the Mirage, the Statue of Liberty at New York, New York, and various other sights.  We stayed at the Aria, which was a wonderful hotel. It was very modern and trendy and had some unique dining options.    As far as gambling goes, neither of us are big gamblers but I did manage to give various slot machines my money.  Derek does enjoy playing poker and is always interested in playing various tables, but never really had a whole of time to spend in the casino.  So as far as gambling goes, we came away virtually unscathed.

Eiffel Tower & Bellagio fountains

New York, New York

MGM Grand

Statue of Liberty--Vegas Style

We had a wonderful time in Las Vegas, but also missed our kids very much.  Our flights home were much less eventful than our flights to Vegas.  We made it home by ten o'clock on Saturday night and were excited to see the kids on Sunday.  Vegas is a great city and we will definitely be returning in the future.