November 2022
Where We Stayed: Planet Hollywood
Mike was a speaker at a family law conference held at the Planet Hollywood, so I decided to tag along for a weekend of Vegas fun! Here’s a recap of what we did.
- Day 1: I arrived mid-day on a Thursday and promptly took a nap upon my arrival at the hotel room. Those early morning flights are killers and I needed my beauty rest. We got all dressed up that evening and headed to the Chandelier Bar (my favorite!) in the Cosmopolitan and then headed to a FABULOUS dinner at the Bellagio’s Mayfair Supper Club. Along with dinner, we were entertained by costumed lounge singers… it was a vibe, let me tell you. The entire experience was expensive, but I would highly recommend it. After dinner we Ubered over to the High Roller to see Vegas from 500+ feet up! I don’t know if I’d recommend the High Roller. It was cool, no doubt, but I think the view you get from a fountain-view room at the Cosmopolitan is 10x better. Also, this is a small quibble, but I wish they’d keep the class of the pods clean — all the photos were lessened by the dirty glass.
- Day 2: Mike had his conference in the morning, so I got to sleep in and go get Starbucks. It was a delight. I also walked south on the Strip down to the M&M and Hershey stores (hey, I have kids in my life, and they need souvenirs). We met up with my friend Jillian for lunch at China Poblano (she was out in Vegas on the exact same dates, at the exact same hotel, for a different conference!). Later that afternoon, Mike and I went to Downtown Vegas and the Fremont Street area. I love Downtown LV, I did not so much love Fremont Street. The old and classic casinos were really cool to see, but ooof, it was sensory overload and SO LOUD. I sound old, don’t I? Why must everything be so loud?! We had tickets for the Neon Museum that evening but had some time to kill — so we drove around, visited Jerry’s Nugget (the name of which cracked us up), walked around a beautiful cemetery, and then finally made our way to the Neon Museum cause it was show time. My Part 2 post for this trip will cover everything from our experience at the Neon Museum.
- Day 3: Our last full day! Mike conferenced in the morning and I, yet again, got to sleep in. Glorious! Mike and I reconvened and visited the Las Vegas sign (he had never been!), stopped at Resorts World to see the Stardust sign replica, and then headed to the Fashion Show Mall for a little shopping. We had dinner at Black Tap at the Venetian. The milkshakes were great, but the burgers were medicore — which was disappointing because I’ve loved their food on previous trips. During dinner we made the decision to buy tickets for Jeff Dunham’s (Jeff-fa-fa DunHAM!) show that evening. I was unfamiliar with Jeff (though am now a big fan) and Mike highly recommended it. It was a blast. Puppets, man, what a trip.
- The next day we headed to the airport to fly home. Our flight was delayed, we had to re-book, it was a cluster. But fun fact: Carrot Top was ahead of us in the TSA line! Kind of a cool, hard-to-miss-him, celeb sighting.
We had so much fun on this trip and can’t wait to come back!
All dressed up! This rarely happens!
It’s so dreamy!
We had two seats at the end of the bar and kind of had the whole area to ourselves. Great luck on that!
Walking over to the Bellagio.
We have arrived.
We had some time to kill so we walked around their indoor botanical garden, which changes theme with the seasons.
Time for fancy dinner!
Gimme that bread! And my Coke Zero.
Our complementary dessert because our salads were slightly late (no big deal to us, but hey, we’ll take free dessert in the shape of a cigar)
aaaaand there’s the fountain show out the window. So beautiful.
Fantastic experience, 10/10 would recommend!
Off to the High Roller!
High above the strip… well… 546 feet.
The next morning I headed out for Starbucks and some wandering.
I enjoyed this color-changing orb in the Planet Hollywood casino.
M&M store! It was really cute and fun.
Then I walked down to New York New York for the Hershey Store
I had high hopes, but it sucked.
So I started the walk back to Planet Hollywood.
Casino floor.. I can close my eyes and hear the “ding ding ding”s of the slot machines.
Lunch with Jillian!
China Poblano is a Chinese-Mexican restaurant. Not fusion. They just serve both types of cuisine. We each did their tasting menu so we got about 8 courses and a mix of Chinese and Mexican dishes. The 20 vegetable fried rice was my favorite!
Scenes from the sidewalk.
Driving up to downtown LV
A groom and a cab.
And there’s his pink-haired bride.
El Cortez, which I believe is the oldest still-operating casino in the area.
Mike matched!
Vegas Vic
Not hiding the ball here.
Sports betting is somethin’ else.
The next morning we headed to the Vegas sign, which is always a good place to spot Elvis.
The Stardust is my favorite old casino and I wish so badly that I could have seen the original sign before it was demolished.
Lobby vibes at Resorts World
Off to shop at the Fashion Show Mall — aka the mall with the rainbow stairs.
Off to Black Tap for dinner!
Mike’s milkshake
My milkshake (*brings all the boys to the yard*)
We drove past the Rio on the way back to the hotel. Great sign, right?
Jeff Dunham!
The next morning as we were getting ready to head out.
See you next time, Vegas.