New Experiences in Las Vegas November 5-7, 2022

Well, as everyone knows, it has been less than one year since my last trip to Las Vegas, which was in January of 2022.  Things are ever evolving in Las Vegas, and no matter how often I come, which now has been TEN times in the last 20 years, there seems to be more and more to experience.

Our friends had been planning this trip with us for at least 5 years, with the purpose of taking our daughters (who are now nearly 23) to this ultimate of adult playgrounds for their 21st birthdays, which incidentally fall a day apart.  I was back in planning mode for this one.  I mostly made suggestions,      but I was given pretty much free reign as to what we were going to do.  This can be great, but when taking someone to Vegas for the first time, it can be a lot of pressure!! 

Anyway, we had an absolutely fabulous time, chock full of brand new experiences.  These are the new things we experienced and what I thought about them.

SHOWS:

SHIN LIM: LIMITLESS    

We only saw one show while we were there, and it was hard to find a show I hadn't seen, because I've pretty much seen them all.  I chose "Shin Lim: Limitless" at the Mirage because I had never seen it, as he had only begun his long term residency at the Mirage in October of 2019.  All I knew was that Shin Lim had won America's Got Talent in 2018 and that his act was mostly magic and cards.  I was pretty nervous about delivering on my choice.

Every show I have seen in Vegas has been great.

THIS WAS HANDS DOWN THE BEST VEGAS SHOW I HAVE EVER SEEN

Shin Lim was a marvel.  The 6 of us literally sat with our mouths open and our hands on our faces shaking our heads the entire show. These were card tricks that were completely unimaginable.  Shin Lim is borderline creepy and mysterious in exactly the way you need a magician to be, but then he cracks jokes and interacts with the audience.  There is a good amount of audience participation.

Shin Lim has a sidekick named Chris Cloud, who also does magic, but his line of work is more in the mind reading category.  He is a quirky Scot dressed liked a professor. Chris performs while the headliner is changing sets and preparing how to blow your mind next.  He is equally entertaining and just as mind boggling.

Listen, I don't want to say too much because you just gotta go see it.  This show is an absolute MUST!  At the Mirage theater. 90 minutes. Great seats for about 100$ including fees.

Unbelievable show!!! Not to be missed!!

ATTRACTIONS and ACTIVITIES:

I hesitated to start with Shin Lim because some of the new experiences were not nearly as impressive.

FLY OVER:

It seriously looks nothing like this..

Flyover opened on Las Vegas Blvd in September of 2021.  Its entrance is tucked between the Hard Rock Cafe and a Ross store, right across the street from the Park MGM.

There are three shows currently to choose from:  Wild Wild West, Iceland, and the newest addition, the Canadian Rockies (Windborne), which is what we rode.  

Think of Flyover as kind of a kind of Soarin' on steroids.  There is a pre preshow and then a pre show, both of which are kind of mother earthey as opposed to comic, like the famous quotable Patrick Warburton intro we are all used to.  The turns and swings in the glider are more pronounced on the FlyOver.  The ride is longer (8 1/2 minutes) and the photography is more expansive.  There's a great view no matter where you are sitting and none of the horrific "bent" photography you experience in Soarin should you not get in the best seats.

My complaint is that the "wind in your hair" generated by the ride is FREEZING and blows right into your eyes the entire ride, finally forcing me to put my hands up to shield my face.  Worse, occasionally you go through a cloud, which is actually wet, so now you are both wet and cold.  This killed it for me. I would not go again.   It was 30$ per person.  I wish I had kept my jacket on.

MEOW WOLF:  OMEGA MART at AREA 15:

As I mentioned in another blog post not very long ago,  AREA 15 opened in an off strip location September of 2020.  The building houses a handful of "experiences" and other attractions, such as a hot air balloon ride, a restaurant, a bar, and an axe throwing venue.  Anyway, if you Google AREA 15, you will discover that the anchor tenant is the Meow Wolf Omega Mart which is described online as "an imaginative, immersive installation with interactive artwork, optical illusions and hidden passageways." The reviews were impressive, so despite the fact the tickets were $59 dollars, we decided to take the plunge and go.  Listen, it's Vegas, so it is probably worth it.

Okay whatever? I expected this to be much cooler than it was.  It's a contrived supermarket with a bunch of fake colorful groceries with some doors and passageways that lead to a bunch of weird areas.  There is nothing to do particularly or play with or read or discover.  It's just a bunch of lights and paint and stairs and colorful stuff.  I kept expecting something to happen.  It just never did.

The online guides will tell you to allow 2-3 hours to see the attraction.  We were out in just over an hour, wondering what all the hype was about. There is a card you can add for I guess three dollars which was supposed to add some storyline and context to the whole nonsense, but we didn't get it. Not sure if anything could have helped.

RESTAURANTS:

Restaurants in Las Vegas rarely disappoint.  The restaurants seem to turn over fairly quickly.  I would be inclined to say that at least half of the restaurants we have enjoyed over the last 20 years have folded, some of them quite famous, including Rao's, Spago, Circo (where we spent my 40th birthday), and Alize.

On this trip, we tried five new eating establishments and one new bar,  The two restaurants that I'm not reviewing are Carson Kitchen, at 6th and Carson downtown, very close to the Fremont Street Experience, and the Buffet at the Wynn.  Both were excellent and come with my highest recommendation.  We had a late reservation on a Sunday night at Carson Kitchen and though we had only 30 minutes until the kitchen and bar closed, they did not rush us a bit.  The buffet had everything to eat you could imagine.  The 50$ price tag was well worth it. I also highly recommend the PRE-PAYMENT option, which gets you right up to the front of the line, which was long.

PRIMAL STEAKHOUSE:

If you type "best Steakhouse in Las Vegas" into Google, Primal Steakhouse comes right up. I had never heard of this place before.  The reviews were outstanding and the pictures looked fun so I made the Saturday night reservation

Primal Steakhouse opened in January of 2021 in the unlikely location of Boulevard Mall, a shopping center on Maryland Parkway about 4 miles off the strip.  No joke, though, the medieval decor including red velvet wallpaper, swords, helmets, and candelabras dripping wax transport diners to a different time and place.  There is a specialty drink menu and a fairly good wine list.  Corkage fee is an unbelievable-for-Las-Vegas $25.  Apparently happy hour pricing last all night if you are dining at the bar. Anyway, no drink discounts for us, we were comfortably seated in our cozy booth.

The menu as the name would suggest consists of mostly steak, many of which are too big for one person to eat.  In fact, three of us shared the 32 oz Tomahawk Steak medium rare which was cut up for us on a carving board before we ate.  This steak was so delicious, my husband accepted the dare to try and gnaw on the bone for extra meat!  The meat was complimented by the usual a la carte sides: broccolini, brussel sprouts, mac and cheese and mashed potatoes.  Our share of the dinner with tax and tip for three people was about $285.  Really not too bad.  I have spent more than this for two people in Vegas.

There was some live music which was just slightly too loud for my taste, but it seemed to die down as the night went on. The restaurant has a themed little corner with some props and big chairs and the like where you can take some pictures.  This was a fun end to our time at the restaurant.

Tomahawk Chop, baby!!!

Hard to not have fun here!

HASH HOUSE A GOGO:

This has got to be the most popular breakfast spot on the Las Vegas Strip and we found out why. I warned my friends that there was bound to be a wait and that we should get there as quickly as possible.  We left at nine and were at the restaurant at about 9:20 and we were looking at a 1 hour and 15 minute wait. Luckily the LINQ promenade is right there with its own Starbucks (also with its own very long line) so the time went pretty quickly and we were actually seated in about an hour.

What a menu!  And the portions, holy Toledo!  There are a lot of tempting drinks on the menu, but they are all about 20$ and come with a souvenir cup you are never going to use again, so we mostly opted for beer (remember we had all had coffee at the Starbucks and it had to be 5 o'clock somewhere) except our friend who got the 24 oz Johnny's Famous B.L.T. Mary.  The food was amazing and it was pretty incredible how much of it we were able to put down.  The girls got the Roasted chicken, Garlic, Onions, Asparagus and Rosemary Hash, I got Andy's Sage Fried Chicken and Eggs, and my husband got the Andy's Sage Fried Chicken Benedict. OMG.  I can't believe he did not just lay down and die after that.  I kid you not.  It was serious.

I wouldn't bother going here if you are not eating meat.  It's just pointless.

Andy's Sage Fried Chicken and Eggs

OMG!  Andy's Sage Fried Chicken Benedict

OCEAN BAR AND GRILL:

1 of 3 

This is a great little place largely because of its location in the Miracle Mile Shops so close to our hotel (Marriot Grand Chateau).  The food is not fancy, but man is it cheap, like they have steak and eggs for $12.95. I had a Florentine Benedict for like $7.99.  Breakfast service ends at like 10 or 11, so that is something to keep mind.  The place is large and cozy, and has plenty of televisions for your sports viewing pleasure.

They have a good selection of cocktails all of which are 3 for 12$ all day long.  You cannot split the special but they did not seem to have any issue with us having one at time at the table and all sipping out of it.  If you only drink one at the table, they will give you the other two to go, but we drank all three at the table.  Yes it was 830 am, but how can you pass up a special like that??

PETROSSIAN BAR:

Ok well this is not a restaurant at all but it definitely is a food and beverage experience so it kind of belongs in this category. Anyway, this super classy bar is located in the front lobby of the Bellagio in full view of the front door and the glass flower ceiling.  From the moment you approach the hostess podium the space exudes class and style.  There is a certain clientele visiting this bar, and it's not the same people you see at the Fremont Street Experience or the Dueling Axes.  The chairs and sofa are crushed velvet, a soft piano plays, the lighting is low.  The average age in this bar is definitely higher than we saw at the Golden Tiki.

 I didn't really gather that you could make a reservation here, except for certain events, like afternoon English tea service, which only is available on the weekends.  If you try at a different time the reservation system will default to nothing being available, which does not mean they are full, it just means that they are not taking reservations at that time.  Anyway, we did not have a reservation.  It was a Sunday night at primo happy hour time so we waited about 20 minutes.  

We spent more here than we spent on dinner downtown later on in the night.  There are drinks on the menu that are 40$.  Pretty intense.  There is also caviar service that can cost you over 1000$ dollars-knock yourself out-not really my thing.   I'll stick with the 30$ cheese board.  My Old Fashioned, which was likely served in Baccarat crystal, came with a craft ice cube and was made with Japanese whiskey, was smooth and delightful. Our bill was over 200 for six of us.  One drink a piece and a cheese board.  You do the math.  This was possibly the most opulent Vegas experience of my life.  I would do it again.  I would like to be a bit less rushed.

That's 30$ worth of cheese you're lookin' at!

Thank you for reading my post!  In less than a month we are off to Disneyland!  Looking forward to more experiences and more posting then!

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Las Vegas--Off Strip Discoveries January 30 thru Feb 1, 2022

Well, can you believe that only about one week after publishing my last blog post I am here back at it again. May not be as long as my last post but I am determined to keep writing!  In fact, I will be taking two more short trips in the not so distant future and my goal is to share at least something about all these adventures.

Ok, so how did we wind up in Vegas?  In about November of 2021, my dear girlfriend threw an invitation out to all her friends to come and join them in Vegas to help them celebrate their 25th anniversary for four nights in Sin City.  They had their whole itinerary planned, including where to stay, what to do during the day and where to eat lunch and dinner.  We were discouraged about the midweek plan, but with a little arranging, we were able to join them for three days and two nights.

As per the unusual..I had nothing to plan.  Every time we have been to Vegas we have stayed right in the central strip, spent the day on the Strip, went to shows on the Strip and ate dinner on the Strip.  This time we weren't spending anytime on the Strip.  We were headed to off Strip dining, off Strip drinking and off Strip play, and it did not disappoint.  So let me tell you a bit about it!

DINING-the GOLDEN STEER

The Golden Steer is located at 308 W Sahara Avenue about a 10 minute Lyft ride from the

Park MGM (formerly the Monte Carlo).  The Golden Steer is your typical OLD Las Vegas Steakhouse.  The front is illuminated with a yellow marquis sign bragging its 1958 establishment and there are no windows on the front wall.  Indoor the theme continues, with wood paneled walls, booths upholstered in red leather, the bar front and center, and plenty of pictures of Frank Sinatra.  The restaurant has been host to the "famous and the infamous" as the website says, like Elvis Presley, Mario Andretti, Joe DiMaggio and Natalie Wood, hmm, strangely all Italian, except that Russian young lady, who probably came with an Italian.

The cocktail list is the kind that lists five different gins and ten different vodkas, as if I'm supposed to know the difference between them.  I'll have a gin and tonic with a splash of grapefruit, please. There is also an extensive wine list (I did not see a red under $100).  The order of the day is steaks and they are pricey, with the cheapest item being a $58 10 oz prime rib.  We were lucky enough to be offered a special which including a tomahawk chop with two salads (we both chose Caesar, tossed at the tableside) and two sides (we chose a loaded potato and steamed asparagus) for $210.  All three couples at the table ordered it. There are also multiple market priced surf and turf options and a few Italian specialties.  

Dinner was good, and the company fabulous.  We were there for nearly three hours. The food was not the best I have had.  My steak was fatty and the asparagus was a bit tough. Our bill was over $1100 for the 6 of us, making it close to the most I ever spent for two of us.  Worth it? Borderline for the food but the ambiance cant be beat.

DINING-HERBS AND RYE

Now we are talking!  Herbs and Rye is also on West Sahara Blvd at 3713.  From the outside the place looks like a block with no windows, a flat roof, a cheesy marquee, and a big red door.  But inside, gosh, it's happening.  We were there on a Monday night and at 8:30pm the place was packed.  The decor of the dimly lit dining room borders on similar to what we saw at the Golden Steer, from the leather booths to the red velvet wallpaper, but the place has a less dressy feel.  There is no dress code.

The Herbs and Rye website says that it makes "pretty good steaks and REALLY good cocktails"  They aren't kidding.  The cocktail menu is two full pages of original libations listed categorically under what "period of alcohol history" they fall into i.e The Rat Pack Era, Prohibition.  The drinks are all about $15.  I ordered a gin and lemon drink called "The Bees Knees" which was delicious.  There was a happy hour special running (at 8:30?) which offered all well drinks for $5.  Very very tempting to go for the cheap stuff but none of us could pass up the chance at one of the fun original cocktails.  The wine list is also extensive and our friend ordered two bottles whether we needed them or not. The mark up on the wine was also not nearly as severe, and we did finish it off !

The menu has a similar selection to the night before but is a far better value, with many options that were half off.  I had the Herb's and Rye favorite, the Pork and Figs, a lovely (and better tasting) pork chop on a bed of mashed potatoes served with sweet figs.  With this I ordered a side of Sprouts and Swine, which was roasted brussels sprouts with huge chunks of bacon sprinkled with parmesan cheese.  Heaven-seriously.  Around the table was a surf and turf, a pasta carbonara, two pasta agnolotti, and even a stab at another steak.

This restaurant hands down was my favorite of the two. Our share of the bill was literally $200 less than the night before!  Almost 50% less for what I thought was a better meal with better drinks.  Well, I guess you don't know until you try!

A cute message about ordering your steaks!!
Wish I could pass this to a few people I know!

My beautiful Pork and Figs and Sprouts and Swine

at Herbs and Rye.  So yummy!

DRINKING-THE GOLDEN TIKI

Craig and I had some time around lunch and decided to head to Frankie's Tiki Room.  Well, the downside of this renowned establishment is the fact that there is no food served there and we were getting hungry!  So our next choice was The Golden Tiki, located at 3939 Spring Mountain Road.  

The bar is open 24 hours and serves light snacks during the day with some more substantial offerings at dinner. The outside continues with our current theme of just being a store front with a marquee sign and no windows facing the parking lot. You can make a reservation but when we arrived, which was about 12:30 pm, we could pretty much has our run of the place so we got a nice cozy booth in the corner.  

What a place!  It's part Disneyland, part Hawaii, part Vegas.  This place is decorated to the hilt with tiki paraphernalia including torches, tikis, shells, flotsam, nets, shrunken heads and the three dolls you'd find doing the hula in 'It's a Small World.'  There is a lot of borderline artwork and a fair amount of decor that is just downright naughty--thank goodness more nudity than pornography.  The bar is 21 and over, and for good reason. Welcome to Vegas.

The drink menu is two full pages-with offerings such as the Painkiller, Piranha Punch, Trial by Fire and Hemingway's Ruin.  I got the Navy Grog with a shot of 151 shot of fire included.  Craig got the Mai Tai.  All drinks can be fortified with an extra shot of rum for 3$.  And back to Disneyland, the Golden Tiki offers boozed up classic dole whip, omg.  The drinks are tasty and fun, but do have a fair amount of ice.  If you want to get lit, go for the shots.  My second drink was The Kraken and Craig had the Huka Pele.  Yep, we were feelin' it after that.

We did eat while we were there, just one appetizer, the Sticky Fingers.  It was just a bite for 15$ but was tasty and took the edge off the hunger (and the buzz)

The snacks menu 

Rocking that Dole Whip!!

The drink menu

Our yummy drinks!!!

and our second drinks!!

and the three young ladies that lost their way

from Disneyland

PLAY-AREA15

Now this is an interesting place!  We walked from the Golden Tiki about one mile to Area 15, which is located at 3215 S Rancho Drive.  Area 15 is the newest retail and entertainment center in Las Vegas.  I guess it is best described as an immersive adult playground, though you do not need to be 21 to get in.  There is no cover charge until ten pm on Fridays and Saturdays, at which times you will need to pay $15 to get in.  After 10pm the place also becomes 21+.  At all other times, you pay by the experience.  

Maybe the hardest part of coming to Area 15 is deciding how you want to spend your time.  The experiences are not cheap and a few hours spent here could certainly set you back several hundred dollars.  Our friends got there while we were still gawking at imbibing at the Golden Tiki, so they had already enjoyed a sub par zipline experience and had moved on to throwing axes.  We were going to have to pay full price to join them midway into their game so we decided to sit it out and just sit and watch and drink which they (meaning the establishment) did not seem to mind.  We were going to move on to a distillery tour (yes also in Area 15) but we had all had a few by then and $55 seemed like a lot to put ourselves over the edge. (So we went black light mini golfing at Bally's instead--but that is not part of this blogpost)

Anyway, back to describing some of the experiences... I got an email that they had just added "Liftoff" which is somewhat of a Hot Air Balloon ride that takes you 130 feet (that doesn't seem very high) into the air.  That's 18$ with no alcohol.  There is Meow Wolf's Omega Mart, which I can't even describe which is $49.  There is an immersive Van Gogh exhibit, general admission $35, more for the immersive experience.  The website localadventurer.com includes these last two, our passed up distillery tour, 'Museum Fiasco' and 'Wink World' as "5 Things you can't miss at Area 15."

Listen, I'm game.  I'm going back.  At least to get my chance to throw axes.

This is supposed to be video, but you get the general idea!

Thank you for reading this post!  I am off to Carmel in a week or too.  Hopefully I am jumping back on the posting bandwagon!

Planning a Trip to Las Vegas: October 12, 2016

Well, once again the sad truth is that I went through the entire summer without posting a darn thing.  I had the best of intentions to write about the new activities and foodstops we tried in Hawaii and then I had another idea about doing a little overview about our very busy summer. It all took too long and I didn't get to it.  Now, though we had temperatures over 100 degrees this week, the summer is over and no one wants to hear about it.

Very late in August my sister in law in New York called my husband and told him they were planning a November vacation to Las Vegas and Disneyland, with the plan to continue on to my brother in law in San Diego for Thanksgiving and would we like to them for any join them for any part of this adventure.  They were bringing my mother in law, who had frequently mentioned a family trip to Vegas, but in her 80 years had never organized it, and our 11 year old niece.

Logistics, logistics, logistics!  The first thing that was going to have to happen was that I was going to have to take a lot of time off work, over time that included the entire Thanksgiving week and the Friday before.  The next problem was taking care of the kids at our house, since we weren't going to take them to Vegas--I maintain my strong standpoint that Las Vegas is not a family destination.  The next was whether or not my daughter's championship water polo game might fall on that weekend.  If it was going be then we were not going to able to plan the Vegas portion until the very last second.

My mom took Friday night.  My neighbor took Saturday night.  The water polo season ended the weekend prior.  I got all the time off work approved.  The only snafu was that we figured out that our middle schooler was off of school all of Thanksgiving week but our high schoolers were not.  The girls didn't care.  It had all fallen into place.  We were going to Vegas AND Disneyland!

This vacation was going to be different than what I am used to.  Typically I am responsible for planning every last detail, but this time by the time we got on the bandwagon, both the hotels and the shows were picked, so my assignment was going to be picking the restaurants and figuring out what's new and how to spend our days.

Our hotel is to be the Marriott Grand Chateau.  This property is a non-strip hotel without a casino.  I wasn't all too thrilled about the choice, but then as I saw the amazing location, just a block off the strip, and the off strip price (179$ for king room), I was satisfied.  The location of the hotel, just southeast of Planet Hollywood, did have some bearing on the restaurants I chose...

So, after oodles and oodles of research, here are my winners...

Friday Breakfast: MON AMI GABI, Paris.
We are taking a very early flight from San Jose and by the time we land at 9 and make a quick stop to drop our bags at the hotel, I am sure we will be ready to eat.  Mon Ami Gabi fronts the Paris Hotel (just a .6 mile walk from our hotel) and offers an open air French Bistro type setting.  I have been here to eat lunch.  Mon Ami Gabi gets high marks across all meals.  Breakfast is served daily from 7 to 11 am.  The breakfast menu is inspired, offering everything from Lemon Pancakes with Lemon Marmelade, to a Spinach and Goat Cheese Omelette, to a Bananas Foster Waffle.  One thing that I love however is the offering of fresh fruits and cereals, including a 10 grain oatmeal, in case you are trying to be even a little careful about how much you stuff yourself while in Vegas. You can check out the menu for yourself on the website.  Most menu items range from 8-16 dollars.  I am looking forward to relaxing with my crepes and cappuchino.

This picture doesn't do it justice.  I see a table for me!!

OH YEAH!  I'm all over that!

(monamigabi.com)

Friday night dinner:  RAO'S, Caesar's
Craig and I needed an Italian restaurant Friday night that could take us late, (9:30--after seeing the Rat Pack at Tuscany Inn and Suites) was not too fancy and not too expensive.  Rao's at Caesar's was on my short list the last time we came to Vegas, so after I got a little nudge from a girlfriend at work who said that was the place to go, I decided to go for it.  Rao's has three locations, one of which (New York) is deemed completely impossible to get into.  The Las Vegas dining room is bigger, so I decided to go for it.  They only appear to serve dinner, and most of the items on the menu run between 25 and 40 dollars, with a steak costing a little more.  Rao's also apparently has a patio and a bocce ball court, and offers bocce ball lessons, but it is hard to figure out from the website who actually gets to play bocce ball.  RAO's is famous for it's Uncle Vincent's Lemon Chicken and it's Tiramisu.  I seriously don't care.  The last time I went to dinner with only my husband was probably three years ago, the last time we went to Vegas.  The rest of the family wanted to join us and I politely said we were going on our own.

 The inside kind of reminds me of Buca di Beppo

Yum!

Saturday brunch:  WICKED SPOON BUFFET, Cosmopolitan
After years of never missing the Cravings Buffet at the Mirage, I kind of felt like it was time to expand my horizons and try another buffet in Vegas.  Wicked Spoon was ranked pretty high among the sources I consulted, and another big plus is its proximity, just .4 miles from our hotel.  I figured I would grab a workout Saturday morning and head on over to stuff myself!  Wicked Spoon serves brunch from 8 to 3 and from what I can gather, costs about 35$ per person on a Saturday, with unlimited mimosas, chardonnay, or cheap beer if you are willing to tack on another 15$.  Apparently, Wicked Spoon was at it's peak about 5 years ago.  One interesting feature is that everything is served on dishes with individual portions, so there is no scooping from a large "vat-o-mashed-potatoes" onto your plate and then returning the spoon to the vat after that spoon had been smacked onto God knows how many other plates.  A nice touch from both a cleanliness and a portion control point of view.
Seriously when I saw the pictures, all I wanted to do was eat.

Yeah, I think I can start with dessert!

(Courtesy of pinterest.com)

Is this mac and cheese?  Who cares?  I want some!

And who doesn't want corn when it is presented

 this beautifully

(courtesy of dottingthemap.com)

Saturday dinner:  EIFFEL TOWER RESTAURANT, Paris
Now this was the hard one.  This night needed to be really special, but also needed a lot of needs met. There are oodles of high end restaurants to choose from, but which one to choose!  This is the night that we are all eating together and celebrating my mother in law's 80th birthday.  There were 6 of us eating, including our 11 year old niece, who is well behaved.  I looked at a LOT of Yelp reviews, which really was quite helpful.  Knowing the nature of my dinner company, I steered away from words like "trendy" or "hipster." I avoided restaurants that turned into nightclubs.  I tried to have four or more stars on Yelp but also tried to avoid an exorbitant price range.  I looked for dressy steakhouses and American food with a noise level of average or less.
After a lot of research, I got my list down to 6 restaurants which included places like Sinatra at the Encore, Mastro's Ocean Club at Crystals City Center, and Hugo's Cellar downtown.  I sent the list to my sister in law with a big overview of pros and cons. They chose the Eiffel Tower Restaurant.
I would have been fine with any on my list, but secretly I am really happy with this choice.  Craig and I had drinks here the last time we came to Vegas and ooo the setting is sublime.  The dining room is on the 11th floor of the Paris Las Vegas Eiffel Tower.  The glass surround offers a stunning view of the lights over the central strip including the City Center and the Bellagio hotel.  At dinner on a weekend, the gorgeous Bellagio fountains entertain you every 15 minutes.  Ah! Hum Clare d' Lune now...
How bout the food?  Some described this restaurant as French, other as a steakhouse, others as American...  Ok, here's one..."Updated French Classic Cuisine"...can we hang with that?  Quite frankly, I don't care what you call it--I dont think I will have a hard time finding something I want to eat on this menu...Beef Wellington, Rack of Lamb, Duck Breast, Salmon Fillet, Filet Mignon, New York Steak.  You get the point.  It ain't cheap.  There is a trio of caviar for $290 which I guess I can hold off on ordering.  My sister in law said we won't show my mother in law the menu, or else she will just order the $18 soup.

OK-the restaurant looks good....

The view looks good...

and this is what I'm ordering......

WHERE'S THE AFTERPARTY??
Well that remains to be seen, but on Friday night after dinner Craig and I plan to take a ride on the "High Roller."  The High Roller is a 550 foot tall observation wheel situated behind the LINQ hotel.  The High Roller opened in March of 2014, just a few short months after we came to Vegas last, and is currently the tallest attraction of its kind.  It has 28 transparent pods, each of which holds up to 40 people. It is open from 11:30 AM to 1:30 AM.  Though cool to ride at any time, prices would indicate that the ride is more fabulous, and therefore in higher demand, at night.  The ride takes 30 minutes. "Happy Hour" specials are available both in the daytime and at night.  These specials allow you to drink all you want while riding.  There was a GROUPON for the happy hour special; 79$ for the two of us instead of 94$, so we went for it. Normally, with an online discount of 5$ per ticket through caesars.com, an adult ticket for a daytime ride is $20 and $33 for the "happy hour" ticket.  At night, the prices are higher, $32 for an adult ticket and $47 for the happy hour.
I am slightly concerned that I might have to go the bathroom while riding this thing, and in general the heights are going to freak me out a bit, and hopefully it's not TOO crowded...but I think it's going to be great!

The High Roller at night

(caesar's.com)

Looks pretty cool from the inside!!

is that really the view??  Crazy!

Anyone hungry?  Looking at all this fun made me very ready to head over to Vegas and start the party!  Thank you for reading this post!