Saturday, October 10, 2009

Vegas Revisited

We've been back a week, and I'm already thinking about next year's trip. Where will we stay? Where will we eat? What novel series am I going to read? . . . the usual questions.

This year because of the unfortunate economic downturn (boo) we got to stay at a pretty fabulous hotel (yay). What luck (incidentally, the ONLY luck we had during our trip)! How did that happen? Who knows? Who cares? It happened, and I'm happy about that.

We stayed at the Wynn Hotel. It's one of the newer hotels on the strip, and oh-so-lovely! Here's a few pictures from the lobby - amazing that they can actually get trees to grow (or at least stay alive) inside. And yes, they were real - I had to steal a leaf just to make sure. Another nice thing about the hotel was that there were fresh flowers everywhere - just a pretty little touch that did not go unnoticed.

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I'm gonna call this next series of pictures "Looking Up at the Wynn." There were so many beautiful chandeliers and fixtures - many more that I tried to take photos of, and I just couldn't do them any justice. Here are a few that I think turned out very nice.

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As if the lobby wasn't enough, we got to our room and found it to be just as nice/pretty as the lobby. Our room was a direct contrast to the bold and bright hotel lobby - it was calm and serene and minimal - nice white linens, some bold artwork but not over-the-top, brown walls - just peaceful and lovely. Oh, and my favorite parts about any trip any where are the complimentary soaps, shampoos, lotions, etc that wait for us in the rooms. I don't know why I love this so much, but it makes my day. Seriously, there's something wrong with me!

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We ate SO much good food this year, but this is the only place I took my camera. Dirck had seen Anthony Bourdain on the travel channel visit Las Vegas and go ga-ga over this place's french fries. OK, here's what I have to say about that . . . yes, they were good french fries . . . but they were only french fries - you know, fried strips of potatoes. If Bourdain had been in a McDonalds in the past say 5 years or so, he would be familiar with fries and know that the ones at this restaurant weren't any better than the lovely Golden Arches version. OK, I'm off my soapbox on that one. The restaurant proved to be very good. Dirck and I both ordered the same thing ( I think he was paranoid that I would walk over to his side of the table to take pictures of his food if he would have ordered anything different than me) - french onion soup as a starter and lamb for the entree. Both wonderful - both beautiful - both delicious - both made it almost impossible to walk and not waddle back to the hotel room.

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The most beautiful part about this restaurant was this custom bar. It is made of pewter and was hand cast in France and shipped over for the restaurant. It looks like it could have come out of an old bistro bar - that's the great thing about pewter - no stains, no tarnishing - what was created 100's of years ago would look the same today as it did then. If we would have hit it big in Vegas, I would be measuring my new home for a beautiful bar like this!

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And my husband's favorite part about the restaurant. . . they had his favorite beer on tap! That is crazy considering it's some obscure little monk brewed Belgian beer that he can only get in 2 stores in our entire area. We walked in, and I fell in love with the pewter bar, he fell in love with the beer . . . sigh. Oh, and my after dinner cocktail of choice: a latte - plain and simple.

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It's a good thing we don't live close to Vegas. First of all, my figure couldn't handle it - I have NO control when it comes to a buffet with 500 different perfectly portioned and beautiful desserts lined up on the counter, and secondly . . . because it's Vegas, and let's just say the odds aren't really in your favor anywhere in that town. That being said, it's a GREAT place to visit, and I'm REALLY looking forward to going back!

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