Last week Kyle and I were lucky enough to go visit one of our favourite vacation spots, Las Vegas, for the second time! My mom was kind enough to watch the girls for the four days that we were gone, so we were able to “adult” and have some much needed alone time!
We flew out of Kelowna and had a short layover in Calgary before landing at McCarran Airport Monday afternoon. Instead of breaking each day down individually, I’m going to recap our trip in categories.
Where we stayed:
We booked a room in the Julius Tower at Caesar’s Palace through Expedia back in August. The prices were good and I’ve always wanted to stay at Caesar’s Palace, so I figured why the heck not?! The rooms were decently priced too. When we went to check in our room wasn’t quite ready, so I asked if there were any complimentary upgrades were available so we didn’t have to wait. There was! We got a very nice room in the Palace Room for no extra cost to us – woo! The biggest upgrade was the bathroom – there was an ENORMOUS jetted tub, a double-vanity and a separate toilet “room.” It was definitely worth asking for.
My only gripe about Caesar’s Palace was how BIG the resort is. It took forever to walk anywhere inside; while I’m happy we got to stay there I don’t think I’d do it again just based on that.
(L to R: Upward view from the pool; the Statue of David; the Fountain of the Gods at the Forum Shops)
What we did:
We decided to prebook a couple of shows while we were still in Canada so we could ensure we’d get good seats when we got to the show.
On Monday night (after an obligatory trip to Walgreens) we booked tickets to see Penn & Teller at the Rio. We weren’t particularly hungry but arrived way too early to wait in the theatre, so we ended up playing a quick round of Kiss by Monster Mini Golf. It was incredibly cheesy and not a great mini golf course, but it was an okay way to kill an hour before the show.
Penn & Teller’s show, however, was really good! There was a lot of “traditional” magic (slight of hand, card tricks) and our seats were great so it made it that much more entertaining. It wasn’t a big, over the top production and that, I think, it was made it stand out. We even had the opportunity to meet Penn & Teller after the show and had our picture taken with Penn!
We did a bit of shopping in the Forum Shops at Caesar’s Palace and the Miracle Mile at Planet Hollywood; I bought some new lululemon leggings and Kyle found a couple of shirts.
We also visited Seigfried and Roy’s Secret Garden and while it was just okay it was still pretty neat to see the big white lions and tigers. We picked up souvenir white tigers for the girls and they were a hit when we came home.
Tuesday night we went to see Fantasy at the Luxor. We had seen the show before but had nosebleed seats, so this time we prepurchased tickets back in September. What a difference! There were new dance routines but the comedian unfortunately had the same acts which was disappointing. Still – it was a great show overall!
Of course, we did a bit of gambling; we managed to find $5 Blackjack tables at New York New York and while we didn’t win big, we didn’t go broke ;) I even won $28 on a dorky side bet and $7 on a slot machine in the airport before we left! Kyle won $25 or so on a slot machine as well :)
We played Top Golf, which is located behind the MGM Grand! It’s a super fun interactive driving range and we really enjoyed it! It would’ve been even more fun with a couple more people because you could really make an afternoon out of it. I definitely recommend trying it out if you ever get a chance!
And of course, a Vegas trip isn’t complete until I watch the Bellagio Fountain Show at night! We stopped by to watch on our last night there and it was the perfect ending!
(L to R: Sunset on the Strip; meeting Penn; Top Golf; our last night on the Strip in front of the Bellagio Fountain)
Where we ate:
It seems like all I wanted to do on this trip was eat, haha. We ended up stopping at the BubbaGump Shrimp Co. on Monday and it was just okay. I think it compared to any other fried seafood restaurant out there.
We went to Carnegie Deli inside the Mirage on the recommendation of Kyle’s uncle and it did NOT disappoint! We split and ENORMOUS sandwich and a plate of fries and were both stuffed. And our sandwich was “small” in comparison to some of the other options on the menu. ;)
We returned to Slice of Vegas pizza place as well this trip to grab a bite before the Fantasy show. Kyle has gone there every trip so I guess you can say it’s a tradition now to go there. We split a pizza and I had an “adult” root beer that was so good!
Of course, we HAD to hit up a buffet while we were there, and Caesar’s Palace had a deal where if you opted out of room service to “go green” you’d receive a $10/day credit towards any CP-affiliated eatery. We decided to use the credit on the Bacchanal Buffet and it was SO worth going to! While the “entry” fee was pricy, the food choices definitely made it worth it. We stuffed our faces until we couldn’t move and then headed back to our room to digest, haha.
The a few of the dessert choices at Bacchanal Buffet!
In a nutshell …
We had such a wonderful time and it was so needed. It was great to be able to be together, just the two of us, and kind of reconnect as a couple. Life has been crazy busy and we haven’t had a lot of time to ourselves (obviously), so it was nice to be “Kyle and Kara” for a few days instead of “Mom & Dad.” We were asked quite a bit what we were going to do when we were there and our answer was usually “adulting,” and while our trip was pretty tame as far as Vegas standards go, I’m pretty sure we “adulted” to the fullest.
Of course, it was great to come home and see the girls. As much as it was nice to have some time away from them I still missed them a lot!
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