Wednesday - February 10, 2010
We were scheduled for a flight at 7:00am, arriving in Vegas by 1:00pm, but the plane was over weight. They offered $400 vouchers (each) and an upgrade to first-class on the flight from Atlanta to Vegas. So we took the offer and went back home for a few hours. I had been up all night doing school work and packing, so I took a nap with Matty & Bailey, and Brian went to the office for a few hours. We went back to the airport for a flight at 1:50pm. Our luggage was in Atlanta, waiting to be put on our flight, so it arrived in Vegas when we did. The upgrade to first-class was nice - roomier seats, better food, and free drinks! We were lucky to be going a southern route through Atlanta, because a lot of flights were canceled that day, due to a major snow storm in the Northeast. We arrived in Vegas around 7:00pm Vegas time. We took a cab to the Hilton Grand Vacation Club - which is very far up the strip - between Circus Circus and The Stratosphere.
Thursday - February 11, 2010
We had a time-share tour scheduled for 10:15 this morning at the Hilton Grand Vacation Club. Our 2-hr tour turned into a 3+ hour tour! They have a point system, connected to the Hilton Honors program, so that would be nice to have the option of staying at hotels in addition to the timeshare resorts. We explained that I was laid off and don't have the extra money to buy any more timeshare at this time. Plus, IF I go back to work, I won't have as much vacation as I had built up at IBM, so it would be hard to use what we already have. They were nice about it, and even marked our record as not attending the presentation, so that we could come back another time and still get the 1st day incentive.
We walked a mile to the Encore and the Wynn - both are beautiful hotels! We got drinks on an outside balcony over-looking a waterfall. It was in the mid 60's, and it would have been warm enough to lay out in the direct sun! We shopped there - very high-end. Garth Brooks was playing there this weekend, but it was sold out.
We walked to the Palazzo to see the The Shoppes at The Palazzo.
Then we went over to the Venetian to shop at The Grand Canal Shoppes.
BBQ PORK & MASCARPONE RAVIOLI - Homemade Ravioli served with Creamed Spinach and Blonde Chicken Reduction
GRILLED JALAPENO & CORN HUSH PUPPIES - Tomato Currant Chutney
CORN CHOWDER with Bacon
SEARED MAINE SCALLOPS
SLOW ROASTED PORK TENDERLOIN - Mashed Sweet Potatoes, Green Chili Mole and Brown Sugar Rum Glaze
GRILLED ASPARAGUS with Hollandaise
Friday - February 12, 2010
We moved to Polo Towers Suites, a Diamond Resort timeshare, which is closer to the middle of the strip. It is next door to the Marriott's Grand Chateau that we stayed at in 2008. They are located between Planet Hollywood and MGM, and across the street from the new City Center. We had a 1-bedroom suite, which was very nice!
After we checked in, we took a cab down Harmon Ave. to Hard Rock Hotel. We ate lunch at Pink Taco. We shopped at the Affliction store. Brian got a thermal shirt and I got 2 Affliction t-shirts and a hoodie.
MARGARITAS
APPETIZER PLATTER - sweet corn tamales, cheese quesadillas, chicken skewers, carne asada skewers, taquitos and guacamole
We took a cab back to Polo Towers and walked over to Planet Hollywood to shop at the Miracle Mile Shops.
Friday night we walked over to the new City Center. Crystals has expensive stores and nice restaurants.
We had dinner at Eva Longoria's restaurant - Beso. We got drinks, appetizers, and dessert at the bar, as we watched the pretty people come into the restaurant - there was an interesting group of Barbie Dolls.
EVA’S TORTILLA SOUP - chicken, sour cream, salsa verde
CHAR GRILLED FOIE GRAS - tequila marinated mango, chili pasilla emulsion, deep fried corn bread crouton
CRISPY FRIED DUNGENESS CRAB CAKE - avocado puree, whipped sour cream, golden caviar
Saturday - February 13, 2010
We went back over to Crystals at City Center to have lunch at Brasserie Puck, a new Wolfgang Puck restaurant.
DUCK CONFIT SALAD with Apples, Pears, Dates and Citrus Dressing
FRIED EGGS AND BACON SANDWICH with Harissa Aioli
We walked through Aria and Vdara hotels at City Center and up to the Bellagio to shop. We each put $20 in slot machines, and I cashed out at $28 and Brian cashed out at $29.75.
That night we took a cab to Mandalay Bay. We had mojitos at RumJungle.
Our Valentine's Dinner was at the Chef Hubert Keller's French restaurant Fleur de Lys. It was a very pretty restaurant with very expensive and very small portions of food. The more expensive the restaurant, the smaller the portion of food!! I wish we had taken pictures of the plates - especially the plate of beets! It consisted of 8 pieces of diced beets on dollops of goat cheese, and two tiny quail eggs on small pieces of cured duck. The ravioli and duck were both delicious, but very small portions for the price.
ROASTED ORGANIC BEETS - Fresh Goat Cheese, Poached Quail Egg, House Cured Duck
BRAISED VEAL AND YUKON GOLD POTATO RAVIOLI - Sunchokes, English Peas
PAN SEARED DUCK BREAST - Duck Confit, Chestnut Puree, Cippolini Onion, Ginger Gastrique
We shopped at The Shoppes at Mandalay Place, located between Mandalay Bay and Luxor. We walked through Excalibur, New York, New York, and MGM on the way back to Polo Towers.
Sunday - February 14, 2010
On Sunday, we walked to Caesars Palace for brunch and shopping at the Forum Shops, and I got a Vegas track suit at the Juicy store.
We had brunch at Mesa Grill, Bobby Flay's restaurant. When I ordered the Pork Tenderloin Sandwich, the waiter said that it would be served room temperature. I asked if it could be served hot, but he said no. I said, "don't you have an oven in the kitchen?" He said that they have an oven, but Bobby Flay wouldn't allow the chefs to change the temperature of some of the items on the menu. Everything we had was very good!! We had some Sweet Potato Hash and half of my sandwich left over. I cut up the pork and combined it with the hash the next morning for breakfast - and it was still very good - even served hot!
GOAT CHEESE “QUESO FUNDIDO” - Rajas + Blue Corn Tortilla Strips
SPICY CHICKEN + SWEET POTATO HASH - Poached Eggs + Green Chile Hollandaise
NEW MEXICAN SPICED PORK TENDERLOIN SANDWICH - Grilled Red Onion, Arugula Ancho-Chile Mayonnaise + Southwestern Fries
Then we walked back over to Caesars Palace to get a beet salad at Spago, a Wolfgang Puck restaurant.
ROASTED ORGANIC BABY BEET AND GOAT CHEESE SALAD - Oranges, Petite Greens, Walnut Brittle and Citrus Balsamic Vinaigrette
As we walked back to the Polo Towers, we stopped to watch the water show at the Fountains of Bellagio.
Then we stopped for drinks at the Harley Davidson Cafe. We ordered the Barbecue Sliders and Mac & Cheese to go.
We got back to the room in time to watch The Amazing Race and eat our dinner - Beet Salad from Spago and Barbecue Sliders from HD Cafe. This seemed appropriate for Vegas - it represented the diversity of city - from classy celebrity chefs restaurants to the tacky bars on the strip.
Monday - February 15, 2010
Our flight home was scheduled for 11:30pm, but we had to check out of our room at 2:00pm. So we had to pack up and store our luggage at the front desk. It was another beautiful day - in the mid 60's, but warm enough to lay out. It would have been a good day to go to the roof-top pool, if we still had a room to use later in the day. But we decided to go to Town Square, a shopping center south of Mandalay Bay. We had lunch at The Grape Wine Bar.
FLAT BREAD - cambozola, prosciutto and fig flatbread
We shopped at a few stores, and saw the movie "Valentine's Day" at the theater. We went to Tommy Bahama's Cafe for dinner. We had drinks, appetizers, and dessert at the bar.
BIG ISLAND GOAT CHEESE - Warm macadamia nut encrusted goat cheese served with mango salsa, Tommy's flatbread and a sweet soy glaze
TOMMY'S WORLD FAMOUS COCONUT SHRIMP - Crispy coconut encrusted jumbo shrimp served with papaya-mango chutney and Asian slaw
BARBECUE PORK SLIDERS
ANTIGUA QUESADILLA - Warm goat cheese, spiced Monterey jack, asparagus, tomato jam, lime sour cream & Queso Fresco
PINA COLADA CAKE - Moist vanilla layer cake with Myers Dark Rum and chopped pineapple, covered with white chocolate mousse and toasted coconut
We took a cab back to Polo Towers to get our luggage, then went to the airport for our red-eye flight. We got home around 9:30am on Tuesday morning. It is still cold in Greensboro, and there is still some snow on the ground. Brian went to the office, and I took a nap for a couple of hours. Then I spent the rest of the day reading 2 chapters in the Web Graphics book for my test on Wednesday. Back to Reality!
See our pictures on Snapfish.
