You all know by now that we love Las Vegas so let’s just get right into it!
On a side note – apologies for the delay in writing this blog post. We unfortunately, got the dreaded COVID-19, upon returning from this trip. Luckily, we are both recovering and okay. 🙏🙏🙏
This trip, we stayed at the MGM Grand Resort and Casino which is located at the south end of the strip. Saying this hotel is large is a gross understatement…it’s absolutely MASSIVE. The MGM Grand is the largest hotel in the world with 6,852 rooms. It’s home to the Hakkasan nightclub, Wet Republic Pool Day Club, and multiple resident shows, such as Cirque du Soleil’s KA and David Copperfield. We overall enjoyed our stay here, but it does require a bit more walking. Since the hotel is so large, it is a greater distance to both your room and your parking spot. All in all, we would definitely stay at MGM again. The room was clean, quiet, and a decent size, and the pool area is phenomenal. It has 6.5 acres of swimming pools, jacuzzies, waterfalls, and a lazy river! You can eat, drink, and relax in this area all day! We also loved the convenience of the bridge that connects you to New York New York Hotel & Casino.
While on this trip, we enjoyed plenty of old favorites, but also experienced some new…
~ Miranda Lambert’s Velvet Rodeo Residency – Located at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino inside the Zappos Theatre, this concert is a must see! Miranda Lambert shows us that she is in fact full of Gunpowder and Lead. She is a firecracker; full of energy, amazing sets, and rhinestone and fringe covered outfits! This was easily one of our favorite concerts to date. We went to the opening weekend of her residency, and it runs until April 2023. If you love country music like we do, you will appreciate this remarkable show!
~ Blondies Sports Bar – Located inside the Miracle Mile Shops, this is a fun sports bar and restaurant. We came for breakfast and enjoyed ourselves. With breakfast priced at $4.99 per person and 60 big screen TVs to watch the games, it’s hard to beat! You have your choice of a breakfast burrito or 2 eggs, potatoes, and 2 sausages or slices of bacon. Food is not cheap in on the Las Vegas strip, so go check out this cheap eats spot to save some cash!
~ Mad Apple by Cirque Du Soleil – Located inside the New York New York Hotel & Casino, this is the newest Cirque show on the strip. It is described as a “delicious cocktail of New York-inspired acrobatics, music, dance, magic, and comedy by Harrison Greenbaum.” It pays homage to New York in an upbeat, fun way and naturally is in the New York themed hotel! We have seen nearly all the Cirque shows on the strip, and this was honestly not at the top of our list, but you can’t go wrong with any Cirque du Soleil show. In our opinion, this show didn’t really have a story line and was more fragmented than the other shows we’ve seen, but regardless everyone is beyond talented and it’s still worth a watch.
~ Lisa Vanderpump A Paris – Located in the Paris Hotel & Casino, this hip restaurant was showcased in our last post. This time around, we had a meal here and shared the lover’s cocktail, Love Locked. It comes with a lock and key, and you can write on the lock and put it on the lock wall just like in Paris. We ordered the following:
**** LoveLocked – Gin, Velvet Falernum, Raspberry, Lemon, Hibiscus, Pomegranate, and Aquafaba. The concept of this drink is absolutely amazing, but with that said, the taste of the drink was not as good as others we’ve had.
**** Le Mac – The Ultimate French Onion Mac & Cheese. We would not recommend this dish. While we enjoy both Mac & Cheese and French Onion soup, together we found it undesirable.
**** Caviar Bites – Caviar, 30 Layer Dauphinoise Potatoes, Scallions, & Lemon Crème Fraiche. These were off the charts! We could have had several orders of these. Must try!
**** Goat Cheese Cakes – Belgian Endive, Candied Walnuts, Clover Honey, & Apple Vinaigrette. Made famous by the Vanderpump Rules show, these did not disappoint either. They are quite rich and filling, but absolutely delicious.
**** Crispy Chicken Confit – Chili Breadcrumbs & Fresh Herb White Goddess Dip. These are an easy option for the All-American type of food guest. They are basically chicken tenders with a little bit of a kick. Troy was happy with this choice.
~ Ski Lodge – This cabin-styled secret bar is located on the second floor of the Cosmopolitan Hotel & Casino. It gives major Winter vibes and provides a nice intimate setting to take a load off. Sit by the fire and enjoy a cocktail if you can find it!
~ FlyOver & the Lost Cactus Bar – We spoke about this spot in a prior blog, but wanted to share again, as we enjoyed both a new immersive experience and a drink at the bar! This trip, we visited the land of fire and ice, otherwise known as Iceland. We got to hang glide over glaciers, volcanoes, and many other epic scenes. Before “boarding”, we enjoyed a drink at the Lost Cactus. Troy ordered a Coors Light (real shocker), but I decided to have a mixologist make a drink inspired by Iceland called none other than, “Fire and Ice.” It is made with Reyka Vodka, Apple Pucker, Lime Juice, Lychee Syrup, Blue Curacao, and Spite. The mixologist explained that this drink “captures the magic of the northern lights and the smoky mystery of the iconic volcanoes.”
Some oldies, but goodies on this trip…
~ Best Friend – At Park MGM, we got our Korean BBQ fix…if you are unfamiliar with this spot, check out our prior Vegas posts. This place is still just as drool worthy as before.
~ NOBU – At Caesars Palace. This restaurant needs no introduction…we also got our Japanese fix this trip. Additionally, we tried the best dessert hands down that we have ever had. Our favorite menu picks were shared in a prior post, but the dessert is new. If you ever go to Nobu, get the Vanilla Miso Tart; Shortbread Crust, Whisky Mascarpone Cheesecake, Vanilla Ganache, White Chocolate Glaze, and Red Miso Dulce de Leche. We are still dreaming about it now! 😍😍😍
~ Bellagio Conservatory Gardens – Obviously at Bellagio, this is always our favorite free attraction. This season’s theme is Artfully Autumn. While this was not one of our favorite displays, it was still very festive. Filling the air with cranberry, orange, and cinnamon scents, this garden area looked like a Thanksgiving paradise with all the fall colors.
Bonus Pics…
Don Rickles said “Las Vegas is the Boiling Pot of Entertainment…” we might say that Las Vegas is the Boiling Pot of COVID. 😬😬😬😬
Regardless…we cannot wait until the next trip,
TnT
