The sushi place we found was great. It was in a little strip mall and the place was small - but the sushi was delicious and very reasonably priced!
On Thursday, we had lunch at the Border Grill. This place was delicious. It was Mexican, but authentic - even Grant liked it! He had this sweet cinnamon pork with plantains, and I had these pork, beef, and chicken tacos with pineapple salsa. Even Geoff pigged out! Dessert was great, too, because you could get half portions of two things on the menu - perfect!
After Geoff's nap, we went back to the pool for one last swim. We enjoyed the Lazy River and the wave pool, and just being with each other.
After a bath in our huge bath tub, we started packing, and then headed to Grand Lux for dinner. Geoff was in an obnoxious mood and service was slow, so it wasn't the greatest evening. Ah well... he is a toddler!
We drove home on Friday. After check out, we went to the South Pointe Casino and had lunch at the buffet. The majority of the drive home was smooth sailing! We stopped by Jessica's, (conveniently, she lives just past where we hit traffic!) hung out, and had dinner.
Another great trip!
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Wednesday, July 07, 2010
Las Vegas - July 2010
Grant, Geoffrey, and I are in Vegas for our first vacation of summer, 2010! We drove out on Sunday, the 4th of July, and made it in 4 hours, including 2 quick bathroom stops. We left around 5:30 and could see the strip (and the fireworks bursting above and around the strip) by 9:15! It made for an exciting and dramatic entrance into Vegas!
We spent our first night at Marriott's Springhill Suites, located across from the convention center. The room was large and modern.
On Monday, we checked in to The Hotel at Mandalay Bay. Our room here is on the 37th floor. It is a one bedroom suite. It has a living area with a couch, a desk, a chair, and a mini bar, and a separate bedroom. The bathroom has a lovely large tub that we've had fun bathing in.
After we settled in, we headed down to the pool - or "Mandalay Beach" as it is called. I was not impressed. My impression? It was overcrowded, there was little to no shade, the staff was not particularly helpful, the wave pool was poorly designed, and the lazy river was small. Grant liked it better then I did - and I admit, I could be judging it harshly - it is just that I had heard so many great things about it and it just didn't live up to my expectations. Oh well, we still had a blast. We found two chairs by the lazy river and enjoyed swimming there and alternating going in the wave pool (the wave pool has a height limit so Geoffrey could not go in it.)
After the pool, we went up to our room for a rest. Geoffrey and I took a bath and watched TV on the TV that is located in the bathroom.
For dinner, we went to the Bay Side Buffet. Yum!
On Tuesday, we had McDonalds for lunch before heading back to the pool. We totally lucked out at the pool - as we were walking around the lazy river, looking for chairs that had some shade, a family saw us and said they were leaving in about 10 minutes and we could have their chairs! SCORE!
We also found out that there is a toddler pool. It is adjacent to the lazy river so when the waves come, you get small waves here. The water ranges from 1 foot to 4 feet, so there was plenty of places for Geoffrey to walk around himself. Grant went out to the wave pool for a while, and then we headed back to the lazy river.
When we finished at the pool, we went back to our room for a bath and a rest.
For dinner, we went to the Burger Bar. I had my signature asparagus, bacon, and blue cheese. Grant had swiss cheese, peppered bacon, and dijon. He also had a coffee ice cream and cookie dough shake.
Next, we walked to the Monte Carlo and took the tram to the Bellagio, where watched the fountain show a few times. There were a ton of impersonators in front of the Bellagio - I guess they needed some place to go since they got kicked off of Hollywood Blvd!
After our long walk back (the tram between Excalibur and Mandalay Bay wasn't running!) Geoff went to sleep and Grant and I played some Red Dead Redemption before hitting the hay ourselves.
On Wednesday, we took a break from the pool. We drove over to Paris and had lunch at Mon Ami Gabi - Steak and frittes for Grant and a chicken, brie, and apple crepe for me.
After Geoffrey's nap, we headed over to the Shark Reef Aquarium. It was very well done, but very small. It took us an hour to tour the whole thing, and that was with Grant and I switching off with the audio guide and watching Geoffrey (who was exceptionally busy and not very interested in the fish.) Had we gone straight through - it probably would have taken - at the most - 45 minutes. Therefore, it is overpriced in our opinion, but we're glad we had the hotel credit and that we were able to check it out.
Geoff's favorite attraction was the automatic paper towel dispenser next to the sting ray touch pool. Every time we set him down in the shark room he turned around and ran back to that paper towel dispenser!
Now we're just about to head out to get dinner at a sushi place we found on yelp!
We spent our first night at Marriott's Springhill Suites, located across from the convention center. The room was large and modern.
On Monday, we checked in to The Hotel at Mandalay Bay. Our room here is on the 37th floor. It is a one bedroom suite. It has a living area with a couch, a desk, a chair, and a mini bar, and a separate bedroom. The bathroom has a lovely large tub that we've had fun bathing in.
After we settled in, we headed down to the pool - or "Mandalay Beach" as it is called. I was not impressed. My impression? It was overcrowded, there was little to no shade, the staff was not particularly helpful, the wave pool was poorly designed, and the lazy river was small. Grant liked it better then I did - and I admit, I could be judging it harshly - it is just that I had heard so many great things about it and it just didn't live up to my expectations. Oh well, we still had a blast. We found two chairs by the lazy river and enjoyed swimming there and alternating going in the wave pool (the wave pool has a height limit so Geoffrey could not go in it.)
After the pool, we went up to our room for a rest. Geoffrey and I took a bath and watched TV on the TV that is located in the bathroom.
For dinner, we went to the Bay Side Buffet. Yum!
On Tuesday, we had McDonalds for lunch before heading back to the pool. We totally lucked out at the pool - as we were walking around the lazy river, looking for chairs that had some shade, a family saw us and said they were leaving in about 10 minutes and we could have their chairs! SCORE!
We also found out that there is a toddler pool. It is adjacent to the lazy river so when the waves come, you get small waves here. The water ranges from 1 foot to 4 feet, so there was plenty of places for Geoffrey to walk around himself. Grant went out to the wave pool for a while, and then we headed back to the lazy river.
When we finished at the pool, we went back to our room for a bath and a rest.
For dinner, we went to the Burger Bar. I had my signature asparagus, bacon, and blue cheese. Grant had swiss cheese, peppered bacon, and dijon. He also had a coffee ice cream and cookie dough shake.
Next, we walked to the Monte Carlo and took the tram to the Bellagio, where watched the fountain show a few times. There were a ton of impersonators in front of the Bellagio - I guess they needed some place to go since they got kicked off of Hollywood Blvd!
After our long walk back (the tram between Excalibur and Mandalay Bay wasn't running!) Geoff went to sleep and Grant and I played some Red Dead Redemption before hitting the hay ourselves.
On Wednesday, we took a break from the pool. We drove over to Paris and had lunch at Mon Ami Gabi - Steak and frittes for Grant and a chicken, brie, and apple crepe for me.
After Geoffrey's nap, we headed over to the Shark Reef Aquarium. It was very well done, but very small. It took us an hour to tour the whole thing, and that was with Grant and I switching off with the audio guide and watching Geoffrey (who was exceptionally busy and not very interested in the fish.) Had we gone straight through - it probably would have taken - at the most - 45 minutes. Therefore, it is overpriced in our opinion, but we're glad we had the hotel credit and that we were able to check it out.
Geoff's favorite attraction was the automatic paper towel dispenser next to the sting ray touch pool. Every time we set him down in the shark room he turned around and ran back to that paper towel dispenser!
Now we're just about to head out to get dinner at a sushi place we found on yelp!
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