Friday, March 04, 2011

Vegas Baby!

I recently had the opportunity to travel to Las Vegas with my wife. We have not traveled together without children in four years. Further, while I have been to Las Vegas many times, my wife has never joined me.


Las Vegas is a wonderful city to visit as a couple or I might even dare say as a family. It is an expensive town to be sure, but there are a host of activities including shows, movies, and exhibits all in walking distance of most hotels. The dining choices are abundant and every cuisine is offered at one place or another.

While winter puts a damper on golf and pool activities, a fitness enthusiast can still take a jog on the strip before foot traffic picks up.

One big drawback is that smoking is still allowed in public in Las Vegas. While this would be a nuisance for short periods of time, it kind of gets to you after 2-3 days. Also, I wasn’t impressed with the poker action. I went by the Flamingo, Caesar’s and Bellagio. Bellagio was the only card room hosting a non-holdem game and these waters were filled with sharks playing $40-$80 mixed game. I am sure I could have still found Omaha at The Orleans and the Mirage, but gambling was not the goal of this trip.

I thoroughly enjoyed the Cirque du Soleil performance, Zumanity. I was impressed not only by the skilled performers, but also the choreography and showmanship. The New York New York theater is a nice venue. Overall the experience rotated my thinking on the joy to be gleaned from live performances.

We also had a terrific lunch at Zeffirino. My wife had the eggplant parmesan and I had the spaghetti carbonara. The décor and service is exquisite. It was a great way to enjoy some time at the Venetian. It was particularly satisfying as our previous culinary encounters had been haphazard and more often disappointing.

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