leaving Las Vegas

We traveled to Las Vegas, NV in mid-October for a road trip and 4 leisure nights away. We have time-share points that work there in a tower about 3 blocks off the strip in the area of the MGM Grand. The units are spacious and beautiful with full kitchens, a living area, big bedroom and huge master bath with a big jacuzzi tub and walk-in tiled shower – way nicer than home, and the resort amenities are first class. So, it’s like living high class instead of the other 98% for a few days.

The road trip is 600 miles – we leave before dawn and stop for a late sit-down breakfast in Grants or Gallup and arrive in Vegas about 3:00. We only eat 2 meals a day at this stage in our lives so we get a late lunch/early dinner with a choice of a myriad of great restaurants after we arrive and check in. This time our first meal was at a little family Italian place off strip with all house-made pastas and sauces.

Speaking of food, it is one of the reasons to visit Las Vegas. There are no more .99 cent ham and egg breakfasts or $5.99 prime rib dinners like we had in the 60s and 70s – good riddance. The casinos are full of serious restaurants, many sponsored by brand name food personalities – Batali, Wolfgang Puck, Emeril to name a few. We had a burger for lunch/dinner one day at a place sponsored by Mario Batali in the Athens – great burger and amazing onion rings. Off the strip there are many really good restaurants from small home cooking type places to fancy, fancy places. We ate lunch/dinner at Naked City Pizza one day – a place visited by Guy Fieri on a DDD segment a couple years ago – what a dive, but good pizza. Years ago we used to get prime rib every trip at a fancy place in the Excalibur, but it changed to a steak house. Jerry’s Nugget Casino has been famous for prime rib forever. But this time we got my once in a long-time fix for prime rib at the Prime Rib Loft in the Orleans Casino – it was really good – not inexpensive – but really good – tender, medium rare, serious creamed horseradish, perfect.

What do you do in Las Vegas if you’re not a gambler? We mostly walk around and see things. The architecture – the glitz – the tourists – there’s Hoover Dam a few miles to the south worth seeing – there is the roller coaster in New York, New York – it’s amazing – the Premium Outlets are worth a couple hours especially if you need a new pair of Skechers – the overhead light show on Fremont Street is worth seeing and there’s a free concert there quite often – Shark Reef In Mandalay Bay has some great fish tanks. So there is lots to do. We wear our legs out walking – a free tram from Bellagio to Mandalay Bay helps and there is a pay for tram on the other side of the Strip that runs from MGM Grand the whole length of the Strip. Three days and four nights with a road trip day on each end is about right for Darlene and I. A fun time – worn out – and ready to be leaving Las Vegas.