Four Aces, Food, and FastDancing in Vegas

A few weeks ago Kyle and I went to Las Vegas. Our last trip to Vegas in April 2008 was chronicled here. In fact, the first trip was our very first trip away from little Johnny B. On both occasions this work-cation has been sponsored by Kyle's job since the reason he goes is for a conference. I just pay my airfare and tag along. The conference was at The Venetian this year but unfortunately we waited too long and the hotel prices there were a little over the top. We ended up staying at the Mandarin Oriental in the new City Center complex. Apparently this sucker is a $9 billion endeavor (that's billion with a "B"). Yikes that's a lot of money for a new Vegas super-complex being built in a bad economy.

So we're not big gamblers but Kyle and I enjoy a round or two (or twenty) of Blackjack. I usually watch and let Kyle do the playing and the fast addition. However, I took over the playing at one point and a bizarre thing happened. Clueless me was dealt 4 Aces and under the direction of my husband and the dealer and the other players at the table I "split" the Aces (I know I'm getting way technical here for most people--even me) So this means instead of playing 1 hand, I was playing 4 at one time and had the minimum bet on each hand and the dealer busted so I won all 4 hands! I quadroupled my money all at once. CRA-ZAY! Now this was like someone did a hand-waving jujitsu move in my face and shoved money at me instead of socking me in the gut like last time.

After our big win and quitting while we were ahead, Sunday night Kyle and I went to TAO restaurant again. This place is so yummy. I told Kyle that I had been dreaming about the yellowfin sushi rolls we ate there 2 years ago and they better not disappoint me after all this time. We ordered them again and they were just as wonderful as I imagined. Yes, they were that memorable...weird that I have been craving those for 2 years.

Then later Sunday night Kyle and I went to a club...yes, I said a cluuuub. Like a fast-dancing-shake-yo-booty-Vegas-style club. There was a work event being sponsored at XS Nightclub so we thought we'd check it out....Why not? It's for work! And we could possibly be persuaded to "fastdance" (a term that had been lost in the recesses of my high school vocabulary which my husband used in such a casual everyday way that I laughed for maybe 15 minutes when Kyle mentioned that he didn't really "fast dance" in high school but did so later in life....ah yes, the art of fastdancing). I would like the record to state that Kyle and I fastdanced for precisely 7 minutes until my blistered-feet-in-4-inch-heels and my 1-AM-Texas-time told me I was losing momentum fast. At about the same time Kyle determined he needed to shelf his fastdance moves since he didn't "stretch out" first. Not kidding. The old fogeys enjoyed our few minutes dancing in the 2010 #1 Nightclub in America and headed home to hit the sack.

I got to sleep late Monday morning...that would be 9:30 AM, which was really 11:30 AM TX time. I can't believe that, but I did....I was zonked. Kyle had to hit his conference all day on Monday. I was on my own so I did a lot of walking and taking pictures at The Bellagio, one of my favorite places to just sit and look at things, flowers, people, fountains, whatever. The atrium there is so beautiful. I bought tickets to see Jersey Boys on my own that night. I was warned about 3 different times before I purchased my tickets that there would be "authentic Jersey language". Thank you...at least I was very prepared for the potty mouths but the music and story were really good. I enjoyed the show.

Tuesday Kyle was done with his conference by lunchtime. We walked around some more and after a big decision on whether to see Cirque de Soleil's Mystere or Cher in concert we ended up with Mystere. The acrobatics were very cool. I enjoyed the show but the music was a little scary-ish and alien, maybe a little evil sounding to me but it was a great show too.

All in all I think Vegas is good enough for a once a year visit on the company's dime. If anyone cares about my ratings, the best hotels I would recommend to check out (not based on rooms-I have only stayed at The Wynn and Mandarin Oriental) are The Bellagio, The Wynn/Encore, The Venetian, The Palazzo, and Caesar's Palace for the shopping.

Here are the 2010 Vegas Pictures!