Vegas Vacation: Days 3-4

As disappointed as I was for the Grand Canyon trip to get cancelled, sleeping until we woke up was a welcome luxury after waking up so early to be at the Hoover Dam the day before. We did eventually decide we could go without food no longer, so made our way toward the back of the Wynn resort near where the golf course, cabanas and pool are located and were seated at the Terrace Pointe Cafe. Had it been a little warmer and not so breezy, it would have been a beautiful day to be seated out on the restaurant's back patio overlooking the pool. The restaurant was open and bright with tons of sunlight streaming in. It almost felt like summertime! We ordered a pitcher of peach sangria which was a little too sweet to have more than one glass (pitcher = mistake). We each ordered the tomato bisque, and while Sean had the pulled pork sliders, I opted for an Oriental salad (sans mandarin oranges, of course). My meal was light and delicious and I was ready to get out and enjoy the day!

We decided while it was so nice outside, we'd go for a walk down the Strip and see some of the casinos I had not had the opportunity to go inside on my previous work trips to Vegas - in particular, Paris and New York, New York. I thought Paris was SO cute inside, and although I've never been to Paris, I'd like to think the quaint, old-world sort of feel happening in the casino is at least comparable to what the real Paris looks like. One thing I liked about the casino is that all the different clusters of table games were under canopies that had been named - it would be tough for someone to get lost in the casino with each area labeled so clearly. We sat down at the circular bar on the casino floor and had a few drinks before deciding to move along. Next up was New York, New York. This casino was much further down the Strip than I anticipated, and truth be told, now that I've seen the inside of it (nothing special if you ask this semi-New Yorker), it wasn't worth the long hike. The only real thing to do in the casino as far as I could tell was ride the roller coaster, but at this point we were running a little short on time and headed back to the Encore.

The circular bar and cute street scene where we spent a couple hours in Paris:

When the trip to Arizona had to be called off, I was able to make a quick call and set up a couple passes to the sold out Motley Crue show at the Joint in the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. This was the last night of the band's 12-night, month-long residency at the casino, making them the first rock band to ever do a residency in Las Vegas. The cab ride from the Encore to the Hard Rock was much further than I remembered it being from my first trip to Vegas, and the traffic was intense. When we finally arrived at the casino, it was swarming with Motley Crue fans! Working with the band, this was pretty exciting to see (and being a normal human being, this was borderline terrifying). We made our way across the casino floor to Pink Taco, where we wanted to grab a quick dinner. There was a 20-30 minute wait for a table, but we were doing okay with time (and Mexican food comes out quickly, so we decided to wait it out). We were seated in 20 or 25 minutes, ordered some margaritas and food and were in and out in less than an hour. When we exited the restaurant, the hallway outside was wall-to-wall people, lined up waiting to get into the show. Yikes! We made our way to the will-call window to pick up our passes, and then headed backstage to say hi to the tour and production managers. With the show about to start, we filled up our cups backstage with complimentary beer and took up our position at the sound board. The show has had a few changes since the last time I saw the band, and although I'm not particularly a fan of the music, there is no denying it is a well-produced, high-energy show.

Motley takes a bow:

When the show ended, we wandered out into the casino to grab a couple drinks and chatted with a few Motley Crue fans who sat down next to us. It had been another long day, so after a while it was time to head back to the Encore and get some sleep. On Monday, we were able to once again sleep until we woke up, checked out, grabbed a quick lunch off the Strip and then did the one final thing I had been wanting to do in Las Vegas - see the Welcome to Las Vegas sign!

Mission accomplished:


It was now time to head to the airport, drop off the rental car and catch my flight back to New York. My trip back was sadly in coach, so it felt much longer. I didn't arrive back at JFK until after midnight on Tuesday morning, but fortunately there was no shortage of cabs at this hour and I was home and sound asleep in my bed within an hour.

This was definitely the most fun I've had in Vegas - obviously getting to do only fun things as opposed to work things seriously changes my perspective. I still don't think I ever need to go back, but I'm glad I got to have such a fun, relaxing time to at least make me feel a little more love towards Sin City.

My trip:


"Viva Las Vegas with your neon flashin'
And your one armbandits crashin'
All those hopes down the drain
Viva Las Vegas turnin' day into nighttime
Turnin' night into daytime
If you see it once
You'll never be the same again." - Viva Las Vegas, Elvis Presley

Miles Traveled Today: 2,526
Total Miles Traveled: 34,109