Chicago – Day 5

For our last day in Chicago, we finally slept in a bit and had a lazy start.  We caught the bus up to Lincoln Park for brunch at Toast, which was very yummy (I had Pesto Scramble with Brioche toast).  We had a 45 minute wait to get in, so we wandered a couple blocks to preview the shopping first.  After breakfast we hit the walking and shopping full force, tackling most of the Lincoln Park neighborhood.  There were a surprising amount of shops closed for Memorial Day, but it was still fun.  I got treats at Sweet Mandy B’s (M&M cookie, a star shaped,frosted shortbread cookie, and flourless chocolate cake baked like a cupcake) and a couple things at CB2.

All good things must come to an end though, so we soon had to get home, pack and drive out to O’Hare.  We made final stop at Fox & Obel for airplane snacks, then bid Erin adieu.  Fun weekend!

Chicago – Tour of Alinea

The main reason Mar & Sallie had planned a Chicago visit was for dinner at Alinea, a super swank, innovative restaurant run by Grant Achatz:  http://www.alinea-restaurant.com.  For those you that know me well, you know I love food, but also love choices.  I know what I like and I know what I don’t like – therefore, I don’t like spending a ton of cash on a pre-set menu without knowing what I’m getting.  However, I also didn’t want to be left out.  So, Sunday night the four of us headed to Alinea for their Tour – 24 courses.  I did get to put in one exception for no beef, otherwise, I was gonna have to be brave and try everything.

We took a cab to Alinea and arrived at a gray non-descript, nameless building except for the valet parking sign.  Upon entering, there was a long dark hallway.  At the end, we spent a couple seconds wondering where to go when a door to our left stealthy slid open to welcome us in.  The restaurant only seats about 60 folks at a time, and we were sat upstairs in a room with one couple and a table with a group.

Sallie and I ordered a bottle of wine to share – you can do a wine flight designed to go with the meal, but that costs another gazillion dollars.  $42 bucks for a bottle the sommelier said was a good pick seemed like a much better idea.  Then it was time to eat.

1) Roes: traditional garnishes.  Starting off with Roes worried me a little, but it was also a good way to plunge right into my fearless night of eating.  I’ve had caviar before and it didn’t do much for me.  Same with this dish – i think its a texture thing.  There was a Toast foam though on the plate that was surprising.

2) Foie Gras: daikon, shiso, yuzu. Great, keep the weird things coming.  They use so much foie gras on Iron Chef and it does not appeal to me at all with its creepy beige color.  The presentation on this dish though made it interesting – the foie gras was one bite on a fork, served on a round bowl of soup we had to hold and not set down until we were down, otherwise everything would spill.  I really enjoyed the yuzu in the soup.

3) Pork Belly: iceberg, cucumber, thai distallation.  Pork Belly seems really popular right now.  It was a tasty dish.

4) Green Almond: juniper, gin, lime.  Gelatinous dishes sometimes scare me – but this was sweet and the almond was soft.  A good bite.

5) Soft Shell crab: peas, 5 spice, duck.  this was the first of two dishes that would use the same ingredients in different ways.  This first presentation was more traditional, with fried crab though you can see the peas presented in a flat paste form.  I’ve never had soft shell crab – the meaty parts were good.  the shell-y parts were crunchy.

6) Blue crab: peas, 5 spice, duck. The second presentation arrived looking like a parfait.  Cold, savory, creamy – three words I don’t usually like together in my food.  However, this turned out to be one of my favorite dishes of the night – it was delicious and the texture didn’t creep me out as much as I thought it would.  Mar won over our waiter by noting the lychee in the dish that wasn’t in the first preparation.

7) Black Truffle: explosion, romaine, parmesan.  This was like a ravioli soup dumpling.  Very yummy.

Fricase: a la Saint Claire.  The first of my two exceptions.  This usually comes with squab, but mine came veggie – a savory tartlette of roasted veggies.

9) Bacon: Butterscotch, Apple, thyme.  Three dishes served at once.  The bacon was served swinging off a wire.  sweet & salty.

10) Sweet Potato: bourbon, brown sugar, smoldering cinnamon.  a soft and crunchy fritter – mmm…

11) Mustard: passionfruit, all spice. a quick melting sherbet bite

12) Hot Potato: cold potato, black truffle, butter.  Another interesting soup presentation as you pulled the skewer out from the bowl so the solid ingredients would fall in.

13) White Asparagus: arugula, white pepper, honey.  Sallie & I had been eagerly anticipating this soup as we saw it served at the other tables.  It was a little bland though and reaffirmed the fact that I don’t really like cold soups.

14) Yuba: shrimp, miso, togarashi.  Another one of my favorites for the night. a crunchy skewer of shrimp with a tangy sauce.

15) Lilac: scallop, shellfish, honeydew.  this had a similar look and texture as the white asparagus.  the scallops were really soft and I didn’t like that.

16) Grape: Olive oil, ash, frisee.  One quick bite and you can’t use your hands.  yummy.

17) Chicken: powdered A-1, potato, chips.  the second of my exceptions, chicken instead of beef for an all-American dinner.  the powdered a-1 sauce was really cool and the potatoes creamy and crunchy.

18) Lemon Soda: One bite fizz treat to transition us towards dessert.

19) Yogurt: pomegranate, cassia.  Three dishes served all together again. This yogurt bomb in pomegranate was tart but good.

20) Bubble Gum: long pepper, hibiscus, creme fraiche.  Served in a test tube with jellies that reminded me of bubble tea.  Another one of my favorites.

21) Transparency: raspberry, yogurt.  super thin film, like a fruit leather.

22) Rhubarb: goat milk, onion, lavender air.  A lot going on on this plate, all of it good.  Served atop a pillow of lavender.  I especially liked the cotton candy and the cheesecake.

23) Chocolate: blueberry, tobacco, maple.  Again, a lot going on and I liked it all.  Real blueberries and faux blueberries, maple explosion.  mmm…

24) Pound cake: strawberry, lemon, vanilla bean.  another dish playing with your senses – looks like one thing, tastes like another.  a good way to end.

5.5 hours later we were done.  It was quite a feat and very enjoyable.  I’m proud of myself for trying everything and enjoyed most of it.  The dishes were inventive and delicious.  It was fun to be with my fellow foodies so we could geek out over it all.  And surprisingly, thought we downed 24 dishes, I was full but not stuffed.  I guess we paced it out well.

Chicago – Day 4

Today we had signed up to do the “Bike the Drive” bike ride.  They close down Lakeshore drive in the morning and thousands of bikers converge to enjoy the shoreline views of the city.  Mar & Erin left at 5:30am to get in one 30 mile loop before picking up me, Sallie & our beach cruisers.  However, Mar’s rental bike and strong headwind going north left her farther back from Erin than anticipated.  So, just Erin came to get us, and we also picked up her friend Elizabeth down the street.  The four of us headed south, with plans t meet Mar at the south rest stop.  Erin, of course, left us pretty quickly in her speedy way, but we cruised along nicely.  The beach cruisers are fun for a place like Chicago where it’s flat, but I can’t imagine riding one in hilly Seattle.  The wide handle bars are also a little weird but fun.  Once we got to the south end, we made plans to meet up with Mar halfway north, along the trail.  With the headwind that direction, there was no way we were going to make a full loop by the tie they re-opened the roads, so we fought through wind in search of Mar.  Meanwhile, we got  a text from Iron Chick Erin that she was already done.  We found Mar, took some pics, stopped at Millennium park but no good free stuff could be found.  Then it was back to Navy Pier to turn in our bikes.

The night before, it took at least 20-30 minutes to get our bikes rented.  Today, it took almost that long to turn them in as well.  The place was so disorganized, no one knew what they were doing, the line kept longer.  argh – they almost made the blacklist, but since it was several folks first week working there, we decided to give them the benefit of the doubt and hope things improve.  Back home, we showered and changed and walked to the Art Institute.

The Art Institute of Chicago has a new Modern Wing, designed by Renzo Piano.  We tried to eat at the rooftop patio, but were told we could only dine there with a reseravtion during their “soft opening”.  so instead we went down to the regular cafe which was boring and normal.  we ate in the courtyard which was nice, but nothing interesting to report aside from that.

The new wing is nice – it’s amazing the collection the the Art Institute has in general – so many big important pieces.  Mar & I went through the Miniatures room which was fun, and they also had a small exhibit of Caldecott Award winners (children books illustrations).  I still can’t decide if I like Modern Art or not – I definitely like some pieces, but others are like huh?  None of us liked the scary clown room.

Eventually, we needed to head home and prepare for our big dinner at Alinea, which will need it’s own blog entry

Chicago – Day 3

Erin left early for a 10-mile running race at Soldier Field while we slept in until 7:30-ish.  Once we were ready, we walked over to MillenniumPark to explore "the Bean", the Gehry amphitheater and preview the new Renzo Piano wing at the Art Institute, stopping first at Intelligentsia for coffee and cocoa.  The bean is pretty cool, especially underneath it where it warps you several times (see below).  The Gehry amphitheater would be a great place for an outdoor concert and I’m looking forward to getting inside the new wing at the museum.  (Hi this is Marlene guest blogging!  The landscape at the Millennium park is nicely detailed and the shrubs are just beginning to grow into their steel cages and the low brush and plants were all in bloom – lavenders and greens…)

From the park we headed to the Merch Mart to pick up my numbers for the Bike the Drive on Sunday and tried to find Erin.  We made plans to meet her up north in Andersonville, a little neighborhood she thought we’d enjoy – and she was right.  We were starving by the time we were all reunited, so we ducked into one of teh first spots we saw, Ann Sather, which is a Chicago Institution.  I got Swedish pancakes.  The others got various egg dishes which came with two sides – but these sides were enormous.  If you chose cinnamon roll, you got two hefty ones, same with biscuits.  it was nuts.  (I tried the Swedish Breakfast with a Swedish Pancake with Lingonberries, Swedish Meatballs and an egg with a side of potatoes – I felk like I was at IKEA – MC)  We then spent the next couple hours wandering in and out of home furnishing stores and bakeries for the most part.  (Including the Swedish Bakery which is home to many almond scented/flavored items…delish–MC) Once all the blocks were covered, we hopped a bus back to downtown.

After dropping our purchases off at the house, we walked down the street to Navy Pier to pick up our bikes for tomorrow.  We had called first to make sure we could get that at 5:00pm and they said yes, but once we got to teh booth it was quite the ordeal.  First they told us 6:00pm, then they couldn’t find our reservation.  The line behind us steadily grew as it took about 20 minutes to resolve.  Finally, it all came together and me & Sallie were ready to roll on our beach cruisers (Mar gota "comfort" bike – granted, she is going 60 miles with Erin, instead of just 30 like me & Sal – yeah but this bike better not screw up my knees!! – MC)).  Back home we squeezed these three new bikes into theapartment with the two bikes that permanently live there – quite full.

Mar & I then took off for the White Sox while Sallie walked to Avec for dinner and Erin decided to stay home and get some extra sleep.  We took the Red Line south, straight to the stadium, and then began the mutil-escalator hike up to the 500 (!!) level.  This is essentially equal to the 300 level at Safeco, but it sounds a little nuts to be on the 500 level.  AND, its especially sad when you want ot go look around but the signs posted say no one from 500 can go to other levels.  Lame! Despite being seven rows from the top, our seats were pretty good.  It’s weird watching a game where you don’t really know anyone though, and you have no vested interest in who wins.  We were, however, good luck charms for the sox as they went on to win 4-0 over the Pittsburgh Pirates.  The stadium is kind of boring (though the 100 level could have been exciting – we just couldn’t go there).  Not many food choices either – since we were in the midwest though, I already knew I was going Bratwurst, while Mar got the infamous Comiskey Dog (which had scary green relish on it.  Like food coloring green Green – essentially a Chicago dog with a pickle wedge, fresh tomatoes, diced onions, the aforementioned bright green relish and hot peppers – ketchup and mustard are a no-no, but I snuck some in….what was interesting to KMJ and I were the two adorable little girls in front of us.  One was a vocal fan of the game screaming “yes yes yes yes yes yes yes” after the white sox hit their first home run.  She had a pink white sox hat with a fairy princess on the front – that’s some branding!  Her friend had a tried a true tough black and white sox hat, except its hard core effect was a bit diminished by her “High School Musical” hoodie with the pink furry collar….they were adorably goofy and spazzed out after their hot dogs, peanuts, cotton candy, popcorn and slushies.  –MC)  After each homerun there fireworks, and as luck would have it, tonight there was also a Fireworks Spectacular after the game, which was actually really good!  (I am embarassed to admit that I keep forgetting it is Memorial Day weekend as we walked through the staging area for the Mem day parade earlier in the day and the Fireworks we realized were for Memorial Day as well – MC)

Post-game, we stumbled down the ramps with the masses over to the train station.  I thought it might take us awhile to get a train, but we got right on and it took off a couple minutes later.  It was full, but not stifling and we got home pretty quick.  We were hoping to make it back by 10:15pm at which point we could watch Frieworks show #2, happening at Navy Pier.  Luckily we had time to stop at the grocery too first to buy some breakfast, and then we snuck into the house as quietly as we could so as not to wake Erin.  We did wake her briefly though as we tried to bake some cookies with dough I bought at Fox & Obel.  They came out super gooey, so we ate them with a spoon.  It was like Pizzookie without the ice cream.  We heard fireworks show #2 start, but sadly we couldn’t see it as it was right behind a neighboring building.  So close!

Tomorrow we bike ride and have crazy big dinner!

Chicago – Day 2

Erin had to get up early to gran her bike somewhere, so I slept in a bit while she did that, then once we were ready to go, we walked and caught the bus over to West town for breakfast.  Our pick of the morning was a spot called Flo (http://www.eatatflo.com/   Despite Erin thinking it was called Mango) where I had yummy Blueberry French Toast.  From there we wandered up Chicago Ave through more of West town and the Ukrainian Village, in search of a little gift shop called Komoda.  Once we found it, I got a ring and a book.

Next we hopped the bus back towards town.  I got off at Franklin, while Erin continued home to do a bike ride for the afternoon.  After a quick stop in Paper Source, I took the Brown Line all the way to the end at Kimball, in search of The Sweden Shop.  Not knowing what neighborhoods Mar & Sallie had plotted for us to visit, it seemed like a good idea to head for the far and obscure.  This area was far and sadly not that exciting, but it was still fun to go explore a real neighborhood.  The Sweden Store does not have as much stuff as I had hoped so I didn’t buy anything.   I just wandered a little more and then caught the train back downtown.

For the rest of the afternoon I walked along the river (saw teh massive Trump building) and then got a pedicure which my feet were badly in need of (this time I went with Kinky in Helsinki).  Next stop was the fancy food store Fox & Obel where I picked up some bread and cheese for an evening snack, as well as some cookie dough to cook later.  Erin was now home, so we just kicked it for a couple hours in the apartment until going to pick up Mar & Sallie.

Once we got the girls, we stopped in the West Loop on the way home for dinner at De Cero which was very delish (http://www.decerotaqueria.com/contact.htm)  I started with a hibiscus maragarita, and we shared guacamole, salsas and chips, as well as a jicama salad.  Then we all got a bunch of tacos (chicken mole, battered shrimp and tres queso para mi).  And from there we just headed home for bed since Erin has a running race in the morning.

Chicago – Day 1

At SKEMKS a couple months ago, Mar & Sallie mentioned they were going to Chicago Memorial Day to see Erin. Since I had some United miles ready to expire, I decided to crash the party and booked a ticket. So, today, I flew in to meet up with Erin, and will have a night and day to wander on my own before Mar & Sal get here Friday night. I haven’t been to Chicago in several years, so I’m excited for all the activities we have planned and whatever else may pop up.

My plane left about 40 minutes late, but we made up time in the air and landed only about ten minutes late. The super fascinating thing about my flight was that nearly 90% of the folks were on it for connecting flights – hardly anyone got off to actually stay in Chicago.

Once I grabbed my bag I caught the Blue Line train into town where Erin met me at the Chicago Ave station. It was about 82 degrees when I landed so it was great to get out in the warm air as we walked through town back to her apartment. She is on the 40th floor near Navy Pier, with an awesome view of Lake Michigan. It’s a great spot. For the evening we just got dinner at the Japanese spot downstairs and plotted our Friday attack from the big purple couch.

Bloomsday

2009 was finally the momentous year that Kelli had been waiting for: running Bloomsday on her actual birthday. So, on Saturday morning, Kel & Kevi Kev picked up me & BK in Kev’s new Jeep and we set off across the state to Spokane for the big day. We arrived into town just in time for lunch at the Milk Bottle. Despite talking a big game, BK went with a side of fries instead of Ice creams, so Lauren continues to reign as the Dairy Queen  

With some time to kill before family dinner and not many options for entertainment in Spokane, we stopped by the North Town Mall to see Wolverine (which was ok). Up in Colbert we took a quick nap in the Strawberry Shortcake room, then joined everyone upstairs for our traditional pre-Bloomsday dinner of lasagna, salad, garlic bread and layer cake. Yummy as always! Once the fam left, we watched How I met your Mother, a bit of the Sounders game, and then crashed, BK’s feet hanging off the end of his small twin bed…

It had been rainy the night before so we weren’t sure what to expect for race day. Luckily things turned out pretty well for us. As usual we parked near Spokane Arena, walked over the falls, and then went to find our designated areas. Kelli was in the highest group for our crowd, yellow, followed by Kevin in Green and me & BK in Orange. Since I hadn’t been running at all, I wasn’t expecting much which was fine. It s such a fun event I never care about my time. At 9:00am, the 51,000 participants slowly started taking off, I love seeing all the families and different groups participating, as well as all the bands and folks having parties along the route. It’s such a positive community event. After tackling Doomsday hill my hip was started to hurt so we didn’t run much after that. In the end we crossed the finish line around 1:45 – slower than usual but still fine. Picked up our light blue finisher t-shirts and found K & K at the coffee shop with Anne-Marie’s mom and Aunt. Unfortunately AME was sick and didn’t come down, despite all of our begging pleading.

We stumbled back towards the car, and back to Colbert for lunch and showers, we gorged on leftovers from the night before, then loaded up to head home. Since BK had b=never been to Zip’s though, we did pull off in Ritzville for milkshakes. Mmmm…

Anacortes

For the weekend, Mar, Sallie, Fede, BK & I headed up north for the Tour de Lopez bike ride once again.  Porkchop & Kevi Kev were supposed to join as well, but they instead jetted off to NYC. (You can read about the great New York Cupcake Quest here:  http://kelwarner.wordpress.com/2009/04/29/the-great-nyc-cupcake-quest/  ).  Since we had so many problems getting off of Lopez last year, we decided to try a new tactic this year by staying gin Anacortes and just walking on the ferry, which turned out pretty well.

Friday afternoon Mar, BK and I squeezed three people, three bikes and three sets of gear into the Jeep and headed north in hopes of making it to Bow-Edison before 7:00pm, when Breadfarm (http://www.breadfarm.com/) closes.  We made pretty good time as traffic through Everett wasn’t too bad.  As we speed along Chuckanut drive, it was going to be close.  We pulled up to the front door at 7:02pm!  Mar jumped out of the car to see if they’d still let us in an they said yes, so we quickly parked and ran.  They were totally mopping the floor so we just had to point and grab, but we got a loaf of potato bread and a couple bags of chocolate cookies (The Cocoa Nib ones are delicious.  The chocolate ginger ones were too gingery for me but the others liked them. 

From Breadfarm we headed back up the road to the Rhododendron Café (http://rhodycafe.com/) for dinner which was really good.  They had a three-course for $25 deal going on, so I got that with seafood chowder, salmon and ice creams.  BK did the same with Paella instead, and Mar got some veggies cakes and mussels.

Since we had the Jeep, we used the GPS system after dinner to take the backroads into Anacortes and found our super cute house.  Sallie had found it on Craigslist and we were the first guests so we weren’t sure what to expect, but it turned out pretty perfect for us.  It was about 10 blocks from Commercial Drive, with three bedrooms, bath, kitchen and living room.  The woman renting it to us actually lives there, but she had started fixing it up to rent too as she had recently lost her job and wanted to make some extra cash.  It had a southwestern décor theme, lots of bright colors, and a funky fun front yard.

 

Saturday was the bike ride.  Sallie & Fede biked to the Terminal, while we drove and met them there.  We stopped along the way for coffee where I spotted a sign for the monthly Iron Cupcake competition – awesome idea!  (Info:  http://www.alteredrecipes.com/ica_2.htm)

 

At the dock we joined the masses in line waiting to walk on with our bikes.  Arriving on Lopez I walked up the first part of the hill before hopping on to get over to the park for registration.  And then we were off.  All but Fede had planned to do the 31-mile route but as we got going, that prospect seemed bleaker and bleaker to me.  It was kind of cold and I didn’t remember their being as many hills at the beginning of the ride.  I was definitely struggling in some parts and quickly realizing that three rides on the Burke were not the same as having done this ride last year right after the Lavaman.  BK was feeling the same way (or at least being nice to me) so at the decision point near Shark Reef Bay, we turned to do the 17-miler instead of the 31.  The main factor for me was knowing there were more hills coming on the 31 that I knew I would struggle on.  I think if it had been warmer out I probably would have gone for it, but I was cold and tired and ready to be done.  It was still a good ride, just not as good as last year.  BK and I rolled into Lopez Village, parked our bikes and warmed up in Holly B’s bakery which I was delighted to see was open.  We loaded up on baked goods and then walked over to the BBQ.  We grabbed a table at the back to get whatever sun we could when it poked out from behind the clouds.  Slowly the rest of our group gathered and we all hung out around the Village for a couple hours since the ferry wasn’t until after 4:00pm.  We did have like 5 more miles to get back to the ferry though, so that warmed us up eventually (especially the last climb to the ferry dock) and the sun was out when we got down there which was nice.

Back in Anacortes, we took turns showering and then headed downtown for dinner at a spot called Adrift (http://www.adriftrestaurant.com/).  We had a bit of a wait which tired out our already tired group, but the food was well worth it – they have a wide variety and use lots of local vendors.  I had sweet potato and pork tacos that were yummy.  Back at home Sallie had brought some games to play, but we all crashed pretty quickly.

 

Sunday morning we packed up and drove back to Bow-Edison to visit the Farm-To-Market Bakery, home of the Lime Polenta Cake (http://www.insiderpages.com/b/3723386117).  I didn’t see any when we first walked in, but luckily they were just coming out of the over.  Mar, BK and I each bought two.  Mar and I also split a piece of quiche and a maple walnut scone that was also fresh from the oven.  (And the good news was BK & I would be back up there in a couple weeks for the Skagit Spring Classic and more yummy goodies!)  Sallie & Fede met us there too, but then hung around Edison while we took off through the Tulip fields.  We stopped at one daffodil field and tulip field for a few photos before hitting the highway home.

Viva Las Vegas – Day 3

Today was the day we knew would be the warmest, so we were looking forward to pool time. We once again hit the café for breakfast, but before changing into our suits, attended the free Craps lesson going on, as Sara’s one goal for the trip was to learn craps. It seems like a very confusing game, even after the lesson – I shall stick to blackjack. Down at the pool, we were slightly disappointed to find that while warm and sunny, a heavy desert breeze was blowing through pretty often. We stuck it out for about three hours though, because we had to log more miles on the lazy river! Eventually though, we couldn’t handle it anymore, so we packed up went back to the room.

From a cab the other night I had spotted Zara at the Fashion Show Mall, so I made a pilgrimage that direction while Sara went down to practice Craps. It was nice to get out and walk a bit. Treasure Island has tried to reimagine itself as “TI”, and across the street from there are the Wynn and Encore, both pretty plush. At Fashion Show mall I picked up the Jones Family favorites, liquor barrels from Ethel M chocolates, as well as a lavender sweater from Zara. I walked home on the other side of the strip and ducked into the Venetian to visit Bouchon bakery of the recommendation of BK. Got pain au chocolat for breakfast the next morning, as well as their versions of a nutter butter and oreo. I let Sara know when I was back at the Monte Carlo and we met in the room to change for dinner and our last evening out.

We had chosen the Monte Carlo not only because of the lazy river, but also because on every previous trip we have eaten at the Monte Carlo brew pub. It’s nothing special, just casual normal food, but we always go there. So, that was our dinner spot for the night as it had been closed the two previous evenings. From there we walked down the street to Excalibur in hopes of finding some $5 dollar tables to play at. We found one blackjack table, but I had to wait quite awhile before finally getting a seat. Sara meanwhile found Craps and roulette, and we both did pretty good! I came out $80 ahead on blackjack and Sara won like $100 at craps! To round out the evening, we went farther down to Mandalay Bay to see what was happening. We had read about their ice bar so we decided to check that out.

It had a hefty cover charge, but since we were big winners we decided to splurge. We also got two drinks included with it, as well as our parkas, gloves and boots to keep us warm. The bar was small, and not very full but pretty cool (literally and figuratively). The bar, tables and benches were all carved of ice, and a bunch of sculptures were around too. Even our glasses were carved of New Zealand Spring water. My drink of choice was the frozen apple. As we were leaving, three guys arrived and begged us to stay – since they were buying, we did two were from New York, one from Calgary, in town for a brokers conference. They were pretty entertaining, so we stayed much later than anticipated, but it was fun. Their next stop was a club, so we parted ways and caught a taxi home. But before bed we had to play a little more Goldfish of course, where we each lost $20 (but not before being propositioned by a new pair of guys. (Big night out for us!)

It was a really good, quick break – especially since it was snowing in Seattle. I had never been to Vegas mid-week, so it was interesting to see how many less people there were, and I’m sure even less due to the economy. We talked to a lot of cabbies about the situation around town, and it’s sad. Hopefully folks will start traveling there again soon…

Viva Las Vegas – Day 2

Slept in a bit, then hit the café downstairs for breakfast. I ordered a Dutch Pancake which was fairly disappointing – not eggy at all, but regular pancake batter cooked in a cast iron skillet. Once fed and awake, we stopped by the spa to book an appointment, then changed into suits and hit the pool. A few clouds would pass by periodically, but otherwise it was nice to be warm. We had strawberry daiquiris and did several laps on the lazy river. After a snack of chips and guacamole, we packed up and ventured toward the spa for our facials. The facial was good, though I always forget how much it hurts when they start digging into your nose extracting blackheads. Ow! But man was my nose clean. We also dunked into the Jacuzzi and steam room before exiting the spa.

For the evening we decided to walk up to Caesars for dinner and then head downtown. Heading towards Bellagio we walked past the ginormous new City Center project going – $9 billion dollars worth of hotels, shopping and condos. One of our cabbies told us it would be self-contained, with their own police and fire. How crazy is that? It’s huge. At Caesars we went in search of Mesa Grill, one of Booby Flay’s restaurants I wanted to try. However, we were told the first opening was at 9:30pm. When I asked to make a reservation for tomorrow night, they handed me a card and told me to call the central reservations number. Seriously? Because the staff was as full of themselves as Bobby is, congrats Mesa Grill – you are now on the black list. Instead we went to La Salsa Cantina for half the price and no attitude. From Caesars we caught a cab downtown.

In all my trips to Vegas and I had never been downtown, but every time I go, Grandpa Homer asks me if I went to see the Fremont Street light show. So that was my one goal for the trip. We arrived just in time for the 9:00pm show, which was set to Don Maclean’s American Pie. Everyone pours out of the casinos and crowds a two-block area, all the casinos turn out their lights, and then a two-block canopy projects a glitzy digital lightshow. It was cool – later at 10:00pm we saw the Queen tribute, and at 11:00pm listened to the KISS tribute.

We wandered the two blocks and decided to gamble at Glitter Gulch ‘cause we liked the name and sign. As we got closer though, we figured out it was actually a strip bar. We were delighted to find an ABC store (Hawaii specialty, and Sara purchased a giant daiquiri in crazy cup. We had thought the casinos downtown would have cheaper tables, so we were looking forward to playing blackjack and craps down there. However, as we walked through the Golden Nugget, all the tables seemed to be $10 just like on the strip. Therefore we stuck to Penny slots. After a few missteps we finally found our favorite slot – Goldfish. We played it for quite awhile, and when we got back to the Monte Carlo, we played it some more! But once we ran out of our $20 in free play, we headed up to bed.