Babes in Vegas - 50th Birthday trip report
Dec 5th, 2005, 05:18 PM
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2003
Posts: 2,560
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Babes in Vegas - 50th Birthday trip report
A neighbor and I were given a long weekend trip to Vegas by our husbands to celebrate her recent birthday and my 'not so recent' birthday. We decided on a weekend in mid-November and made the plans about a week prior. I'd been to Las Vegas several times for business but had never been there for fun.
Travel Day - we took Southwest, printed our boarding passes in advance and had an easy time. Arrived about 30 minutes early and grabbed the shuttle to the MGM Grand. I booked rooms in the West Wing. They were a bit of a walk from the main areas but were also much quieter. Interesting decor - art deco, flat screen TV, TV screen built into the bathroom mirror, etc. I wouldn't suggest the west wing for a business man or anyone needing workspace but it was more than adequate for our needs. We had tickets to KA for that evening at 8pm so we grabbed an early dinner at the Nine Fine Irishmen in NY, NY. We were able to eat on the patio outside with the heaters and it was very nice. Both of us ordered a couple of appetizers and a glass of wine, sat back and people watched.
KA was spectacular. You really do need to arrive 20-30 minutes early since the performers are 'on' and I won't tell you any more than that! I would recommend the show unconditionally - the staging, acrobatics, pyrotechnics, etc were Cirque and more. I hope to see it again on my next business trip out there and I generally don't do repeats on the shows. We were both exhausted after a long day and wandered thru the casinos back to MGM and hit the sack early.
Day Two - Sunday - We met for breakfast at the MGM and decided to rent a car for the day. Red Rock Canyon was the destination and again, a great break from the strip not to mention beautiful. We should have allotted more time for hiking. The day was bright blue skies, few clouds and low 70's - the contrast between the sky and rocks was beautiful. After dropping off the car, we took a short break and headed over to Mandalay Bay for Mama Mia that evening. OOOPs fell asleep and thanks to an excellent cab driver, we arrived with time to spare. Again, the show was fun, great music for us oldsters, amazing costumes....the plot is a little thin but the music makes up for it. We had dinner after the show in NY NY at an Italian place who's name escapes me. The inside was non-smoking so we opted for that instead of the 'patio' which was really adjacent to the casino inside.
Day Three - SPA day!! We spent the morning at the Mirage Spa - massages, wraps, aromatherapy, WOW. Great way to start the day. From there, we wandered through several of the hotels - Wynn, Bellagio, Venetian, Caesars, Monte Carlo, etc. the weather was great - again in the low 70's with basically no clouds. We stopped for a late lunch at Mon Ami Gabi in paris; sat on the patio and watched people. Food was great, service a little slow but we were in no hurry. That evening we had dinner at Olives in Bellagio - ok food, I found the menu a little limited but the butternut squash ravioli was very good. We were able to see the fountain show every 15 minutes during dinner - great fun. Wandered back and took in the lights and atmosphere one last time.
Day four - off the airport for an early flight home. Three days was the perfect amount of time for this trip - one more day might have been spent at Hoover Dam. We didn't gamble at all - walked thru the casinos but filled the days and evenings with all of the other things that Vegas has to offer.
Travel Day - we took Southwest, printed our boarding passes in advance and had an easy time. Arrived about 30 minutes early and grabbed the shuttle to the MGM Grand. I booked rooms in the West Wing. They were a bit of a walk from the main areas but were also much quieter. Interesting decor - art deco, flat screen TV, TV screen built into the bathroom mirror, etc. I wouldn't suggest the west wing for a business man or anyone needing workspace but it was more than adequate for our needs. We had tickets to KA for that evening at 8pm so we grabbed an early dinner at the Nine Fine Irishmen in NY, NY. We were able to eat on the patio outside with the heaters and it was very nice. Both of us ordered a couple of appetizers and a glass of wine, sat back and people watched.
KA was spectacular. You really do need to arrive 20-30 minutes early since the performers are 'on' and I won't tell you any more than that! I would recommend the show unconditionally - the staging, acrobatics, pyrotechnics, etc were Cirque and more. I hope to see it again on my next business trip out there and I generally don't do repeats on the shows. We were both exhausted after a long day and wandered thru the casinos back to MGM and hit the sack early.
Day Two - Sunday - We met for breakfast at the MGM and decided to rent a car for the day. Red Rock Canyon was the destination and again, a great break from the strip not to mention beautiful. We should have allotted more time for hiking. The day was bright blue skies, few clouds and low 70's - the contrast between the sky and rocks was beautiful. After dropping off the car, we took a short break and headed over to Mandalay Bay for Mama Mia that evening. OOOPs fell asleep and thanks to an excellent cab driver, we arrived with time to spare. Again, the show was fun, great music for us oldsters, amazing costumes....the plot is a little thin but the music makes up for it. We had dinner after the show in NY NY at an Italian place who's name escapes me. The inside was non-smoking so we opted for that instead of the 'patio' which was really adjacent to the casino inside.
Day Three - SPA day!! We spent the morning at the Mirage Spa - massages, wraps, aromatherapy, WOW. Great way to start the day. From there, we wandered through several of the hotels - Wynn, Bellagio, Venetian, Caesars, Monte Carlo, etc. the weather was great - again in the low 70's with basically no clouds. We stopped for a late lunch at Mon Ami Gabi in paris; sat on the patio and watched people. Food was great, service a little slow but we were in no hurry. That evening we had dinner at Olives in Bellagio - ok food, I found the menu a little limited but the butternut squash ravioli was very good. We were able to see the fountain show every 15 minutes during dinner - great fun. Wandered back and took in the lights and atmosphere one last time.
Day four - off the airport for an early flight home. Three days was the perfect amount of time for this trip - one more day might have been spent at Hoover Dam. We didn't gamble at all - walked thru the casinos but filled the days and evenings with all of the other things that Vegas has to offer.
Dec 5th, 2005, 08:18 PM
#3
Join Date: Jul 2005
Posts: 957
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Sounds like a nice getaway for the girls. The Italian restaurant at NY, NY is Il Fornaio. Next time you will have to visit The District, nice place to shop/dine/and listen to live music. Glad you ladies had a nice time!!
Dec 6th, 2005, 08:12 AM
#7
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2003
Posts: 2,560
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
the spa was great - nice common area with fruit, juices, etc to munch on while waiting. the rooms were quiet, clean, nice music. I had an aromatherapy bath first - candles, mango/orange slushy drink, cucumbers for the eyes, etc. Followed that with a 50 minute massage...ahhh. Very relaxing, excellent staff (I had a woman named Rhonda). the final treatment was a "mirage miracle" body wrap. Excellent way to start the day!
Dec 18th, 2005, 07:28 PM
#11
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 9,076
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
oops, wait, I think I got you confused with someone else. I met a fodorite there last summer, with 54 in their screen name, different name though I think. oops.
but glad you had a great time anyway! what did you think of the food in NY NY? I thought it was uniformly blah. didn't try the Irish place though...
but glad you had a great time anyway! what did you think of the food in NY NY? I thought it was uniformly blah. didn't try the Irish place though...
Thread
Original Poster
Forum
Replies
Last Post
dcd
United States
5
Nov 22nd, 2005 07:49 AM
Supriser
United States
26
Feb 2nd, 2004 11:44 AM
