Scenes from Las Vegas

Last week I told you about everything that we ate during our stint in Las Vegas (here and here) and man, there is some good food there! This was my fifth visit to Las Vegas, but since I am always there for work this the first where I had more than just an evening of personal time to experience the Strip for myself. So, when the opportunity presented itself this year to spend 2 days of personal time in Vegas with Alex, we decided to take it. And a little R&R and an escape from the frigid Chicago temps was exactly what we needed. Also, two days in Vegas was all we needed before we were ready to move on... this place is weird!

We spent the majority of our first day hanging out poolside at The Wynn. It was unseasonably warm for February in Vegas and since it was unseasonably cold at home, soaking up the sun for a few hours was exactly what we needed. The Wynn is hands down one of the most luxurious resorts in Vegas and their expansive and gorgeous pools didn't disappoint. We ate guacamole and napped in the sunshine and it was perfect.

Even the decor at The Wynn is fabulous. There were beautiful Asian touches throughout the casino celebrating the Chinese New Year.

And the floral displays are always incredible. This is a working carousel decked out completely in flowers... amazing!

On Thursday night we headed to Giada Vegas for dinner and had a little time to kill before the show. The restaurant gave us a $25 credit to use in the casino downstairs in the Cromwell, so we gambled a bit-- because I only gamble when it's not my own money. We came out $28.70 richer-- I call that a win!

After our big gambling win, we headed over to the Mirage to catch the Beatles Love by Cirque du Soleil. We weren't allowed to take pictures in there so this is as much as you're getting, but I can tell you two things: 1. I'm not even a Cirque du Soleil fan (normally they are just too weird for me), but I loved this one: the Beatles music, the stunts, the colors-- it was beautiful. And 2. We went on an off night and the show was far from sold out, so our cheap balcony seats were upgraded to fourth row from the stage. Winning!

Before we departed for LA on Friday evening, Alex and I spent a lot of time wandering the Strip and hopping from casino to casino. Not willing to gamble away too much of our actual money (read: not the free casino dollars from Giada), we were on the hunt for a non-gambling activity... that's a tall order in Vegas.

So we found ourselves at the High Roller at The Linq. It's the world's tallest observation wheel and at 550-feet high it offers some amazing views of the strip and the mountains beyond.

It's a little pricey, but it's a really cool experience. The high roller has a bar you can hit on your up (because Vegas) and it's open until the wee hours of the morning (again, because Vegas). You can even rent out an entire pod and hire one of their bartenders if you're riding with a party.

And while each pod can hold up to 40 people, we went earlier on a weekday and scored our own pod for just the two of us.

The entire ride takes about a half hour. It was a fun way to get a view of the Strip from high above and away from all the crazies that are actually on it. And it was fun to do something a little touristy, but not super cheesy.