Vegas, Baby!, cont.

Waking up in Vegas! 

Day 2

Saturday was a big day for us. A BIG day. We slept in, and then I had a quick workout in the hotel gym. After showering, it was off to an indulgent brunch at Spago in Bellagio! (Months before our trip, I began following @vegasstarfish on Instagram, and I can't tell you what a value-add it was for our trip. She covers all kinds of details from her account - restaurants, bars, hotels, shows. She recommended Spago as one of the best brunches in the city, and so we booked reservations.) 

Caron was made for brunch at Spago.

We booked for 11 a.m., which is right when the restaurant opens for brunch. We asked for a seat on the outdoor patio, a lovely space that provides an absolutely PERFECT view of the Bellagio fountains when they begin playing at noon. We both got drinks (Bellinis, champagne), and Caron ordered the caviar to start. Then, I had a lovely omelette with a side salad. We finished by sharing their glorious spiked lemon dessert, which is a lovely filled creation topped with meringue and specks of gold leaf. 

The food was fantastic, the service was attentive, and the sun was shining. About halfway through our meal, the fountains began shooting skyward. We lingered, staying about two hours, sipping our champagne and enjoying the fine day. It was just the perfect Vegas experience, and I would highly recommend it to anyone. 

We did eventually have to leave, though, because we had spa appointments at 2 p.m. back at the Paris - at Voie salon. When we were planning this trip, Caron was clear - she wanted to be pampered at the spa so she could look and feel her best when we went to the Adele concert. I aim to please, so we'd made hair and makeup appointments at the resort spa. 

For the next two hours, we had a blast chatting and laughing with our aestheticians. Sweet Stephanie taught me all about contour (It's magic, y'all.), fitted me with false eyelashes, and curled my hair. Caron looked gorgeous and was just floating. When we left, we looked and felt fantastic! Then, it was a short elevator ride up to our room, where we changed into our fanciest sequins and walked back across the street to the Bellagio. 

Two sparkly ladies in the Bellagio Conservatory! 

Before meeting Rob and Matt for dinner, we wanted to check out Bellagio's conservatory, which was beautifully decorated for the Chinese New Year! 2023 is the Year of the Rabbit, and the whole area was lavishly fitted out to suit - fountains and pools, towering pagodas, and sweet little bunnies. We admired the display (and Bellagio's Chihuly ceiling - one of his most significant pieces of work) before making our way to the Cosmopolitan. We'd chosen to have dinner at SuperFrico, and we didn't want to be late! 

First off, I may have to stay at the Cosmopolitan the next time I'm in Vegas. It felt so young and fun, and I LOVED the Chandelier Bar! (We didn't have time to have a drink there, but I so wanted to!) Might be a nice change of pace, and it's still pretty centrally located! 

Did our table of four eat this whole pound of mozzarella cheese?
Yes. Yes, we did. 

Once we located the restaurant, we met up with Rob and Matt. Then, we were led through a very moodily-lit dining room to a great table. We decided to start with the restaurant's hand-pulled mozzarella appetizer, and it was a treat! The staff pull the cheese table side, and they serve it with the most delicious platter of nibbles - good bread, olives, roasted peppers, fresh tomato, prosciutto. DIVINE. I washed it down with their Emma-ReNAe cocktail - a gorgeous concoction of bourbon, honey, lemon and ginger. Then, I had a lovely plate of duck confit pappardelle. 

Jugglers at SuperFrico!

During dinner, performance artists would occasionally rotate through the space. We saw acrobats as well as a team of two men who juggled glowing rings! Costumed performers also made their way through the dining area - a giant eyeball in an astronaut suit, a dapper penguin. The whole thing was just wild and fun. We had such a great time here! 

After dinner, we caught an Uber to the Colosseum at Caesar's. We scanned our tickets at the door, stopped by the bar for a drink (Prosecco. Yum!), and headed to our seats. 

And then, y'all. AND THEN. Adele blew the doors off the place. She started with Hello (of course), but went one to sing favorites from all of her albums. Confetti fell from the ceiling, flames and rain appeared on stage, giant screens projected close-ups, she came out into the audience, she shot T-shirts into the balcony - It was all just so much fun. She was marvelous! We sang, we danced, and I even got a little misty during Someone Like You! All of the waiting was worth it. She put on a hell of a show. 

When it was over, we were far too hyped up to go to bed. We spent a little time gambling on the casino floor (Matt was up nearly $200 at one point, but he couldn't stop flirting with the one-armed bandit, and so he eventually lost the $100 he started with. Rob and I kept telling him to CASH OUT!), and then we ducked into The Palm for espresso martinis and desserts. The food and drinks were excellent, but even better was the sweet company and conversation! (Caron and I have decided that we could go to A LOT more concerts with Rob and Matt. They are our kind of people.) 

Finally, The Palm told us they were closing up, so we took that as our cue to go. We got a car back to the Paris, washed our faces, changed into our PJs, and tumbled into sweet, musical sleep!

Adele. Was. FANTASTIC!

Day 3

Sunday was our last full day in Vegas, and you know I had a plan. After sleeping in (because we'd been up rather late the night before), we showered, donned our hiking gear, and went down to the Enterprise rental car desk at the Paris to pick up the SUV we'd rented for the day.

After a bit of a wait, we were all fixed up. We navigated the vehicle out of the parking garage and headed for the Welcome to the Fabulous Las Vegas sign! In all of my years of visiting Vegas, I'd never made it to the sign. It was still fairly early, and it was a beautiful day, so I figured we had the perfect chance at a great photo op.

Brunching at Gabi Coffee and Bakery

We found it without any trouble, parked, and got in the short line to get our pictures. (FYI - There was a man at the front of the line, directing folks and taking pictures of them with their phones. He's not affiliated with Las Vegas or the sign, and he was actually holding up the line quite a bit. Folks moved much quicker on their own, as you can also take photos from either side so as to crop out other visitors. I don't like the idea of handing my phone to a stranger, anyway, so we took our own pics here.)

After that short stop, we were jonesing for some brunch. Again, @vegasstarfish had recommended a local bakery near Chinatown, so we decided to check it out. Gabi Coffee and Bakery was completely charming! The establishment doesn't even have a sign, so it feels like a discovery. When you go inside, it's a large, open space, with a pretty little greenhouse inside. And in the greenhouse, they are making some DELICIOUS food. I got an avocado toast topped with prosciutto, an egg, and tons of greens. It was a huge portion, and very filling. But not too filling for me to sample dessert! Their sweets are works of art, and I chose two lovely, creme-filled macarons to finish. Delightful! Caron had a quiche with a side salad and a slice of red velvet cake. 

We loved this place. The decor was beautiful, the food was delicious, and the desserts were divine. 

After eating, we got back into the SUV and headed for Valley of Fire State Park. This place had been on my list for a few months due to its interesting rock formations, including the Fire Wave. It's about an hour outside of town, so I'd never been. But we had a vehicle and a gorgeous day, so off we went!

The Fire Wave formation at Valley of Fire State Park. Gorgeous.

Our GPS got us there without incident, we paid the $15 gate fee, and in we went. We stopped first at the Beehive formations, which were gorgeous against the blue, blue sky. Then, we navigated to the Visitor's Center, where we learned more about the park, bought a few items in the gift shop, and got our bearings. After that, we decided to head straight to the Fire Wave hike, a 1.5-mile, out-and-back jaunt. We got to the trailhead, parked the car, and headed out! 

This is a pretty easy trail. There's a little bit of elevation/gravel at the beginning, and then some at the end (if you go all the way down to the bottom of the Fire Wave), but most of the trail is pretty level. There were some people on the trail, but not too many, so there were opportunities to stretch out and enjoy the wide, open spaces. 

We made friends with a herd of big horn sheep!

The Fire Wave itself is a beautiful study in striation. It's a sedimentary swirl of pink, white and red sandstone dating from the Jurassic period, and it is a wonder. We enjoyed the views for a bit before hiking back.

On our way back, the sky began to darken, and the wind picked up. We made it back to the car and decided to head back towards the entrance to the park, making a few stops along the way. We stopped first at Fire Canyon Overlook, where you can get great views from your parked car! We got out a second and took it all in, and I was really glad we did. Because WE SAW TWO HERDS OF BIG HORN SHEEP! Now, you KNOW my track record of seeing wildlife in the actual wild is abysmal, but I'm telling you that these sheep were RIGHT THERE, close to us. They were completely unbothered by our presence, grazing away. We stood there for a while and just watched them. A magical experience.

Mouse's Tank Road

We also stopped at Mouse's Tank Road. I'd seen a great shot of this online, and I was trying to figure out how to take a similar photo myself. On the way back, I saw it - a long view of the narrow road, with rock cliffs rising on either side and the peak of a mountain in the distance. Success! You could pull your car over, climb up a tower of rock, and get a fantastic view. Loved this. 

After that, we had to high-tail it back to town, as we needed time to shower before dinner and a show that night! We returned the car, ran through the shower, gussied up (More sequins!) and made it to The Bedford in time for dinner at 5:15 p.m. We'd been walking past this Martha Stewart-branded restaurant all week, and we were excited to try it! We ordered cocktails (sour cherry mojito - mmmmmm), then started out with the delicious crab cake. Then, it was on to dinner. I had the scallops on a bed of lemony risotto, and Caron chose the Couscous Royale. Both were excellent, and service was both impeccable and speedy at this restaurant. A fantastic start to the night!

Sated, we headed back to the Bellagio to see O!, a Cirque show with water elements. We scanned our tickets, settled into our seats, and were transported to another world for a couple of hours. Acrobatics, clowns, dancers, singers, fire, swimmers, trapeze artists, water, aerialists - this show has it all. It was incredibly evocative and beautiful. Color, motion, light, sound. Highly, highly recommended. 

Sour cherry mojitos at The Bedford

We still had a little juice left in us after the show, so we stopped by Vanderpump á Paris on the way back to our room for drinks and dessert. What a gorgeous place! It's like being in a French garden, with huge flowered chandeliers, roses festooning plush banquettes, and beautiful cocktails. I chose the frosé Royale, which was a nearly bowl-sized stemmed glass full of vodka, rose, elderflower, lemon, and strawberry, studded with flowers. Caron chose a similarly flashy drink - the Louvre at First Sight. It's a mezcal drink, with prickly pear, lemon, and orange bitters, but the beauty is in the presentation. The drink comes to the table in a lovely glass pyramid filled with hickory smoke. Quite the show! We also ordered the creme brûlée beignets to share. All of the food and drinks here were delicious, and we loved the atmosphere! Two thumbs up!

Day 4

We slept in, then got delicious berry crepes downstairs at the Paris. Then, we did a little shopping at the resort before cleaning up, packing up, and catching an Uber to the airport. Honestly, I never thought I'd love Vegas, but after this trip? We got so lucky with our restaurant and bar choices, and the shows were AMAZING! Can't wait to come back! 

We'll be back, Vegas!