Viva Las Vegas Strikes Back

That's right folks, we've now been to Vegas twice in less than a year. And I gotta say, I can't wait to go back again. 

This time we went with friends. I wasn't sure how much I was going to like being there with others. There's so much I want to do in Vegas that I was feeling sort of selfish and not really wanting to compromise going into the trip (Mr. Rogers would be disappointed in me), but I just kept telling myself that I will go back again to see a Blues game eventually. 

Last time we stayed in old Vegas off Fremont street, this time we stayed on the main strip in the Sahara. 

The Sahara might be the most perfect hotel in Vegas for me. 

It's on the very north side of the strip, so if I need a break from what is essentially a giant mall with slot machines, I can get there easily. 

It also doesn't get a lot of spillover from the "normies" staying at the more southern hotels. (Normies is the term I'll use for bachelor parties, boys night out, bachelorette parties, sun burned dads drinking Mic Ultra, and sun burned mom's pulling the slot handle) 

The Sahara also has access to the city's tram system, which we heard complaints about, but it served us very well. We saved probably $80 in Lyfts using it. 

Thursday

This time, we arrived on Thursday night, basically dropped our bags, and went to Magic Mike Live. Yes, you heard that right, the first thing I did was go to a male dance and strip show. (Note: There wasn't any true nudity, it was down to their underwear. The closest we got was a cowboy covering his parts with a hat)

It was a little overwhelming at first. The theater seated like 300 people, and 296 of those people were bachelorette parties or birthday parties and these drunk ladies were loud. The music was loud. The lights were somehow also loud. I was overstimulated. 

Then about halfway through the show, the dancers started playing instruments and serenading ladies and from then on, I was having a great time. It was like they needed to blow off a bunch of steam and then they were just chill. 

Shoutout to our server, Dan, whom when he found out I was Dan, gave us extra drinks every round. He also kept putting his strong, yet soft hands on my shoulder whenever he would lean over to get a new drink order. He may have had a crush on me. I'm unsure, but strangely ok with it. 

Toward the end of the show, the 14 dancers dispersed to the crowd to make sure every table got a piece of a guy up close and personal. At our table, I was picked to rub the chest and abs of a dancer that looked like clean-cut Ryan O' Reilley. Lauren also was pulled into a quick dance. 

We were pretty tired after Magic Mike and ended up having a nightcap and going to bed relatively early. 

Friday

The next day, we had some fantastic sandwiches at The Goodwich. You might be saying, "Why do you need to bring up a sandwich place? We have those everywhere." This one was forth place in the country on Yelp last year and it lived up to the hype. 

Next we went to Zak Bagan's The Haunted Museum. This was on my list for the last trip and we just couldn't carve 2 hours out to get there. 

Holy crap, I was not ready for this museum. I thought it was going to be sort of kitschy, but it's insane. They have the exorcism kit from the real life events that inspired the "Exorcism of Emily Rose", they had Charles Manson's ashes, they had Dr. Kevorkian's suicide van,  Ed Gein's shovel and cauldron he used to make human leather, they had a haunted doll in a room with a spirit box (every now and then words would pop up), and the most terrifying and overwhelming hallway where you have to pass through a couple dozen clowns. 

The museum was very cool and unique, but we had to come down after that. You can tell when we were in the museum looking at my heart rate from my Fitbit. 

We ended up a Hudl brewing, a place Sal and I went in October, to have a beer and let our heart rates come down. Then to an awesome bookstore called The Writer's Block and picked up a couple souvenirs. 

That night, we had an incredible meal at Tom Colicchio's Craftsteak. This is going to go down as one of the top ten steaks I've ever had, top five cocktails, and definitely a top ten, maybe top five meals of all time. 

Then we did Vegas, did a little gambling, and ultimately stayed up way too late watching a guy at the Sahara gamble with several thousands of dollars at Roulette. 

Saturday

The only thing we had planned on Saturday was dinner and a concert Sal and Lauren were going to. 

We started the day at an Anthony Bourdain recommendation, The Peppermill Lounge. It was busy. 

Luckily, they had a full service bar and we were able to get some of the best spicy Bloody Mary's I've ever had. And after an hour of waiting, I had one of the best diner turkey clubs I've ever had. All and all, thumbs up.

We wanted to visit the Mermaid Lounge, but couldn't get ahold of anyone to see if there were reservations available. So we called an audible, we were going to into the heart of the strip starting at the Venetian. 

Sal and I mostly stayed out of the huge casino/hotel/resorts last time. We dipped our toes into the MGM Grand and Paris, but didn't really spend meaningful time at any of them. 

The Venetian is an abomination on this planet. I can't decide if I felt it was gaudy or impressive. It's like Dad Disney world.

The entirety of the inside is made up to look like Venice, fake sky and all. But most of the entertainment were things like "The Dead in the Sphere" or "Yacht Rock Party" with art galleries that had paintings of Jerry Garcia and Steven Tyler. There was a sports bar around every corner. In between the sports bars were stores I'd call, "I should get my wife something." Expensive jewelry, purses, candies, flowers, and wine. 

The highlight was me winning about $30 in roulette and Sal taking that money and turning it into $150 on blackjack. 

We then braved the 112 degree weather and wandered 15 minutes over to Ceasar's Palace which was more the same. Giant fountains decorated with statues of Roman gods. Confusing signs to make sure you spent as much time in their mall and casino.

We thought we had plenty of time, so we made a quick stop into the Vanderpump Cocktail garden, but service was slow. We waited almost 20 minutes for our check. And we were lost in the casino. 

We were running late, so after navigating through the Flamingo to the monorail, we got to the hotel room, did a quick shower, change of clothes, and hopped back on the monorail to get to the MGM Grand stop where we ate at Chin Chin in the New York, New York Casino. 

The ladies went to see Megan Thee Stallion while Ryan and I hung out in the MGM Grand drinking old fashioned waiting for the concert to end. 

Sunday

Sunday we rented a cabana at the pool in the Sahara. I didn't last long. The sugary drinks they were serving and the heat conspired to make me feel sick. I took a nap. 

We spent a little time gambling, but were really burning time until we had dinner at Balla Italian Soul. 

It was a nice leisurely meal to finish the trip on. Food was great, the service a little awkward. But it netted out as a good one.