Tervis - Goldfish with Lid

New thing today, bought and used my new favorite Tervis cup. Got it in Vegas at their Tervis store at the Mile shops in Planet Hollywood. This one was actually on my Christmas list, but I took it off because I thought it would be silly. Then imagine our trip we run into a full fledged Tervis store (love it) and I had to get it! It's Goldfish with Lid. So fun. Looks like you have fish swimming in your drink!

Outdoor World - Bass Pro Shop - Las Vegas

New thing today, went to the Outdoor World Bass Pro Shop in Las Vegas. This place was a ton of fun and insanely weird, cool and bizarre. After the urban of Las Vegas, we remembered that we wanted to see this place on our way out. What we found was a Disney type Wonderland of outdoor hunting, camping, fishing stuff. The parking spaces are lined with fish outlines. You step through the entrance and it's this grand log cabin filled with stuffed heads, antlers, animals and all sorts of goodies. There were a few waterfalls inside, a little game shooting range, a small archery range inside, a giant aquarium in the casino next door and just neat scenery and stuff. I love this place and would gladly come back next time we're in Vegas. It's just a fun different type place in the area. I highly recommend!

Internet Photos - Fishing area

Main Hall Area

Casino next door has a giant aquarium and mermaid shows - MERMAID shows! We will have to make it and see it sometime, but here's a photo.

BINGO - The Palace Station

New thing today, played BINGO in Vegas at the Palace Station. I've only played BINGO once or twice when I was a kid, and I remember it being pretty basic and boring. THIS BINGO in Vegas was something else. There were a bunch of cards, fast calling and different types of BINGO. We ended up having a lot of fun and feeling a lot of stress trying to keep up as newbies to the game. Definitely grown up and a lot of fun. I would play again, a little wiser and hopefully less stressful and a little luckier. Surprisingly fun!

Wicked Spoon - Cosmopolitan Hotel Las Vegas

New thing today, tried Wicked Spoon at the Cosmopolitan Hotel Las Vegas. Let me just say I love the Cosmopolitan Hotel. It's very swanky, posh and cool. I even love their commercial Misfit Right In. I heard fabulous things about Wicked Spoon so we were excited to try it out.

I was a little disappointed, but it was still a really cool place. Ambiance - FABULOUS. The place feels so cool and posh. Service - EXCELLENT! Presentation - AMAZING. If you love beautiful food, this is not your typical cattle call buffet. It's artsy, and they had insanely small cute pretty and artsy dishes you would see on Top Chef. Everything looked amazing. They kick up their dishes with Foie Gras, Truffle Oil and decadent ingredients. Taste - I'd say half and half. Half the dishes were good to excellent. The other half were just average/ok. If you love dessert this place is incredible as there's an entire island dedicated to little desserts and a gelato bar. An EXCELLENT in desserts and such.

Overall my favorite dish was a Foie Gras shot glass thing with a vinaigrette jello or something that just tasted amazing but I wasn't sure if it was a dressing, topping, or something. Whatever it was, it was really yum. Desserts were excellent - my favorite the coconut maroons. Pizza and bread were pretty amazing too. Shrimp was anything and muscles were incredible. I was disappointed by the fried chicken wings, truffle potatoes, steak, sushi (or lack thereof), and all. We tried too many dishes to remember them all. I would go again except I would maybe choose lunch instead of dinner, and be willing to try more things. The seafood was excellent, but the other meats not so much.

Enjoy!

Also here's the Misfit Right In commercial I was talking about :)

Stratosphere - Big Shot

New thing today, rode the Las Vegas Stratosphere ride - Big Shot. It's the ride that goes up and down the needle on the top of the Stratosphere. It is amazingly fun and I haven't had butterflies like those in years.

We were in Vegas, and someone in our group wanted to try a ride. We got a tower ticket plus a ride ticket, and decided to do the Big Shot ride. It just goes up and down, seems safe enough, and well looked fun. The freefall feeling lasted quite a bit and we rode at night so it was an amazing skyline and just felt like you were on top of the world, floating and getting butterflies. Pretty fabulous.

I would go again. I recommend it for anyone wanting to do a ride at Vegas Stratosphere tower!

I Love Burger - Palazzo - Las Vegas

New thing of the day, my review of I Love Burger at the Palazzo Las Vegas. I was very excited to try this place, as the menu looked amazing.

Caprese Burger - eh ok. Husband thought it was just ok, better than average but not great either.

Wagyu Kobe Truffle Garlic burger - disappointing! It looked so promising on the menu. Meat was undercooked and cold. I was so sad because it looked so good. I probably should have sent it back but oh well. The crispy prosciutto was pretty good though.

Poutine Fries - saving grace. These were quite good. Had mushrooms, brown gravy, onions, cheese & yummy goodness. Mmmmmm.

I also got a special soda something that was alcoholic. I remember that being quite tasty and red, but I don't remember what it was called.

In the end, we did NOT love the burgers, but fries & drink were worth it! I would try it again. Maybe it was a bad burger night for them - but shouldn't their burgers knock it out of the park? Eh.

Purses!

New thing today, sharing my bag purchases. I don't gamble but I like to shop. They have so much shopping on the way to Vegas and in Vegas. I'm a purseaholic.

We went to the Las Vegas Premium Outlets. Make sure to bring your AAA membership card to the info booth and you'll get a discount coupon book. That saved me a good amount of money. You get the book free with AAA membership or just pay $5 for the coupons.

Below are the name brand bags I got at a ridiculous amazing discount. The styles are old and it seems like they were getting rid of their stock, but I didn't care! A great bag is a great bag. The outlet also has the biggest LeSportSac store of bags I've ever seen. Pretty fun!

I also splurged on a checkered black & white with red strap bag below from a booth at Caesar's Palace called Ollin Arm Candy. They recycle materials and fold up old candy wrappers to make the plastic pattern. I'm sure you've seen these types of bags around. I thought it was super cool and couldn't resist.

I love bags. I think I probably have too many. Anyway these are the latest! Great sales!

Ginseng 3 - 24 hour Asian food - Las Vegas

New thing of the day, ate at Ginseng 3 - 24 hour Asian food - Korean, Japanese & Chinese cuisine at the Quad.

It was surprisingly delish! I was a little worried as it was generic Asian food and in a Vegas hotel, might be more of a rip off or just whatever food. We were hungry around midnight so we tried it. VERY GOOD FOOD!

It might be a bit weird/hard to find. You have to find signs and take 3 escalators up to the 5th floor. Then it's this little restaurant.

Egg Rolls - Eh OK. No photos but these were ok.

Sushi Combo B - 8 pieces of eel rolls and tuna, salmon and snapper sushi. Excellent!

Pineapple sorbet in a pineapple - Really tasty!

The place seems to be a family run place - with good food, 24 hours, and reasonable Vegas prices, check it out :)

High Roller - World's Largest Observation Ferris Wheel - Las Vegas

New thing of the day, some photos from building of the High Roller - World's Largest Observation Ferris Wheel - Las Vegas.

I originally saw the article in the LA Times - Las Vegas: High Roller Ferris wheel changes the city skyline again. We happened to be staying at The Quad (previously Imperial Palace) where our room had an awesome view of the wheel being built. It will be ready in 2014. In the meantime, it was incredibly interesting to see and we can't wait to try it when it opens.

Here are some photos from our trip of the wheel. Very exciting and cool.

Wikipedia Article - High Roller Ferris Wheel Las Vegas 

Time Article - Largest Ferris Wheel Near Completion in Las Vegas

Views from our hotel room

From Koval Lane, behind the Vegas Strip

Driving by the Wheel

Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health - Las Vegas

New thing, saw up close the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas. We were driving on the 15 in Las Vegas going places, and out the window I got a glimpse of this building. It looked really cool, so when we were leaving Downtown Freemont Street, I asked the husband to drive towards the area. It's near the Las Vegas Premium Outlets too.

This building is way cool. It reminds me of the LA Walt Disney Concert Hall. We drove around twice and I took photos. Anyway photos speak louder than words. Look up the images on Google and check out my photos - very neat :) You might want to drive by it if you're in the area.

Gordon Ramsay's Pub & Grill - Las Vegas Caesar's Palace

New thing today, food review of Gordon Ramsay's Pub & Grill in Caesar's Palace Las Vegas. We ate there twice during our trip, and overall it was good, not great, but overall pretty good, ok like a 7 out of 10 or so. I love the service and oddly enough also love the wait staff's uniforms. They wear these rocker weird getups. The girls have cute outfits, waitresses have a printed black and white pattern and the hostess has like a newsprint dress which is very cool. The guys all wear these suspender things - I guess it's a pub German rocker feel or something, but I like the outfits. The atmosphere is very cool casual. They have comfy chairs, living room feeling settings and lots of TVs playing the latest games.

My favorite thing I tried was probably the mustard that came with the pretzel breadsticks for dinner. It was amazing. The pretzel breadsticks were super yummy too, but the mustard - OHHHHH! It also came with a horseradish sauce that was also super tasty.

The Magic Hat #9 - I just had to try this beer just from the name. Good stuff and I was glad I got to try a new beer. Haven't had a new beer in ages :)

Bangers and Mash - Lunch. The mashed potatoes excellent. The bangers were good. The gravy sauce was a little too sweet for me. I noticed that the more beer I had, the better the bangers tasted. If it's paired with the beer it's far tastier. Overall quite good.

Truffle Fries - Lunch. Yum! I preferred regular fries though. Truffle fries came with some killer aioli sauce though. Ok to good if you like truffle fries.

Regular Fries - AMAZING! The fries are thick cut yum. I don't even like thick cut fries but they're good. The lunch fries were better than the dinner fries. 

Pub Burger - Lunch. Delish! I was jealous of my husband's order and he really liked it - excellent and well done burger & fries. They did this basic very well!

Rillettes of Duck and Pork - Dinner. It's like pate and pretty good. I like pate. The husband preferred the duck and I prefer pork. Also a new thing, I haven't ever had rillettes before, so it was interesting appetizer. Came with thick crunch outside bread, the killer mustard and pickled veggies.

Fish and Chips - Dinner. Tasty and good. Husband liked the mushy peas. I thought overall it was good but not anything incredible.

Braised Pork Belly - Dinner. Excellently and expertly cooked. Super fatty and unhealthy. I prefer more salt and seasoning, but it had really great texture. If you want a fatty soft and juicy meat, that's not beef, then this is quite good. It has a thin slightly crisp outside and the rest is soft. 

So that's what we thought of the Ramsay Pub & Grill. I'm a fan of the TV chef with Kitchen Nightmares and all. I love pubs, and his pub was good to great. 

Price - It's a lot pricer than we can regularly afford. I think the irritating thing about expensive places is the food has to be awesome to impress me. It can't just be good if I'm paying $40-$50 for my meal. So overall this was a little disappointing just being "good" and not every bite divine. But if we found this hole in the wall pub, and the dishes were less expensive, I'd recommend this place to give the people good business. Ramsay needs very little good press, and the food here is good if you can afford it. 

Variety - The trouble is, we only had 2 meals here. I would have gladly come here multiple times as I was curious about a ton of dishes on the menu. I'd say fair maybe 5 times, try all the different dishes, then put in my final review. For the 2 meals we had, it was good. I would demand the mustard and the fries again, and maybe the Magic Hat #9, just for sentimental reasons. Have a drink, relax and try something new at this place. 

Penn & Teller Show - Rio Las Vegas

New thing today, went to a Penn & Teller show at the Rio in Las Vegas. We were excited, as my husband is a fan of magic and we heard great things about the show, so we were looking forward to it. My overall feeling about it was "eh" and I don't know if we'd see another show of theirs. Here's the breakdown.

Really great stuff - there were two acts/tricks that we absolutely loved and were impressed with. One was an elaborate coin trick from an aquarium and it was really neat. The other was a video trick done with a TV projector screen at the top and the act at the bottom. Those were really fun tricks and their magic was good. My husband also got a kick of a gruesome and funny moment with the sawing in half trick. They poked fun and had jokes and a sense of playfulness in their show - not taking magic too seriously and showing people these are just fun tricks, not serious magic. They also like to show you how they did it in some of their acts, which is just neat. Also I think the pairing of Penn and Teller is good. I personally favor Teller, as he is the quiet straight guy to Penn's more chatty and showman character. Although Penn can be loquacious and tiring in my opinion, they're both a good match for each other and enhance each other on stage. Alone I believe they wouldn't be as memorable or successful.

The bad news - some parts got really long and preachy. I'm not sure how much of the chat was setup for their act, but a lot of times it felt very preachy with a lot of talk. We actually like their show Bullshit! which talks about some great issues and brings some interesting, different and thoughtful perspective into a lot of things. Some of the acts in this show felt like mini Bullshit episodes, except we came to see a magic show. We're in Vegas and here for a not so serious fun time. Although they have some very important and poignant points they make, such as freedom of speech and their discussion on the 4th Amendment and metal detectors at airports, I felt like there wasn't a whole lot of magic in those acts. We also had seats a bit far away, and we used to go to the Magic Castle in LA, so we're used to seeing magic closer up and I enjoy the theater of it all, but it just felt long and far away and at times I just got bored. Maybe there were a lot of long acts or maybe I just like things quick. It just felt really long at times. I was so glad when it was over, sad to say.

The mixed review - the bad and good. They do this really cool thing where they go outside after the show and hang out with people afterwards - photos, autographs and such. I thought that was really really great, except the way they hang out with people is they just stand in the entrance/exit area hallway and cause traffic as people are leaving. There should be a designated roped off area for people who want to meet and see them, and people who want to just leave, not have one hallway for everyone. Maybe I just want something a little more organized. I got very nervous and freaked out at the amount of people crammed into the hallway and the stampede type shoulder to shoulder crushing crowd feeling - I do not like that. There were people standing/loitering and trying to get near the magicians, mixed in with people trying to find their way out. It just felt a little claustrophobic to me. But I'm glad they do go outside and hang with the crowd afterwards - incredibly cool.

So that was that. It's just my opinion. I know a lot of people loved the show, and I'm glad they did. It just didn't really turn me on or get me that interested. Maybe it was an off night for us or them. I don't doubt their magic is very good and they totally had me looking in the wrong direction and they did dazzle with some of their tricks, but in the end I was a little tired and bored. Overall "eh" for me. I hope more people liked them then didn't though. They're a good pair, and its a good show, running 12 years (so they say but never trust a magician :)) at the Rio and counting. In the spirit of Penn & Teller - Don't just read my review, see it and judge for yourself! You may think I'm full of it.

Dock Dogs

New thing today, watched Dock Dogs. I had never heard of it before either. We were waiting for a show at the Rio Las Vegas (which I will blog about another day), when there was a fair going on outside the hotel. We decided to go check it out. I had seen the local news talk about the Dock Dogs competition, but I didn't realize how much fun it would be live. 

Basically the one we saw was a jumping competition. The dogs are trained to run, jump and catch a floating stick in their mouth, and then their fall is caught by a large pool of water. The location of the stick changes height and length and dogs are eliminated over time as the stick changes positions. 

It's super fun and cute to see the dogs get excited, their owners pep talk the dogs into jumping, and then the athleticism and acrobatics as the dogs go for the bone. Some dogs are itching to jump. Some miscalculate the distance of the bone. Some get super excited and then don't jump and stand on the edge. Some can't find the bone or see it. One dog missed the bone, but when he fell in the water, he kept swimming up right under the bone, trying to swim under, jump and get it. One dog missed the bone then immediately jumped back onto the ramp, and before they could reset everything, made another go for it. Anyway it's fun and cute. 

It is super cool when they do get the bone! The crowd is also highly invested, cheering along and ahhhhhs of sadness when the dog misses, or shouts of Ya and joy when the dog makes it :)

This might have been the coolest unexpected activity we stumbled upon. It was ridiculously fun and surprising how entertaining it was. Wholesome fun in the city of Sin :) I highly recommend going to something like this if you can!

Bellagio water show with Panorama shot

New thing today, took a panorama shots during the Bellagio water fountain show in Las Vegas. The photos turned out Fab! Also, we were blessed with a beautiful moon.

I personally think the show looks most beautiful when watching it from the Bellagio, with the Paris and strip behind the show. Most people see the show facing towards the Bellagio with the Bellagio behind it. I personally love the view from the back, looking out to the strip :) maybe it's because the moon was there. How romantic either way.

Rock of Ages - Venetian Las Vegas

New thing today, we saw the Rock of Ages musical at The Venetian in Las Vegas. It was awesome and nothing but a good time. It's a musical based on hair metal rock from the 80s. Husband and I enjoyed the movie as we also loved this live show. The stories are different and the songs are a little different too, but we love both versions.

Another thing I really love about this show is the fun and campiness of the whole thing. It's very cheeky. Makes you laugh and not take anything too seriously, but also speaks to your inner rocker.

We got there early and got upgraded to the 2nd row middle!!! Amazing seats!!! Felt like a rockstar! The music and show were all great.

At the end we were very enthusiastic and a little sad to hear it all end. That's when they set you up to go to the Bourban room. See rocker guy with flashing lights and arrows on his body and crotch. He has a megaphone to direct you to the Bourban room, where if you bought a ticket, you get a free shot. It was delish and they kept the party vibe going with an air guitar contest and music to rock out and dance too. The host after hours was a little cruise ship cheesy at certain parts "where you all from?" and "Texas in the house!" getting the crowd loosened up and all that, but we still had fun.

Overall if you like rock music, you may love this musical :) I saw plenty of dudes rocking out and I might say even enjoying it more than their dates or wives. It's a little raunchy and CPU but excellent music and great fun! Best show I've seen so far in Vegas!

Mob Museum Las Vegas Downtown

New thing today, checked out the Mob Museum in Las Vegas. Very cool! It's more like interactive history that brings the Mafia to life. I learned about how the organized crime and gang families rose, and some interesting stories about mobsters, police, witnesses and all that stuff. They also go into stories of the Mafia in movies, pop culture & tv. It is very interesting. Tons of media and interactive touch screens. My favorite was "catch the grift" or something like that, where they show casino footage and you have to find the cheater or scam, and they explain how the players were cheating.

The museum has a nice tone to it. It doesn't glorify the Mafia, but shows the gritty hard dark edge to the world. It shows the great rise of the Mafia empires and the violence and competition within the world. It shows the danger of that lifestyle, both within the Mafia and as the people fighting to bring it down. I suppose it's most like being witness to the rise and fall of empires, with dramatic and intense characters, battles, alliances, strategy, business and all that stuff.

It starts off with a police lineup where you can stand there like you're a bad guy in a Usual Suspects lineup. They have a few gun shooting interactive games. It shows the perspective of the police trying to take down these murderous cold blooded thugs. It goes into undercover work of cops and the intrigue behind people who fought the Mob.

They have REAL artifacts. The Valentines Day Massacre wall, suits & personal items of mobsters, real guns and weapons on display and all sorts of stuff. There's great style to the building and 20s Art Deco style to the place. The museum is in a converted courthouse where real investigations into organized crime occurred. They have real photos and footage of grizzly murders and hits "Mob's Greatest Hits" and all.

I now want to watch all the tv and movies about Mafia. I love the Godfather, Casino and the Departed. We have Boardwalk Empire on our Netflix Queue and I want to add The Sopranos, Donnie Brasco, Goodfellas and all sorts of other movies. Some of the real life stories were incredible and you appreciate the movies more as you can totally tell the stories behind the Police & Mafia inspired those movies or tv shows.

I highly recommend this activity to anyone visiting Las Vegas. There's so much info. Could take 2 hours or 4 depending on your level of interest. Nice thing is you buy an all day pass, so go, take a break, and if you want, go back later. It's about a block away from Fremont Street so good to go while you're down there and maybe make a day of Downtown Las Vegas. It's a lot of good stuff to take in all at once. I glazed over a lot and I'm not telling you everything, so you should go because you'll get something else or more out of it.

I recommend doing research and watching movies, tv or documentaries before you go - so when you're standing in front of the exhibit, you really appreciate and understand the significance of seeing this stuff in person. A very neat museum.