Today was fairly low key regarding classes. We attended sessions in the morning and were scheduled to work as volunteers through the lunch meeting. When we went to the volunteer/registration counter to sign in, we were told that we weren't needed...that the election of officers for the group was not going to require more than a few people and that they had that covered. Hooray! We didn't want to do it anyway, so this allowed us to eat and get out of there a whole lot quicker.
After the crazy lunch of a lasagna piece with a blanched carrot and string bean on top (really, that is what it was!) and a strange cookie-crust custard thing, we grabbed my son and husband and took off.
We went to the Stratosphere to ride the rides. Seriously. If you've ever been to Las Vegas, you'll know the Stratosphere is on the north end of the strip and towers above the landscape. About ten years ago, at another conference at the same hotel, I went with my daughter to ride the Big Shot on the top of the Stratosphere. Back then there were two rides on the top - the Big Shot and a roller coaster than curled around the top. I would never in a million years have done the coaster. I mean, come on! It was insane to think about it. Here's some footage of the coaster from YouTube:
But the Big Shot just goes straight up and straight back down. You start on concrete, you land on concrete if the worst should happen. Seems better, somehow, than going in a circle around the outside edge of the top of the building and if you fell, it'd be straight down to the street. Here's a sample of the ride from YouTube:
It goes up so fast, it's insane. I had forgotten that part, however, when I agreed to go again with my son. It is one incredible rush and my son, who had never been on the ride, yelled as loud as he could. Didn't help, but made him feel better.
To make it worse, he wanted to ride their newest ride, Insanity. Here's how this one goes, once more courtesy of YouTube:
And there's more - they have one more ride but neither one of us had the guts to go on it. It's called the X-Scream and it is insane. Here it is from YouTube:
It just dangles right out over NOTHING. NOTHING. No way would I ride that thing!
After the fun of the Stratosphere, we headed back to our hotel for the conference banquet. The DH didn't want to go, so only my son, my co-worker and I went. It was the WORST banquet I have ever been to. The food selection was incomprehensible. It still don't understand who make those choices. The meat was beef with small rolls to eat it with. That was pretty normal. Next to it was a Louisiana "station" with white rice, red beans, shrimp to be cooked and some kind of crazy chicken sauce thing.
The "fresh vegetables" were actually roasted carrots, zucchini, cherry tomatoes...it was so strange! No dip, nothing to eat with them.
The dessert, rather than a collection of cakes/pies, etc. was the only bright spot. But if you didn't like it, you were out of luck. It was one thing only - bananas foster. Vanilla ice cream with a rum-based banana laden sauce on top. It was good, but the other stuff was blah. Needless to say, I didn't stay long. We ate what we could and went out for one last "fling" at the casino.
I won $33.00 on slots, so I quit. That leaves me down about $30.00 for the trip. Not bad, really.
We went to bed early due to the long travel day the next day. Didn't help. It took 14 hours to get home in total. Yep. One layover, one delay and an hour car trip at the end.
Guess I won't complain. I was happy to be back home. Traveling is fun...returning has its own charm as well.
Showing posts with label Las Vegas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Las Vegas. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Las Vegas Day 5
Today we had labs - those are sessions that are hands on with the software. I love those. I learn so much more by doing instead of being lectured. I was happy that these particular labs covered problem areas of the reporting software and I learned a number of tricks - some useful, some not so much. Doesn't matter, I still would rather have a day of hands on than a day of sitting still.
For dinner my co-worker, my son and I went to Tom Colicchio's Craftsteak restaurant. In case that name isn't familiar he is the head judge on Bravo's reality cooking show Top Chef.
The restaurant is beautiful. All wood and metal.
We all decided to eat from the Spring Tasting Menu. For $60 per person, we had a huge dinner served family style.
The first course was:
Shaved fennel salad
Grilled quail, vincotto
Buffalo mozzarella, red pepper caponata
Persian cucumber, lemon vinaigrette
Main Course was:
Prime Beef Flatiron
Grilled Angus Skirt Steak
Diver Sea Scallops
Side Dishes:
Yukon Gold Potato Puree
Sugar Snap Peas, Ricotta Salata
Roasted Shiitake Mushrooms
Dessert:
Chocolate melted cake with vanilla bean ice cream
Rhubarb Crisp with Vanilla bean ice cream
Carmelized Monkey bread with Banana ice cream
The entire dinner was possibly the best food I have ever eaten. I have never had quail and it was wonderful. My favorite thing was the Angus Skirt Steak. It melted in the mouth. Next favorite was the potato puree. Unbelievable.
This restaurant has just become my favorite place in Las Vegas to eat.
After dinner we walked over from the MGM where the restaurant is located to the ESPN Zone in the New York, New York casino/hotel. Bought a few things for the grandkids and returned to the MGM to leave.
Back at the hotel I resisted the urge to gamble again. I'll play tomorrow night (our last night here) for a bit, I think. We'll see.
For dinner my co-worker, my son and I went to Tom Colicchio's Craftsteak restaurant. In case that name isn't familiar he is the head judge on Bravo's reality cooking show Top Chef.
The restaurant is beautiful. All wood and metal.
We all decided to eat from the Spring Tasting Menu. For $60 per person, we had a huge dinner served family style.
The first course was:
Shaved fennel salad
Grilled quail, vincotto
Buffalo mozzarella, red pepper caponata
Persian cucumber, lemon vinaigrette
Main Course was:
Prime Beef Flatiron
Grilled Angus Skirt Steak
Diver Sea Scallops
Side Dishes:
Yukon Gold Potato Puree
Sugar Snap Peas, Ricotta Salata
Roasted Shiitake Mushrooms
Dessert:
Chocolate melted cake with vanilla bean ice cream
Rhubarb Crisp with Vanilla bean ice cream
Carmelized Monkey bread with Banana ice cream
The entire dinner was possibly the best food I have ever eaten. I have never had quail and it was wonderful. My favorite thing was the Angus Skirt Steak. It melted in the mouth. Next favorite was the potato puree. Unbelievable.
This restaurant has just become my favorite place in Las Vegas to eat.
After dinner we walked over from the MGM where the restaurant is located to the ESPN Zone in the New York, New York casino/hotel. Bought a few things for the grandkids and returned to the MGM to leave.
Back at the hotel I resisted the urge to gamble again. I'll play tomorrow night (our last night here) for a bit, I think. We'll see.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Las Vegas Day 4
Today sessions began and I attended all day.
After "work", my son and I went to the Paris hotel. We went up the Eiffel Tower to the top and looked around and took pictures for about a half hour. It's not as high as the real one, but it is still pretty high up there. Here's the proof:
The real reason I wanted to go to the Paris was to go to Le Notre, the pastry shop in the corridor between Bally's and the Paris. Yum yum. It was late in the day so the case is not as full as I have seen it but here it is:
These are the ones that I bought:
They are so rich, we shared each one of them, but they are fantastic.
After that, came back and I finally got to do some gambling. Played craps for about two hours and ended up losing it all. Hit the slots and got quite a bit back, so as of now I'm only $67.00 down. Could have been worse!
After "work", my son and I went to the Paris hotel. We went up the Eiffel Tower to the top and looked around and took pictures for about a half hour. It's not as high as the real one, but it is still pretty high up there. Here's the proof:
The real reason I wanted to go to the Paris was to go to Le Notre, the pastry shop in the corridor between Bally's and the Paris. Yum yum. It was late in the day so the case is not as full as I have seen it but here it is:
These are the ones that I bought:
They are so rich, we shared each one of them, but they are fantastic.
After that, came back and I finally got to do some gambling. Played craps for about two hours and ended up losing it all. Hit the slots and got quite a bit back, so as of now I'm only $67.00 down. Could have been worse!
Las Vegas Day 3
Conference didn't really start till later in the day, so I, the son and the husband went out to do a few things.
Went to the M&M Store and the Coca-Cola Store to buy some totally useless junk for several family members.
Went to the Luxor to find Egyptian items for the son, only to find out that they aren't selling that stuff anymore. WTF?! The last time we came here (like 5 years ago) they had a huge gift shop of just stuff from/about/relating to Egypt. What is the point of the whole pyramid thing without accompanying crap?
Went to Mandalay Bay for the son and went through Shark Reef, a huge aquarium thingy. Lots of fish, sharks, etc. to see.
After we went everywhere we wanted to, we came back to the hotel where I had to work the conference registration desk for two hours. It was hectic, but the time went quickly. Once that chore was over, we went to dinner.
After that we went to see Penn & Teller. Their show is based here at the Rio and it was really good. Before the show there was a jazz duo playing on stage and I looked at the bassist really hard - I just knew it was Penn playing. The man at the piano asked all the audience to go up onstage and look over a wooden box there and to write our name down on an envelope that was there. So we did.
Later in the show they sawed the box in half with a woman in it and used the envelope for another trick. I don't want to explain too much 'cause the show is good and you should go see it.
After the show was over, both Penn and Teller were in the lobby and let everyone get a photo with them, signed autographs, etc. I asked Penn if he were the one playing on stage before the show and he admitted that he was. Cool!
Finally went to bed - long day.
No gambling yet, but hopefully soon.
Went to the M&M Store and the Coca-Cola Store to buy some totally useless junk for several family members.
Went to the Luxor to find Egyptian items for the son, only to find out that they aren't selling that stuff anymore. WTF?! The last time we came here (like 5 years ago) they had a huge gift shop of just stuff from/about/relating to Egypt. What is the point of the whole pyramid thing without accompanying crap?
Went to Mandalay Bay for the son and went through Shark Reef, a huge aquarium thingy. Lots of fish, sharks, etc. to see.
After we went everywhere we wanted to, we came back to the hotel where I had to work the conference registration desk for two hours. It was hectic, but the time went quickly. Once that chore was over, we went to dinner.
After that we went to see Penn & Teller. Their show is based here at the Rio and it was really good. Before the show there was a jazz duo playing on stage and I looked at the bassist really hard - I just knew it was Penn playing. The man at the piano asked all the audience to go up onstage and look over a wooden box there and to write our name down on an envelope that was there. So we did.
Later in the show they sawed the box in half with a woman in it and used the envelope for another trick. I don't want to explain too much 'cause the show is good and you should go see it.
After the show was over, both Penn and Teller were in the lobby and let everyone get a photo with them, signed autographs, etc. I asked Penn if he were the one playing on stage before the show and he admitted that he was. Cool!
Finally went to bed - long day.
No gambling yet, but hopefully soon.
Las Vegas Day 2
So I got my chance to go to the pool...where the software company sales people managed to get me falling down drunk. Okay, maybe not that bad, but I had a number of yummy drinks that were totally deceptive. Didn't really feel all that bad at the time, but about an hour after I left the pool area I was pretty well hammered.
Stayed in the room mostly that evening and felt like an idiot for being a lightweight, drink-wise.
New resolve - practice more!
Stayed in the room mostly that evening and felt like an idiot for being a lightweight, drink-wise.
New resolve - practice more!
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Viva Las Vegas!
Okay, the title was a bit much, but I'm here. It took all day and two planes, but I'm here. By the time I got to the hotel, it had taken 12 hours to get here from leaving home. Blurgh.
The place is a lot different than I remembered from last time. More hotels being built, different way to pick up rental car at McCarran, more people. Or maybe that is my inner old person speaking up. It just seems crammed to the gills with PEOPLE.
I had also forgotten that smoking is allowed in the hotel. Yuk. I hate the smell and I hate the lingering stench that permeates everything.
The rooms I booked for myself and a co-worker said they were "Premium Suites". Okay, but they are just a tad bit bigger than a regular hotel room. Certainly adequate but not exactly luxurious. I should have known for the price. It does have a more than adequate view, however, of The Strip. I tried to take photos but they didn't exactly capture all the color of the lights. Here are two:
And speaking of price, the conference folks have done everything but offer to pay for airfare to get people out here. After arriving last night I'm wondering why. The place seems to be booming with business. All I've heard is that this is the least attended conference since 9/11 and that the organization is going to have to eat a lot of fees, etc. You couldn't tell it from the jam packed casino/lobby/restaurants here.
Well, today is Mother's Day, so I've asked for and been granted two hours at the pool to just lie around. I'd better go get those two hours before someone decides they'd rather go to another hotel to gamble.
The place is a lot different than I remembered from last time. More hotels being built, different way to pick up rental car at McCarran, more people. Or maybe that is my inner old person speaking up. It just seems crammed to the gills with PEOPLE.
I had also forgotten that smoking is allowed in the hotel. Yuk. I hate the smell and I hate the lingering stench that permeates everything.
The rooms I booked for myself and a co-worker said they were "Premium Suites". Okay, but they are just a tad bit bigger than a regular hotel room. Certainly adequate but not exactly luxurious. I should have known for the price. It does have a more than adequate view, however, of The Strip. I tried to take photos but they didn't exactly capture all the color of the lights. Here are two:
And speaking of price, the conference folks have done everything but offer to pay for airfare to get people out here. After arriving last night I'm wondering why. The place seems to be booming with business. All I've heard is that this is the least attended conference since 9/11 and that the organization is going to have to eat a lot of fees, etc. You couldn't tell it from the jam packed casino/lobby/restaurants here.
Well, today is Mother's Day, so I've asked for and been granted two hours at the pool to just lie around. I'd better go get those two hours before someone decides they'd rather go to another hotel to gamble.
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