Thursday, April 17, 2014

Viva Las Vegas!

It's been a long time since we went to Vegas (4 years) and even a longer time since we've gone on vacation just the two of us (7 years). It was due time! We left on Thursday and flew from Idaho Falls to Vegas on Allegiant Air. We left the kids with Barry's parents until we flew back Sunday.

We stayed at the Vardara hotel. It's on the strip but it's solely a hotel and doesn't have a casino. It was so nice after spending time in the casinos to come back to a smoke free and quiet environment.

We spent Thursday afternoon at Hoover Dam. We took a pretty cool tour and saw and learned a lot. 



Friday morning we went to the Bass Pro Shop upon Barry's insistence. In my opinion, once you've gone to one sportsman's superstore you'd been to them all. Then we visited Barry's Great Aunt and Uncle. We sure did enjoy our visit with them and I loved their little dogs.


That night we also went to see Terry Fator at Mirage. We simply loved the show! He is a ventriloquist that combines ventriloquism and voice impersonations. He has the puppets sing famous songs in the voice of the song's singer.  I liked all the puppets. I especially got a big kick out of the cowboy wanting to run for president. 

Saturday morning we had breakfast at the Aria. One of their specialties are Red Velvet pancakes and waffles. Red Velvet cake is my favorite dessert right now so I had to try them. As if the waffle itself wasn't good enough, it was also drizzled with a cream cheese glaze. To say the least, I wasn't disappointed!

After breakfast we went to Bellagio to see their gardens. It was amazing what they did with the plants, even make a painting using them. There was also a big butterfly house in the middle of the gardens with tons of orange, blue and white butterflies.



Saturday night we saw the show Le Rêve at the Wynn. It was spectacular! The theater is shaped in a circle with water covering the stage. In the center of the stage there is a platform in the center that moves up and down. The acrobats would dive from that platform or from a big opening at the top of the theater. Other times they were lowered downed on poles or swings.


My post wouldn't be complete without talking about the delicious food we ate. Barry had bought packages for each show that included buffet passes as well as show tickets. We went to eat before each show. I'd been on Weight Watchers for a two months and had lost 10 lbs at that point. I was determined not to gain any weight back. Unlike other diets, Weight Watchers centers around portion control and making choices not eliminating food. I can still have one serving (according to the serving size) of cake and ice cream just not every day. I did great watching what and how much I ate of the available entrees and sides. I did go over my Weight Watcher points but I didn't gain back one pound. I think that can be attributed to all the walking we did.

At the Mirage I liked the salad bar. The preparation and ingredients were not what you'd find at a typical buffet. The buffet worker would prepare the salad for you. You'd request the ingredients and the salad dressing you wanted and then they'd toss your salad. There was ingredients like grilled chicken breast, poppy seed dressing, spinach, etc. 

I have a terrible sweet tooth though and I gave into temptation with the desserts. Their Red Velvet cake was simply divine! I admit I had a few pieces that added up to a slice and a half slice since they were not particularly large. Can you believe a piece of cake with frosting is 10 points a slice! That's lots when you have 26 points a day and 49 additional points to spend during the week. 

The Wynn had to be the best place where we ate. There was prime rib (they even seared it for me to make it well done) and grilled asparagus, just to mention a couple things. They also had a crème brûlée to die for and a layered raspberry chocolate moose with an Oreo crust.



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