Saved by A List again! We avoided the long self check in lines for Southwest in Sacramento since I was A List. A lot of people are flying and traveling now! Yay!
After landing in Vegas, we got lunch at Shake Shack in Summerlin. Because of the Covid restrictions, we had to make a reservation for this fast food establishment. LOL! The food was great!
We went over to Red Rock Casino next so I could place my Parlay bets on the NFL playoff games. I did not win that weekend! Boo!
Lotus of Siam is the top Thai restaurant in the country, and it was made famous by Anthony Bourdain. We were lucky to get reservations here for dinner! I had to make them well in advance!
Lotus of Siam has pictures of the celebrities who have dined there all over the original location. This hole in the wall restaurant was recognized too by James Beard. We loved the food!
How about a nice night cap at Sahara! I enjoyed my Eagle Rare by the fireplace. We still did not have bars open in California so this was awesome to drink in a bar!
The next day, we went to Grimaldi's Pizza for lunch. Grimaldi's replicates the water composition of NYC to get that authentic NY Pizzeria taste!
They make their pizzas in a coal fired oven! They are so delicious!
Since it was Joy's first time there, she got complimentary red velvet cheesecake for us!
We went to a Top 50 Coffeehouse next door to Grimaldi's after lunch.
I loved my nutella latte at Sambalatte! No masks are needed while enjoying the beverage indoors! Yay! I love Nevada!
We stayed at MGM the second night. It was the largest hotel in the world once. I stayed at the 2nd through 5th largest hotels in the world after this stay!
The MGM properties give the guests a safety kit for Covid which includes masks and hand sanitizer.
That was our view from the room at MGM.
Joy and I had dinner reservations at the acclaimed Jean Georges Steakhouse at Aria that night! This is a view of the Waldorf Astoria, Park MGM, and NY NY from Aria!
Vegas was not as anal about removing masks especially for selfies this time!
Joy and I love fine dining, but INDOOR dining is the best! We both hate Newsom's illegal orders to shut down indoor dining in California!
Jean Georges was great starting from the bread service!
Cheers to indoor dining! I got a Japanese Old Fashioned, but I had them subout the Japanese whiskey for bourbon since it was a lower quality Japanese whiskey. LOL.
We started off with octopus. It was delicious with the Spanish style potatoes underneath for some crispyness.
I ordered a 8 oz filet mignon which was wet aged for 21 days. Joy got seabass. We also got the $17 trumpet mushrooms as a side. LOL. This place was not cheap!
Cheers again! I got a sazarac.
We did sorbet for dessert.
Like I said, it was not cheap! LOL. It was less than I thought. We were planning for around a $300 bill! Life is sweet when one has money!
I enjoyed my night cap at the Lobby Bar at MGM. Our cute waitress was from Poland.
We headed over to Circa the next day where we stayed for our last night in Las Vegas. This is the only adults only resort in Las Vegas!
Circa was the newest resort in Las Vegas. The hallways were a nice modern throwback to old Las Vegas! The bellman is waiting for us here.
The rooms were pretty expensive even for a Monday night since this was the newest resort in town.
The tablet was a nice touch like in many other Vegas hotels.
There's Vegas Vicky again!
We had a view of their famous Stadium Swim pool area.
Joy had to pose with the mascot for Saginaw's Deli at Circa!
The sandwiches at Saginaw's were huge and delicious!
My buddy Shane joined us for lunch. He lives in Vegas. We are all anti-maskers. LOL.
After lunch, I went out to the 100 degree pools at Stadium Swim.
Joy got me a pina colada as I enjoyed the warm water pool!
Stadium Swim was super cool with the large screen for watching sports.
We went back to Aria to have dinner with my brother. Joy and I stopped at the pastry shop for a quick treat before dinner.
We had dinner at Din Tai Fung. This Michelin starred restaurant was new to Las Vegas. Joy and I dined at their two Hong Kong, California, and Seattle locations before.
Din Tai Fung is known for soup dumpings. These are Jidori chicken dumplings. DELICIOUS!
My younger brother looks older than me! LOL. Probably the stress of fatherhood ages a person.
We went to the Legacy Club at Circa for drinks after dinner.
The lounge is located on the 60th floor of the Circa.
The views were awesome from the Legacy Club!
I enjoyed the specialty cocktails at the Legacy Club. This one had a local Nevada bourbon.
Cheers again! No masks were required once we got up to the lounge!
Cheers! This was my second drink. Another Nevada distillery called Frey Ranch provided the whiskey for this drink.
The views were amazing!
They had busts of the famous Las Vegas Casino owners at the Legacy Club.
Bob Stupak is another Vegas icon. They had paintings of the Vegas High Rollers too at the lounge.
Circa had a cool casino too. The cocktail waitresses had cool retro outfits.
Circa is on the Fremont Street Experience.
Fremont Street Experience
is pretty cool!
The 99 cent shrimp cocktail at Fremont is not the best!
The next day, we enjoyed brunch at Hash Hash A Go Go. I loved the churro waffles!
This is a nice picture of Circa as we were leaving Hash Hash A Go Go at the Plaza.
We had enough time to grab a quick snack and drink at the Club @ LAS at the airport lounge. The cookies are fresh baked!
For MLK weekend in
January 2021, Joy and I went back in time to the Circa, a new adults
only resort in Las Vegas! Circa is a nice balance of modern and
old in downtown Las Vegas. However, we did a lot more than just
stay at Circa! With the Covid lockdowns still going on in
Calfornia, Joy and I decided to leave the state every few weeks so we
could enjoy indoor dining and be free of a lot of the mask
mandates! California had a lot of places with no dine in
services, and some areas were limited to outdoor dining also.
Newsom is a piece of shit and a hypocrite! Sensor me if you want
GoDaddy like those Twitter bitches! These Covid shutdowns must
end now!
Anyway, we flew to Las Vegas on the Saturday before MLK Day. One of my friends came with us as a third wheel. LOL. After we arrived in town and got our rental car from the Fastbreak counter at the rental car center, we headed off to get lunch at Shake Shack in Summerlin. Nevada's idiot governor allowed indoor dining, but it was limited to 25% capacity so we had to make a reservation even for the fast food restaurant. Shake Shack was great however. Afterwards, I placed some parlay bets for the NFL playoff games.
That night, we took my brother out to dinner at Lotus of Siam for his birthday. Lotus of Siam is the top Thai restaurant in the country, and it was put on the map by Anthony Bourdain. The restaurant is in a hole in the wall location, but their food is amazing! Lots of celebrity pictures were all over the place. I loved how the spicy Northern Thai cuisine was so much different from traditional Bangkok style Thai places that we are used to.
After dinner, we enjoyed drinks at Sahara at the bar. It was so cool to be able to walk around maskless at the bar and enjoy cocktails!
The next day, we enjoyed lunch at the famous Grimaldi's Pizza before getting a nutella latte at Sambalatte, which is a top 50 coffeehouse in the country. This place was super cool, and it was very chill! I enjoyed my beverage indoors in their upstairs "library" without a mask! Get the theme here! My wife and I do not like masks! Life is short! Enjoy it!
We stayed at MGM Grand that second night. Unfortunately, MGM did not have valet parking due to the Covid restrictions, but they did have the bell staff to take our luggage. This property was once the largest hotel in the world with over 5,000 rooms so it was nice that we did not have to carry our heavy luggage up to the room. LOL.
Joy and I had dinner at the extraordinary Jean Georges Steakhouse at Aria. This five star restaurant was top notch. We loved everything from the specialty cocktails to the octopus to start. I got their $65 prime filet mignon. The 8 oz steak was wet aged for 21 days too. I think I prefer dry age to wet age. Don't get me wrong. The steak was good still. I loved how they served it with two chili peppers which reminded me of a steak I had in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
The next day, we headed out to Circa! Circa allowed us to check in early. The valet took the car. Afterwards, we had the bellman met us at our room which was a modern take on retro Las Vegas! This resort was the newest resort in town, and it was the only adults only resort. Security guards actually do check IDs. The elevators were super advanced. The elevator operator pushes a button on large touch screens to activate the elevator. There are no numbers inside the elevator!
Our room had a view of Stadum Swim! This large pool complex had a HUGE screen for watching the games. Moreover, the water is heated to around 100 degrees! Score!
We had lunch with a local buddy of mine at the Saginaw Deli at Circa. The matzo ball soup was amazing! Plus, the sandwiches were so nice and thick! We love the kettle chips too! After a full stomach, I checked out the heated pools! Joy got me a pina colada as I swam around in the hot tub like pools!
For dinner, we met my brother again. This time, we went to Din Tai Fung at Aria. The soup dumpling place is amazing! We hung out with him for sometime, and we got dessert at the Aria pastry soup. Their gelato is delicious!
That night, we went to the Legacy Club at Circa. Located on the 60th floor of Circa, this upscale lounge features stellar views of Las Vegas. There is both an indoor and outdoor area. Once we got up there, we did not have to mask! Yay! Joy and I loved the views of the Stratosphere and other Las Vegas landmarks. Our beautiful waitress came by to take our drink orders. I got two drinks that night there. Both of them had a local twist since the bourbon or whiskey was distilled in Nevada. After we had our drinks, my friend and I explored the Fremont Street Experience.
The next day, we had brunch at Hash Hash A Go Go at the Plaza which was next door to Circa. After a huge breakfast, we departed for the Las Vegas Outlets where I got some cool items including some awesome shoes at Scotch and Soda. I own probably like twenty pairs of shoes, and these are one of my favorite. They are a greenish color, but the suede makes it look almost gray.
We had time to relax in the Club @ LAS before our flight home. Since I have a Priority Pass Select membership, I got Joy and my friend in to the VIP lounge too. Their fresh baked cookies are great!
Anyway, we flew to Las Vegas on the Saturday before MLK Day. One of my friends came with us as a third wheel. LOL. After we arrived in town and got our rental car from the Fastbreak counter at the rental car center, we headed off to get lunch at Shake Shack in Summerlin. Nevada's idiot governor allowed indoor dining, but it was limited to 25% capacity so we had to make a reservation even for the fast food restaurant. Shake Shack was great however. Afterwards, I placed some parlay bets for the NFL playoff games.
That night, we took my brother out to dinner at Lotus of Siam for his birthday. Lotus of Siam is the top Thai restaurant in the country, and it was put on the map by Anthony Bourdain. The restaurant is in a hole in the wall location, but their food is amazing! Lots of celebrity pictures were all over the place. I loved how the spicy Northern Thai cuisine was so much different from traditional Bangkok style Thai places that we are used to.
After dinner, we enjoyed drinks at Sahara at the bar. It was so cool to be able to walk around maskless at the bar and enjoy cocktails!
The next day, we enjoyed lunch at the famous Grimaldi's Pizza before getting a nutella latte at Sambalatte, which is a top 50 coffeehouse in the country. This place was super cool, and it was very chill! I enjoyed my beverage indoors in their upstairs "library" without a mask! Get the theme here! My wife and I do not like masks! Life is short! Enjoy it!
We stayed at MGM Grand that second night. Unfortunately, MGM did not have valet parking due to the Covid restrictions, but they did have the bell staff to take our luggage. This property was once the largest hotel in the world with over 5,000 rooms so it was nice that we did not have to carry our heavy luggage up to the room. LOL.
Joy and I had dinner at the extraordinary Jean Georges Steakhouse at Aria. This five star restaurant was top notch. We loved everything from the specialty cocktails to the octopus to start. I got their $65 prime filet mignon. The 8 oz steak was wet aged for 21 days too. I think I prefer dry age to wet age. Don't get me wrong. The steak was good still. I loved how they served it with two chili peppers which reminded me of a steak I had in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
The next day, we headed out to Circa! Circa allowed us to check in early. The valet took the car. Afterwards, we had the bellman met us at our room which was a modern take on retro Las Vegas! This resort was the newest resort in town, and it was the only adults only resort. Security guards actually do check IDs. The elevators were super advanced. The elevator operator pushes a button on large touch screens to activate the elevator. There are no numbers inside the elevator!
Our room had a view of Stadum Swim! This large pool complex had a HUGE screen for watching the games. Moreover, the water is heated to around 100 degrees! Score!
We had lunch with a local buddy of mine at the Saginaw Deli at Circa. The matzo ball soup was amazing! Plus, the sandwiches were so nice and thick! We love the kettle chips too! After a full stomach, I checked out the heated pools! Joy got me a pina colada as I swam around in the hot tub like pools!
For dinner, we met my brother again. This time, we went to Din Tai Fung at Aria. The soup dumpling place is amazing! We hung out with him for sometime, and we got dessert at the Aria pastry soup. Their gelato is delicious!
That night, we went to the Legacy Club at Circa. Located on the 60th floor of Circa, this upscale lounge features stellar views of Las Vegas. There is both an indoor and outdoor area. Once we got up there, we did not have to mask! Yay! Joy and I loved the views of the Stratosphere and other Las Vegas landmarks. Our beautiful waitress came by to take our drink orders. I got two drinks that night there. Both of them had a local twist since the bourbon or whiskey was distilled in Nevada. After we had our drinks, my friend and I explored the Fremont Street Experience.
The next day, we had brunch at Hash Hash A Go Go at the Plaza which was next door to Circa. After a huge breakfast, we departed for the Las Vegas Outlets where I got some cool items including some awesome shoes at Scotch and Soda. I own probably like twenty pairs of shoes, and these are one of my favorite. They are a greenish color, but the suede makes it look almost gray.
We had time to relax in the Club @ LAS before our flight home. Since I have a Priority Pass Select membership, I got Joy and my friend in to the VIP lounge too. Their fresh baked cookies are great!