Skip to main content

Las Vegas Trip Report

NoVA Travelers made it to Vegas in October!

 
 

We arrived in Vegas the first Friday night in October just after 11pm and made our way over to Caesar's via airport shuttle. We checked in, having booked a simple classic room and with a smile and little persuasion were upgraded to one of the 1200 square foot executive suites. Last time we came to Vegas we were successfully upgraded to a bigger beautiful room than originally booked, but never anything this amazing before. I guess I am honing my persuasive skills each time. Our suite had a beautiful marble foyer, a baby grand piano in one of the main sitting areas (there are 3 separate sitting areas, a wet bar, a dining area, a master bedroom and 2 marble bathrooms with separate glass enclosed showers, tubs, and WC with bidets. We were very satisfied with our accommodations to say the least. After check in, we were hungry so we grabbed a quick bite at Augustus Cafe and then headed back to the suite to sleep.

 
 

Saturday morning we had a rough to do list to plow through. First we spent the morning going up the strip to see the lions and the NEW ADORABLE baby cubs at the MGM habitat. The afternoon was frivolously passed in the spa as we meandered from the 4 different roman baths (giant marble jacuzzis) to the sauna, steam room, arctic room, and tea lounge (20 varieties of fresh tea made to order). That was followed by an hour long full body massage and time outside at the Garden of the Gods pools. Finally, we capped off the night with an overindulgent steak and lobster dinner at Nero's. Letting my tummy recover from the vast quantities of food I camped out in the room Sat night while my roomate Bridget headed out to walk the strip and see the sights.

 
 

Sunday we enjoyed a grand brunch on the property, more spa and pool time (of course), a walk past some of the strip's notables (Bellagio atrium display, TI pirate ship, Circus Circus acrobats), and then eventually sightseeing down on Freemont street. We had an overpriced (but good) dinner at the Asian restaurant in Caesar's before catching the redeye flight home to DC early Monday morning.

 
 

All this adventure *could* have been yours, if you'd only come with us. :)

 
 

Pics are up on my facebook album as usual. (http://facebook.com/jenniparks)

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Board Game Review: Hues and Cues

Last week we received Hues and Cues from The Op Games. We recently finished playing through Scooby-Doo Escape from the Haunted Mansion (a fantastic game in The Op Games catalogue designed by Jay Cormier, Sen-Foong Lim, and Kami Mandell that you should absolutely pick up to play with your family) and wanted to give another game from the same publisher a go. I picked Hues and Cues because I’ve been pleasantly surprised by other “test whether our minds think the same way” games such as The Mind   and Wavelength. In Hues and Cues , players gather around a large central board comprised of 480 graduating colors of the rainbow surrounded by an x-y axis and scoring table. White and black (which are technically not colors) are conspicuously absent as are shades (mixtures of color + black; e.g., grey) and tints (mixtures of color + white; e.g., cream).  On each player’s turn, they draw a card with four colors and the x-y axis codes of those colors depicted and they select one. They are in the

Board Game Review: Anno 1800

Whenever Martin Wallace designs a new game, I am all over it. This is because I absolutely love Brass Birmingham (another MW designed game); in fact Brass Birmingham is my #1 board game of all time. Over the years, his other games I've tried have been pretty good, but not necessarily amazing must-buys. Still, I keep trying each new release of his, searching for that next star performer. That's why I'm excited to report that Anno 1800 is, in fact, a star performer, and an amazing must-buy board game. Anno 1800 was adapted by the publisher (Kosmos) from a Ubisoft video game of the same name. In the board game, players take on the role of industrialists, charged with developing their island economies and exploring other islands. Each player begins the game with a personal industry board with trade & exploration ships, a shipyard, and industrial goods tiles printed on the board. A starting collection of workers (wooden cubes) of various types to produce the goods is a

Board Game Review: Obsessed with Obsession

I'm completely obsessed with Obsession! I received a review copy of the updated second edition along with all the expansions (Wessex, Useful Man, Upstairs Downstairs) and from the moment I took everything out of the boxes, my excitement was over the top. Actually, that's not even the half of it - I remember I was already quite excited before the game even arrived. I'd wanted to get my hands on a copy as soon as I learned there was a game that brought the lifestyle that we all fell in love with watching Downton Abbey to the gaming table. Back in 2021, I was having a great time at the Dice Tower Summer Retreat and a new friend Bonnie sang the praises of Obsession. She had seen me eyeing the box on the shelf and gave me a summary of the game mechanics as she owned the first edition. She explained that the theme is centered on running an estate in Derbyshire and competing against others to have the best home, reputation, gentry guests, etc. Based on her enthusiasm and descripti