Memorial Day Weekend in Vegas

It's been years since either Travis or I had been to Vegas, and we’d certainly never been together. So last minute we decided to find an AirBnB and road-trip to sin city for the long weekend and have some sin-free fun! ;)

S A T U R D A Y

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Our first day in Vegas began by walking down the strip of course! We started out at The Wynn to check out the flower sculptures and lavish stores.

Then we headed to the Venetian and followed the canal with gondolas around the shops, admiring all the beautiful painted murals and marble statue impersonators.

We eventually made our way to Madame Tussauds wax museum where we found a Groupon that included free slushies! It was definitely something to cross off the bucket list, especially since we didn’t have time to do it when we went to LA last year.

Our last Casino to check out for the day was Cesar’s Palace. We walked around the multiple floors of the casino checking out all the shops we can’t afford to buy anything in; Louis Vuitton, Fendi, Alexander McQueen, Christian Louboutin, and more… A girl can dream right?! ;)

We ended our long day of walking by having lunch at Craving's buffet at the Mirage where we ate our weight in crab legs, shrimp cocktails, and miniature desserts almost too cute to eat!

S U N D A Y

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After a long day on the strip the day before we decided to take it easy Sunday and make it a pool day. We lounged, sun bathed, and had lunch at an adorable French bakery near our airbnb. We eventually got ready for a night out on the town and started it with a ride on the High Roller! This 550ft tall giant ferris wheel offers the most spectacular view of Las Vegas, soaring high over all the Casino's on the strip. The pod takes a full 30 minutes to make it full-circle, giving you half an hour of breathtaking views from all angles.

After running a little late because of the ride we literally ran to our dinner reservation at Nobu in Caesar's Palace. The entrance has origami birds hanging from the doorway and inside the restaurant are origami clouds floating from the ceiling. The menu is a fusion of Japanese and Peruvian food that inspired Chef Nobu during his travels to South America. Being that this is a Michelin star restaurant, our experience was unlike any other, and one we had been dreaming of since our obsession with Chef's Table on netflix! Our waiter knew it was our first time and asked if we'd be open to answering a few questions so that he could create a personalized meal for us based on our preferences in spiciness, raw fish, and budget. We jumped on the opportunity and let him take our taste buds for a ride as we anxiously awaited each surprise course; I have never been more excited and anxious for a meal before in my entire life! Seriously, sushi soooo amazing that it didn't even need soy sauce! We're basically ruined for life and won't be able to eat at our regular sushi joint ever again. The service was out of this world outstanding! The staff would present each course with a description of the dish, every time our plates got even a speck of sauce or food they would switch them out for clean ones, and our waiter would examine my every sip if water, never allowing my glass to be more than half empty. At one point Travis got up to go to the restroom and they re-folded his napkin and beautifully placed it on a clean plate. It was more than a dinner, it was a SPECTACULAR 7 course performance! A meal to never forget!

Yellowtail sashimi with cilantro jalapeño and this amazing citrusy miso

White fish sashimi with chives, olive-oil miso, sesame seeds, and yellow tomato

White fish sashimi with chives, olive oil, a garlic chip, and red tomato

(that garlic chip was EVERYTHING!)

Tuna miso with homemade chips and this amazing sweet sauce

Broiled Alaskan Black Cod with Miso served on a banana leaf with more of that amazing sweet sauce

(so tender you can break it apart with chopsticks)

Beef Toban-Yaki with wild mushrooms, onions, and asparagus served teppenyaki style

Lobster roll, chu-toro, and fluke sushi

(After a parade of exotic Japanese dishes they ended the savory portion with what you always crave from japanese food- sushi!)

Vanilla miso tart filled with sponge cake and covered in graham cracker with a miso salted caramel

(Miso in a dessert is totally unexpected but this was wildly amazing!)

After the most spectacular meal of our lives, we did some more walking on the other end of the strip and checked out a couple shows at the Bellagio Fountains until the final and most anticipated event of our stay...

CIRQUE DU SOLEIL'S LOVE! I've been wanting to see this show ever since my first visit to Las Vegas years ago. Travis had never seen a Cirque du Soleil performance before so it was a first for the both of us and I was beyond excited! The performance was a psychedelic array of colors, patterns, punch buggies, and visual effects. There were amazing stunts like rollerblading on giant ramps, people on stilts, rope climbers, bungee jumping from trapezes, and giant trampoline nets. But my favorite acts were, by far, the trapeze and silk artists. They would do flips and aerials while gracefully hovering over the audience. It was absolutely beautiful! At one point in the performance a giant sheet was spread out over the audience mimicking an ocean for Yellow submarine. It was interactive and just plain awesome!

After the show we walked around the Bellagio to check out the botanical garden which is currently Japanese themed with eye-catching floral sculptures of turtles, birds and butterflies, feathered cranes, and a 25ft tall Samurai which, it alone, is comprised of over 5,000 live flowers. So amazing!

M O N D A Y

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After rolling in at around 1 a.m. to our airbnb, we barely got enough sleep before having to wake up early to start the long drive back home. But before heading north, we took a quick trip south of Las Vegas to check out a desert oasis known as Seven Magic Mountains, an art installation by the Swiss artist Ugo Rondinone. Made up of seven towers of colorful, stacked boulders standing more than thirty feet high, it is a creative expression of human presence in the desert which is very appropriate if you've ever been to Vegas and seen that it is literally a city in the desert. At only 30 minutes south of the city, it's quite a sight to be seen and definitely a must if you want to see something a little off the grid during your stay.

It was a crazy weekend of over the top fun, high-end window shopping, and dodging drunks on the strip. But it was BY FAR my favorite trip to Vegas and another fun adventure with my hubby Trav that I'll never forget!