Tuesday, December 23
0 miles driven, 5.6 miles walked
All day in Las Vegas. We were awake early but dawdled a bit watching CNBC, checking email, etc. before heading downstairs to the buffet that Bob has been dreaming about. At 7:40, we had to wait about 10 minutes to be seated, it opens at 7a and the place was in full swing with huge hams and slabs of bacon being sliced, omelettes being made to order, crepe line about 10 deep…. it is an astounding array of choices. About 20 different kinds of pastries, bagels, breads; yogurts, fresh fruit; all sorts of potato variations, ditto eggs and breakfast meats; huge selection of cheeses….. and it all looks really good and fresh, not the stereotype that people (um, me) have about buffets. You might think $20.99 would be wasted on me but fear not, I ate my weight in smoked salmon and white fish. Along with some goat cheese, housemade almost-see-through lavosh that had seeds on it like an everything bagel, cucumbers, tomatoes, chopped red onion, capers, lemon wedges. Heaven. Bob had some potatoes lyonnaise, scrambled eggs with diced ham, a bit of keilbasa and a biscuit. We both had some fruit (pineapple, cantalope, honeydew). And then he stood in the crepe line and came back with this:
And he said, “This stays in Vegas.”
We went upstairs to prepare for our day: Bob to play Texas Hold ’em at the Bellagio across the street and me to do some window shopping and people watching and walking. Another sunny day in the mid-60s. I went down to the Wynn and tried to get a ticket for the Jeff Koons Tulips exhibit but it was booked til 6:15 so just went across the street to the Fashion Show Mall. Unbelievable. It has Nordstrom, Saks, Neiman Marcus, Dillards and Macys. Plus something like 200 other stores. I got turned around so many times! Across the street in the Venetian are Dior, Celine, Fendi, Chanel…. tons of Europeans and Asians. Also tons of families with mutliple generations and kids of all ages. Bob and I texted each other throughout the day. “Are you hungry?” “No. You?” “Me neither.” “I am up $110.” “You doing ok?” “Yep only up $40 though.” “I am heading back to the room. You can keep playing if you want.” “Will meet you in the room soon.” It took me about 40 minutes to walk back, dodging slow pokes and people walking 4-5-6 abreast. Saw ‘Elvis’ dragging his wheelie to work. He was HUGE. Feet looked like Shaq, big black shaggy long wig, black shirt open to his navel (oh, my eyes). Didn’t have the heart/guts to snap a photo though others had no qualms.
We found each in the room within minutes of each other. I logged 5.6 miles basically window shopping — we had already done 3/4 of a mile just going down to breakfast and back. Bob won $270! We decided to change and head to our favorite place for a late lunch / early dinner. There was no one at the Mon Ami Gabi bar when we sat down about 4p. We had another wonderful woman tending bar, Adrian, who took car of us for the next 2-1/2 hours we sat there. Started with an appetizer of warm goat cheese and marinara sauce with a big slice of garlic toast and a warm baguette. Bob’s Chivas, my dirty — with a blue cheese stuffed olive. YUM. Next we split a ceasar salad. Ordered a glass each of Hob Nob Pinot Noir. Meanwhile Adrian had us rolling off the stools telling us about the (freaky) women groupies who followed Barry Manilow during his run at Paris. There was a core gang of about 20 who all knew each other but hated each other. They would hang out in the bar drinking water waiting for him to appear after his show. Some of them flew out from NY every weekend!! There were ‘rules’: some of them wouldn’t approach him and were disdainful of those in their midst who asked for an autograph or a photo. It was hilarious. Bob ordered the steak frites and I ordered the mussels with a side of roasted Brussels sprouts. The mussels are served with a mass of melted fennel and onions on top. So so good!! We ended with a glass of a Bourgogne Supérieur. Another great evening with tons of laughs. We are already planning next year’s trip……
Bob and Sharon's Travel Diary 