Jeff had a training class in Las Vegas in August and I tagged along. It’s been about 10 years since we were last there. Some things had changed and some had stayed the same. Everything seemed so much closer to the sidewalk. Some of the restaurants like Denny’s are still there but they have been rebuilt. The Bellagio fountain still runs daily and the Eiffel Tower still stands tall on the strip. There are lots of restaurants by Food Network stars now. Some have multiple different restaurants along the strip.

We traveled on Sunday from Birmingham to Dallas-Fort Worth to Las Vegas. I did not get stopped at the security screening yay!!! Flights and layover were fine. We arrived at the Las Vegas airport. We got our luggage and then took the shuttle bus to the car rental. We got a Mitsubishi Outlander for the week. There were only 2 SUVs to choose from and a lady had staked her claim on the other one. We made our way to the Paris. Even though we were a little early, we were able to check in. We grabbed lunch at Bobby’s Burgers, a Bobby Flay restaurant at the Paris food area. After we ate, we walked next door to CVS. We grabbed some overpriced water and snacks. Then we took a nap. We had dinner at the Eiffel Tower Restaurant. We arrived at the check-in area on the casino floor. We had to wait a little bit for our table to be ready. Then they put us on the elevator to go up to the restaurant. A host met us there. He told us he could not let us in. Jeff’s shirt didn’t have a collar. We did not see this on the website. The host and hostess checking us in downstairs did not tell us about it either. He offered a shirt, but who wants to wear one that who knows how many more have worn. So we tell him never mind and we head back downstairs. When the elevator doors open the host who is probably a bouncer asked what the issue was. He said that he thought his shirt was nice. He insisted that it was acceptable. Then he marched us back upstairs past that host and to the hostess stand. He told her that his shirt was nice enough. He insisted that we needed to be seated. This definitely put a damper on our night. They made such a show over a collared shirt when the guy beside me was wearing shorts – go figure! If you want it to be that nice then require long pants too!!! The view of the Bellagio fountain were nice. It was an experience, but the food was not really worth the price. Guess we paid more for the ambiance which was dampened by the host.

Monday, Tuesday and part of the day Wednesday Jeff had class and I read and napped. It was a relaxing time for me. We started out Monday with breakfast at Cafe Belle Madeleine. We ordered breakfast sandwiches, but they were like pre-made and they just microwaved them. Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday we went to Dominique Ansel Marche. It was our favorite, as you can tell. We had crepes, and they were delicious every single time.

We grabbed quick lunches on the days that Jeff had class. We had pizza from Carnegie’s Pizza at the Miracle Mall at Planet Hollywood next door and also Bottled Blonde. They had sweet tea!!

Monday night for dinner, we ate at the Cafe Americano at the Paris. The dining room is open to the casino floor. The food was good, but they allow smoking in the casino, so the air was not enjoyable.

Tuesday night we went to a show at the Sphere called ‘Postcards from Earth’. It is connected to the Venetian. We were early. We didn’t know what the parking situation was going to be like. So, we took the crosswalk over and walked around the Venetian while we waited. We did this rather than waiting out in the heat. We decided to just grab dinner at the Sphere before the show. We shared meatballs and garlic rosemary fries. The theater is round and the entire thing is the movie screen. The steps up to the seats is very steep. There is no one inside the theater to guide you to your seats. As a result, we saw lots of people in the wrong area. They had to move when others came and realized they were in the wrong seats. It is an immersive 4D theater. During our show, we encountered certain smells. For instance, when it showed an old church with wood on the walls, you could smell the wood. The Wizard of Oz started at the end of the week we were there. I’ve read that there is one time they release apples on the audience. We are glad we experienced it, but if you get motion sickness, we don’t recommend. There were times that we had to look at the floor to avoid the screen. Jeff had a harder time with it than I did.

On Wednesday, Jeff finished class around lunch. We walked to the Venetian and had lunch at Trattoria Reggiano. It’s an Italian Restaurant we fell in love with on our first trip. I had the spaghetti carbonara the same thing I had the first time we went. It wasn’t the same as the first time, but it was still really good. After lunch, we walked around the Wizard of Oz display. Then we crossed the street. We headed back towards our hotel. We went in the Caesar’s Forums Shop and into Caesar’s Palace. We stopped at the food court and got a drink and milkshake. Then we went to the Bellagio and had to stop in the Conservatory, it’s always so beautiful. Then we went in the Cosmopolitan and then back across the street and back to the room.

There are lots of people on the sidewalks trying to do anything for money. We got stopped by some guys dressed as Chippendale’s trying to get me to take a picture with them. There were girls dressed in Show Girls outfits trying to get you to pay to take a picture with them. There were random people in costumes wanting you to pay to take pictures with them. There was a man singing with his two small children in a wagon beside him. There were those people selling bottles of water on the crosswalks. I’ve heard those are reused bottles. Yuck, hard pass!! All just trying to make a living.

Thursday was our first full day on our own. We started by going to Henderson and having breakfast at Bourbon and Biscuits. Then we went to Lake Mead, stopped in the visitor center and the lady there told us about a couple of stops, how to get back to Las Vegas and told us that we might see wild horses, wait what???? LET’S GO SEE!! So off we went. Our first stop was a beach area on the lake. Then she told us about a fishery. We were going to stop there. However, it was closed when we got there. So, on we went further into the desert. Guess who forgot to bring water on a trip into the desert!! LOL!! We saw that there was a store on the route, we stop in but it was closed. We were greeted by a group of mountain goats hanging out around this store. We did find a marina down a very steep hill from this store. So we find a parking spot on the side of the hill which is also the boat launch. To get to the marina we have to walk down this very steep hill, walk across a floating pier to get to the Callville Bay Marina. We had seen a lady sitting on a golf cart in the parking lot. On the way back to the car she picked us up and took us to our car. Thankfully we didn’t have to walk back up the steep hill. We secured water and now we can get back to our sight seeing. We got back to the main road and kept going. We did not see any wild horses. However, we did see some more mountain goats and some beautiful scenery. There were only a couple of other cars out. We turned around at Redstone trail. It is the farthest point where the lady said we might see horses. Then we went back to Boulder City.

We had lunch at the Southwest Diner in Boulder City. Then we went back to Las Vegas to the MGM Grand for the Friends Experience. You really felt like you were in Monica and Rachel and Joey and Chandler’s apartments. We got to drive Phoebe’s taxi and wear all of Chandler’s clothes like Joey did. We got to see the turkey and the trifle.

Friday we drove out into the desert to see the 7 Magic Mountains. It is an art installation in the middle of the desert. You are driving along and then you see these stacks of colorful boulders. We checked and we were only a few miles from the California state line. So we drove into California to the first exit. We planned to stop at the only gas station at the exit. There was a line out the door and down the sidewalk. So we got out in the parking lot and took a picture and then headed back towards Nevada. We then visited the Nevada State campus and bookstore. We started looking for lunch places. We found that we were near Boulder City again. So we went back and had lunch at The Coffee Cup. It is a restaurant featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. The food was delicious. Jeff had grilled meatloaf and has been on the hunt for it since. After lunch we found the UNLV bookstore. There campus appears to be spread out in an area of Las Vegas. After that, we headed back to the room. We had to pack up. We needed to get ready to travel back home on Saturday. After dark we drove to the Neon Museum. When we got back we had pizza at Dominique Ansel Marche.

Saturday morning, we dropped the car off at the rental center and took the shuttle bus to the airport. We got checked in and who gets stopped for a “random” check, me of course! This time they just swiped my phone with wipe and then we were on our way. We got breakfast at the airport. Then we sat at our gate waiting for our flight. It got delayed due to storms in Dallas. We finally board the plane and start taxiing. Then we have to turn around and go back to the terminal. They’ve closed Dallas again. They gave an option for people that wanted to try to find another flight to get off. Well 95% of the flight got off. So then they made us all get off and wait and wait some more. We had to change our flight from Dallas to Birmingham as we weren’t going to make it. We finally get in the air and headed East. We arrive in Dallas and find that the gates were first come first served. We sat on the plane in line for a gate for an hour and a half. We finally get to a gate and get off. We have to take the tram to get to our departing gate. We grab dinner at the same place we had breakfast on Sunday. We were delayed because there was no flight crew available. They were stuck on planes still lined up around the airport. We finally get in the air to Birmingham. We arrive at 11:30 pm, 6 hours later than when we should have been back home. But we were safely back home.