24 hour Vegas review

As I mentioned in the last post, we were in Las Vegas literally for 24 hours (24 hours and 45 minutes to be exact). Obviously we would have liked to stay longer, but I consider us lucky to have the time we did! This was my 3rd time to Vegas, so I had seen and done a lot of things already.

I arrived 30 minutes late into McCarran airport on Saturday, Sept 11th. I was a little flustered that a plane change in Denver (for mechanical reasons) was cutting into my already-too-short vacation, but I am thankful that I arrived safely. Jon had arrived in Las Vegas earlier that morning after a 20-ish hour drive from Wichita. The customer he moved there let us use his car while we were there which ended up being really awesome, so we didn't have to pay for cab fees at all. He picked me up at about 5:00pm from the airport, and we were off to our room at the Wynn Encore!
Before I tell you about our time in Las Vegas, I want to share with you my review of the Wynn Encore. It's pretty much a given that anyone who walks into the hotel and it's rooms would be blown away by the beautiful and intricate European decor. But at a second and third glance, it becomes obvious that the attention to detail in these hotels are unmatched. No aspect of the design of this hotel was overlooked. The hotel staff, to say that they were amazing would be an understatement. EVERY single staff member was happy to direct you or help you. If you ask where something is, the staff member would take you there, not just point you in the right direction. I have never seen a hotel staff go out of their way for the guests like the staff at the Wynn. No request was too big or little. When we checked out, the concierge asked us if he could check us into our flight and print our boarding passes for us. Truly amazing service. They treated the guests like royalty. I highly, highly recommend a stay there.
Even though we didn't have a view of the Strip, we had a beautiful view of the mountains that Vegas sits in. So breathtaking!

When we arrived at our hotel, we quickly got ready and headed out. I had made dinner reservations earlier in the week for Olives at the Bellagio after hearing so many great things about the restaurant. Olives overlooks the Bellagio water fountains, so you get to see the fountains while you dine.
The Bellagio fountains still give me chills- even after seeing it over a dozen times! The restaurant was beautiful and the service was great. The food was wonderful, though a little pricey (which one can expect in Vegas!). I loved the olive tapenade they serve you while you wait for your food. If I were to recommend this restaurant, I'd probably suggest going for lunch instead of dinner (but be sure to catch the fountains at night!).

From dinner, we walked to the Venetian where we saw the Blue Man Group. (Side note: I started the night off wearing these really cute rhinestone sandals that weren't too high. I'm so glad I put a pair of trusty black Havaianas flip flops in my purse cause I put them on after about 45 minutes. Saved my life and I didn't give a crap that I wore them with my fancy little skirt!) The Blue Man Group was GREAT! Very entertaining and funny, and had some awesome music. It was about a 2 hour show, a lot of which was audience interactive. They pulled a girl up on stage to be a part of the show which turned out to be really funny. I'd definitely recommend the show (even for older children). We had great seats, but I'm really glad we didn't sit in the "poncho section." Gets kinda messy at times. =) We walked back to our car at the Bellagio and after a day of traveling, I was ready to lay my head down on that luxurious Wynn bed! Mental note: next time I buy pillows for our bed, I'm going to spend more than $8 a pillow. Those pillows were amazing.

We woke up the next morning and had breakfast at The Buffet at the Wynn. I have never been to a buffet this ridiculously large with so much amazing selection! The food was wonderful- and it wasn't just breakfast- they had pastas, sushi, desserts, etc.

After breakfast we played a little roulette, and I'm sad to report that I did not have beginners luck! We walked across the street to The Fashion Show Mall to do a little shopping. I liked this mall because it wasn't just upscale retailers. As much as I like to walk into Hermes and Burberry, those stores "slightly" out of price range for this mostly stay-at-home mom. I ended up getting a really great purse (that will be big enough for a diaper bag as well), and a Swarovski bracelet to replace one that I had, loved and lost.

We were quickly running out of time, so we headed back to our hotel where we had lunch at WaZuzu (an Asian restaurant). We weren't really too hungry from that large brunch we had, but we had a dining credit and didn't want to waste it. I had sweet and sour chicken, and Jon got Mongolian beef- both were excellent but the Mongolian beef was better! Jon also got some sushi and even though it was cooked, I was scared to try it. =) After our late lunch, we sadly had to go back to our room and grab our bags to catch our 5:45 flight. We arrived home at midnight, and picked Cameron up the next morning. We missed him! A lot of kids we saw in Las Vegas reminded us of him in someway. He was the topic of a lot of our conversation!

We had such a WONDERFUL time (and did I mention much needed?) just the two of us. It was nice to get away knowing it will be quite some time before we could do it again without our kids (thanks again, mom!). I'm already ready to go back! Maybe for my 30th birthday... =)