Birthdays and Shenanigans in Vegas
I’ve been to Las Vegas three times: each trip was in the month of January to celebrate a birthday. In 2011 to celebrate my grandma’s, and in 2014 and 2019 to celebrate my husband’s — yes, I’ll take the best wife ever award, thanks!
2011
Considering that I’m writing this nearly ten years later, I don’t remember much from this trip. I do remember that my cousin hooked us up with a killer table and dinner at Tao and that we traveled to the top of the Eiffel Tower at the Paris Hotel. It was a bit gimmicky, but a good memory for my grandma to experience with her daughters and granddaughters.
2014
On a cold Thursday night in January 2014 I gave my magic- and poker-loving husband a birthday card and a homemade crossword puzzle to solve that gave him clues about his birthday present. He figured out that we were going to Vegas — he had never been — the next day!
Stay
We stayed at the MGM and were happy with our room, but the hotel is at one end of the strip and it may have been more convenience to stay somewhere closer to the middle.
Play
We did so much playing on this trip! We wanted to check out the sites and hotels (like the flamingos at the Flamingo) so walked from the MGM all the way to the Strat at the opposite end of the strip — nearly 10 minutes there and back! Our feet (mostly mine) were so sore that night so we gave them an ice bath in our bathroom sink.
MGM lobby
Flamingos
Foot bath
We saw three (!!!) shows in one long weekend. On the first night we went to see David Copperfield, I had purchased the tickets ahead of time as part of the birthday present. On the second night we stopped by one of the discount ticket booths (there are several of them along the strip) and we bought tickets to Jersey Boys (where I thoroughly enjoyed listening to the cast sing ‘Sherry’). And on the third night we were given free* tickets to a Vegasy-type show with topless dancers, acrobats, and other acts. We really enjoyed all three. Unless you’re set on seeing something that’s really popular and likely to sell out, the same-day discount tickets are a great option.
After one of the shows, we thought we should experience the Vegas nightlife so we went to a club. We stayed for about ten minutes and then realized that it wasn’t quite our scene.
*We scored the “free” tickets by agreeing to sit through a timeshare sales pitch. Beware of salesmen who approach eager looking tourists promising free show tickets. They came in hard with the pitch and wound up eating up about 3 hours of our Sunday morning. Depending on how much time you have, may or may not be worth it for the tickets.
We weren’t allowed to take pictures of the show
Jersey Boys!
The nightclub
We also found time to trek to the Vegas sign and my husband enjoyed his first poker tournament.
The sign (FYI there is usually a line to take a photo)
Poker face
Eat
We didn’t put too much effort into our meals on this trip — I guess our foodiness has developed more since this trip. We did feel obliged to check out one of the famous Vegas buffets. Unless you’re starving and/or craving various cuisines, I’d skip the buffet. I also wanted to go out for an official birthday dinner which we did at Spago by Wolfgang Puck.
Cheers!
Buffet sampling…
Birthday dinner
2019
I was able to surprise my husband again, this time with a friends trip to Vegas! Maybe by his 40th he’ll catch on…
Stay
We wanted to share space with friends while avoiding the $1,000+/night hotel suites so we landed at a two bedroom room at Polo Tower Suites. The hotel was conveniently located in the middle of the strip and the price was right (about $250/night for the suite!) but it didn’t have the bells and whistles and luxuriousness like the fancy Vegas hotels. If it’s your first time visiting Vegas, I’d opt for one of the more well-known places to stay, but if, like us, you’ve been there before and are looking for a good, affordable spot to share with friends this was a solid option.
Play
Like on our trip in 2014, we did a lot of walking this time, too. The first night we walked along the strip and stopped to watch the Bellagio Water Show and the next day we took the bus to Fremont Street to experience “old Vegas.”
Bellagio Water Show
Fremont Street
One night we snagged a table at Harrah’s Piano Bar (highly recommend), a friend and I tried out one of the oxygen bars (interesting to try once, not sure I’d do it again), my husband found another poker tournament to enter, and on the last night we bought discount tickets to Opium — I had no idea what to expect, but it was excellent.
Singing along at the piano bar
Opium
Oxygenating
Another poker face
Eat
Remembering such a good experience at Tao for my grandma’s 84th, I decided to host my Asian food loving husband’s official birthday dinner there. Unfortunately this time it was underwhelming and disappointment (do not recommend). Our friends enjoyed their sake flights, but aside from those, the food was just okay and the service was poor. I’m not one to write poor restaurant reviews, but after this dinner I did. We felt extremely rushed — the server literally brought out the birthday cake while our dinner plates were still on the table and a few of us were eating. In order to rectify the situation, we had breakfast at Egg Slut two days in a row. “The slut” (coddled egg, smooth potato purée, gray salt, chives, slices of baguette) is literally to die for. Hungover or not (we weren’t!) it’s the best breakfast on the strip. We also had a tasty lunch at Gordon Ramsay Fish & Chips (the Biscoff shake was one of the best milkshakes I’ve ever had), and the crepes inside the Paris hotel are almost as good at the real ones in France.
Dinner at Tao — minutes before they brought the cake and starting singing “happy birthday”!
Fun entertainment while in line at Fish & Chips
On the List for Next Time
I’m not sure when we’ll be in Vegas next, but here are some things we’d like to do:
Day trip to the Hoover Dam
Spend some time off the strip and see the actual town of Vegas… Where do the locals hang out?
Stay at the Cosmopolitan (this hotel has the best vibe, and it’s where Egg Slut is!)
Visit in the summer and check out the pool scene
Splurge and get treatments at one of the fancy day spas