Well, we finally did - travelling again! After a delay of 2 years (thanks COVID) we finally got my birthday weekend trip to Las Vegas in! My birthday weekend actually started on my birthday with an excellent day off with my friend Stuart playing some golf and watching a baseball game. The it was off to Las Vegas!
My birthday started off with a round of pitch and putt with my friend Stuart. It was an excellent start to my birthday.
Two years ago we had planned to go to Las Vegas for my birthday weekend. We had bought tickets to a Sting concert, and had plans for a fun time in the sun. Well we all know what happened, but after two rebookings, we were planning to do a much scaled back version of the trip to test the waters of travelling again. No concert, but with the horrendous spring that we’ve been having, Justine and I were very much looking forward to some sunshine and heat and a relaxing couple of days away.
We deliberately shortened the trip - leaving Saturday morning and coming back Monday night, flying out of Bellingham just across the border (our usual approach). Since my actual birthday was on the Friday and it was a long weekend, I decided to take the day off. There was an afternoon Vancouver Canadians baseball game scheduled for a 1:05 start, so that seemed like the perfect way to spend an afternoon.
My friend Stuart was kind enough to take the day off as well, so we decided to start the day with a round of gold (well pitch and putt actually). Queen Elizabeth Gardens has a pretty decent little course and is walking distance from Nat Bailey Stadium, so that worked out perfectly. I rode my bike up to the gold course and met Stuart there for our planned 10:00 start.
Have I mentioned how horrible the weather has been so far this year? Well someone was looking after me, as Friday was sunny and warm, easily the nicest day we’ve had all year. It was boding well. The course was a little busy to start, but it spread out and we had a great round. We might have started drinking a little bit early, but why not - it was my birthday after all!
OUr timing was just about perfect as we wrapped up the round at about 12:45 and walked over to the baseball stadium. The Vancouver Canadians are the “A” ball affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays, and the games are always a lot of fun to attend. This was my second game of the year, and I had booked some great seats right on the first base line.
We had a great view of the action!
It was a beautiful day, but of course I got burnt sitting in the sun all game. We haven’t seen the sun in months, so not a surprise. The game was great and the home team won! It was a pretty eventful game, which was fun! We had some lunch at the ballpark, a couple more drinks and a really good time. It was great spending the day with Stuart.
Justine had been away on a work trip for a couple of days, and got home later that afternoon. As out flight was at 8:00 a.m. the next morning, I chose to book us a hotel near the airport in Bellingham, to avoid having to get up stupidly early to do the drive down, cross the border and deal with all of those type of issues. So we got ourselves organized, and after a bit of a late start drove down to Bellingham. It was a bit late by the time we got down there, but we needed some dinner. There was an Olive Garden right next to the hotel so that worked. We had dinner, got checked into the very crappy hotel I booked and tried to get some sleep before out early start the next morning.
Off to Las Vegas!
During the trip, Justine and I figured we’ve been to Las Vegas on average once a year since we’ve been together. That’s a lot of trips, for lots of different reasons. But they are always a good time. The goal for this trip was pure relaxation - soak up the sun and the heat and spend some time by the pool.
Our home for the next couple of days - the Park MGM!
I had decided to book a room at the Park MGM on the southern part of the strip. It’s a newly renovated hotel - it used to be called the Monte Carlo Resort and Casino, but was completed refurbished a few years back. It’s somewhat novel in that it’s a non-smoking hotel, and what a difference that makes! We ended up really liking the resort and will definitely look at it in the future. It’s in a great spot on the Strip near the new T-Mobile Arena and close to a lot of the things we like to do while in Vegas.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. We got to the airport earlier than we needed to, but better safe than sorry I guess. Eventually we were on the plane and on our way. Things didn’t seem much different, and it seems like most people in the US have forgotten about COVID. Justine and I are being a lot more conservative - we wear masks all the time when indoors or around a lot of people. With all the travel we both have over the next month, we’re doing everything we can to make sure we don’t get sick.
We touched down around 10:00, were out of the airport in no time and quickly made our way to the hotel. After a bit of a confusing start to the check in process, we were able to get into our room right away, which was a huge boost to making the day go much easier. The room was a Strip view on the 25th floor, so we had a pretty decent view, and as the hotel is newly renovated, the rooms were as well and are quite nice.
After checking in and getting settled in our room, we went and walked around the hotel to check things out. The pool area was quite nice - three pools actually - and we planned to spend some time there for sure. The hotel is a combo of themes - “Park” as it’s very park and nature oriented mixed with an Italian food orientation. The best part about the hotel is that being new, it’s also smoke free! You don’t get that in many Vegas hotels, and what a difference that makes!
After checking out the hotel, we headed outside to get some sun and stretch our legs a bit. The hotel is close to the “new” arena, and has a number of good places to eat and drink nearby. We grabbed lunch at Shake Shack in the New York New York hotel, and a drink at Beerhaus.
A view up at Aria, the hotel next door. I love the look of that building.
Some of the cool art installations along the street across from the hotel. They provide nice shade in the heat of the day.
You don’t think about flowers in the desert, but it’s spring and so many of the trees, shrubs and cacti were in full bloom and looked amazing!
Over the course of the three days, we ended up spending quite a bit of time at the pool. That’s not normal for us, but given how cold and wet our spring has been this year, we certainly needed some sun and heat. The pools were great - not too busy, and we were able to find a spot that was perfect for what we were looking for.
After spending some time at the pool and some time outside in the sun, it was pushing to the end of the day. So we got organized to head out for my birthday dinner at Tao. This is our favourite restaurant in Vegas, and one (as we figured out over dinner) that I’ve been going to over over 15 years! That’s crazy. The menu has changed a bit; some of our favourites are missing, but it was still great. And of course the perfect dessert to wrap it up - chocolate mousse in a huge fortune cookie.
After dinner we decided to walk back to the hotel. We timed it right to catch the fountain light show at the Bellagio.
The next morning I was up early to watch the final day of the Premier League season, with the hope that Liverpool might steal the title away. The only place I could find open that was showing the game was at the Hard Rock Cafe across the strip from the hotel. The location was good, but not surprisingly I was the only person in the place for much of the game. Sadly, it didn’t work out for my team. They did their part, but Manchester City refused to slip up.
After heading back to the hotel, we headed down to the pool for a while.
For dinner that night we headed back to the Venetian and went to another favourite, Yardbird. As you can imagine it’s a southern inspired place, with great fried chicken and cornbread!
After dinner, we had a drink at Juniper, a gin-themed gbar in our hotel. It’s such a cool spot. We loved the decor and the cocktails were quite tasty as well. It seemed like a great spot to wind down our last evening.
I played a bit of poker that night after dropping Justine off. It was not a successful session - just barely breaking even on the night. Ah well.
The next day we got a bit of late check out and stored our bags. We had all day before heading to the airport around 6pm. We did lounge at the pool for a while, then wandered the Strip, did some shopping and generally just relaxed. It was a good way to wind down our last day.