V @the V for V

It's the Year of the Monkey. Can you spot her?

Vegas, Venetian, Valentine’s Day

I’m always surprised by the spectacle of it all. The weddings, the fashion, the girls who know how to walk around on stilettos, the food, the crazies, the big spenders, the naked it just gets bigger and bigger every year.

We arrived at 10pm on a Friday night after a two hour hell flight.  Flew Alaska, nothing interesting happened on the flight, but my seat was next to two adolescent MEXICAN soccer tournament boys who didn’t know I spoke Spanish, I don’t think either had ever been on a plane, and they kept taking pictures (with flash) of everything.

When we landed we got a crazy cab driver that honked and screamed at a drunk driver that nearly ran us off the road.

Checking in at the Venetian we got to the desk and James Blond, the former pit boss told us a great story about a tuxedo top…pant less dude trying to put down some bets.

Got to our room which was near the end of longest hallway I have EVER been down. Checked for bedbugs, put away our stuff and headed down for a drink.

Went to the Yardbird (more on that later) had a mediocre bartender serve Geromino up a beer and I asked for a cheap whiskey he gave me Glenfiditch $14. He ignored us after we ordered. Never offered us a menu and was weak with the upsell, I think we might of looked homeless after our travels but I think he was in a bad mood at closing time or we were overfriendly and high on being in Vegas, baby.    Went upstairs washed my faced and passed out.

I loved my room at the Venetian, except for some small details. It does not have a coffee maker, no water kettle and no fridge, some of the lights don’t always work and they don’t have AMC (for the Walking Dead mid-season premiere). It’s a long way from the lobby to the room, the nearest coffee is super crowded from 8-1030am. So if I want coffee I have to walk half a mile to the ESPRESSAMENTE ILLY in the mall. I <3 Italian coffee. The cappuccino is amazing.

Next morning, gambled a little, went shopping a little and then had lunch at Grimaldi’s. They have a chemist that does an analysis of the water in New York City and they copy that and only use ingredients they would use in New York to make a really good crust.  We shared a salad and a small.  The pizza had the just right amounts of cheese, chewiness and sauce.

This is the small.

Dig the wine bottles turned into lights.

After lunch we lounged at the pool for 3 hours with some East Coasties. The only thing I'm going to comment on is that WE from northern, wet cold climates are easy to spot, trying to get a tan in 73 degree weather, with our fluorescent flesh causing temporary blindness.

This picture was earlier in the day and yes the sun did shine at the pool later. The temperature in the water was not 78-80deg as promised.

Had the groupon for:

$19 for Two 44-Ounce Margaritas in Souvenir Cups at Tacos N' Ritas ($56 Value) 

Is not worth it, there is NO BOOZE in them what-so-ever. But the huge glass is fun to parade about @ the pool.

After a little more gambling, we set off for an amazing dinner at SushiSamba if you check out the menu its a combo Japanese, Brazilian and a little Peruvian mixed in to make this an exciting and delicious experience. Had a delicious 7 piece Nigiri Platter and the Neo Tokyo (spicy tuna) Roll, Filet Mignon Robata and Vegetable Tempura all downed with a little white wine. This place is fun, fresh, and fabulous, couldn't leave without doing this dessert:

a banana split with coconut flan, dulce de leche ice cream, fruit, caramelized bananas, all with whiskey whipped cream.

The wagu beef rock roasting thing looks really interesting, however, I think it's not fun to cook your own steak at the table, especially at $32 an ounce, someone should do it for you.

Maybe this guy:

He stood and cooked on his hot rock for his family. It felt very Flintstone. My camera is perfectly fine. Just this guy's rock is really smoking.

After dinner, went on our first UBER ride...EVER! to the Fremont Street Experience. If you haven't ever done Uber, you should, it is so easy, and you don't have to worry about tips and sobriety and such. Do it! You won't regret it.

Walked our favorite street to ogle and made our way to our favorite pub in Vegas. Banger Brewing had a couple of yummy triples and Geromino swears he saw some Demon on Fremont St. Walked up and down the street a few times, listened to the bands, saw the look-a-likes, saw strippers, saw said strippers get fondled, you know the usual, we headed back to the Banger for seconds.

  

Took an Uber (2nd time to ride Uber ever) back to the Venetian,  and won money after this. I just can't remember much else. I like how my pictures get blurrier as the night progresses ;)

Next day we got our s**t together around the time we booked a ride on a Hummer to go shooting at Battlefield Vegas so we hurried to the Palazzo where he said he would be... 20 minutes later we are still waiting. But then this family of Brits wanders out of the Palazzo, and magically our HUMMER appears  and off we all go to bust some caps. Here we all are riding on the Strip.

We shot our guns and headed back to the Venetian. 

NOW I can tell you about the Yardbird. Geromino and I figured out it was a chicken biscuits Southern place and you could actually hear our mouths water. I am of the mind that if we see it we should eat it. We shared 3 different orders of biscuits and they where all AMAZING!

The chicken, the brisket, the ham. 

I also had the best-est OLD FASHIONED of my life.

The box next to the drink is a little Valentine's present of two biscuits that we had for lunch back in Seattle. I loved this place. Check out the website menu. When Geromino and I come back, this is a definite revisit. 

After lunch, I was on a little best bourbon brunch high and we went to a little shopping spree, I purchased a bottle of souvenir bourbon to mark the occasion. It was a little store in the Venetian mall called VOM FASS. This store was exclusively created for me, it has yummy vinegar, oil and alcohol from around the world. I could of stayed in here and sampled something from every country. 

Around this time i started to notice something odd about the day, I had forgotten that it was Valentine's Day, but the brides reminded me. I must of seen 150 ladies in all shapes and sizes dressed as brides.  The one in all pink was my absolute favorite. After walking the strip, and not buying a cupcake from the cupcake atm

I lost all my money I had won, and then some! So to console myself we went off to dinner at the Bouchon. It was not the highlight of my Valentine's Day I'm sorry to say that the beer and charcuterie and bignets where the best part. The two hour wait for food, the mussels, and being bumped in the back by a waiter every 5 minutes where the worst. I expected excellence and got mediocrity. I do not recommend this place. After dinner, in a funk, and nothing to console me, i gambled more and lost more. So I think my weekend overall was incredible. Next time a later flight home (8am)!