My mom treated us to a couple of nights with her in Vegas,
in a very swank hotel room on the 61st floor of the Wynn Encore. We
had a view over the pools and down the strip, with the Palazzo and Treasure
Island’s famous ship easily in view. It was especially fabulous at night, all
lights and energy.
The bathroom. Oh my god. Remember for a moment that we’ve
had two months of public restrooms, fee showers, and pit toilets. Now imagine
our reaction when we walked into the room’s spotless luxury bathroom with twin
sinks, a big tub, and a fancy glass-enclosed shower with two shower heads.
Yeah. Bliss! Showers were our first priority upon arrival.
The Wynn hotels… The décor is deliberately mod. Steve Wynn hung with the rat pack
and plays that up big in the hotel. Case in point: One of the restaurants is
Sinatra’s. It’s all reds and purples, with big butterflies and lotus flowers. I
can’t say it was really to my taste, but it certainly made an impression.
The pools are beautiful. We spent a big chunk of our second
day hanging out by the main Encore pool, lucking into some lounges in the shade
and taking frequent dips to keep cool in the 100+ heat. Female waitstaff in
abbreviated little red dresses wander the pool deck, taking orders for $16+
drinks, and male lifeguards ensure no one uses the in-pool lily-pad lounges
without paying for them. One of the lifeguards also had the onerous duty of
telling an attractive young woman she couldn’t be topless in the main pool
(they offer a “European-style” pool nearby where that’s allowed).
Between the two Wynn hotels—which are connected by a long
shopping esplanade—there are about 20 restaurants, I think. We wandered around
a lot, looking at menus and trying to balance budget with experience. We settled
on a two-meal-a-day, brunch-and-dinner approach that helped the budgeting a
little (but don’t go to the Wynn if you’re looking for cheap food) and ended up
having some really excellent meals.
Dinner number 1 was at La Cave, where we sat at a table on
the balcony enjoying the gusts of air conditioning from the open dining room
behind us. The three of us shared four tapas-style offerings: a yummy salad,
French onion soup, grilled scallops on little polenta cakes, and a mushroom and
flank steak flatbread pizza. It was extremely delicious and probably my
favorite meal of the trip.
Our other big meal, at Allegro, was exceptional too. We
shared a perfectly prepared calamari and jalapeño appetizer that was to die for
and then tried to find room for our mains. Frank had clam fettuccini, Mom had a
really good pasta dish that I can’t remember the details of, and I had a
rigatoni and meatballs dish. Good stuff! While we were there, some VIPs
arrived, and it was pretty fascinating to watch the staff scramble to
accommodate them. The chefs came out of the kitchen to greet them, the bussers
broke into nervous sweats, and the manager himself served their wine (although
he really should have left that to the experts).
Our breakfasts were also really good. Frank had eggs
Benedict twice because it was done so well. I did a Grand Slam-style breakfast
one day, complete with the best pancake I’ve had in years, and a tasty mushroom
omelette the next. Mom had eggs the first day and pecan monkey bread (yes,
really, and it was so good) the next.
In other words, we ate like kings.
About the casinos I can’t say much, not being knowledgeable about
these things, but they seemed to have everything casinos are supposed to have.
What I do know is that my mom has a magic touch. She can walk up to a slot
machine and get it to give her money. It’s the darnedest thing. I wish I had
inherited the ability , but alas no. I joked that she won every dollar I put
into the slots. I was glad to help. :-)
Aside from pool and casino and food time, our main
entertainment was walking around looking at stuff. The culture in Vegas, and
especially in an upscale hotel like that, is pretty foreign to me, and overall
the lights and the noise and the crowds and the cigarette smoke were
overstimulating. But it was fascinating. We walked far enough one day to the
see the Grand Canal at the Venetian, with its sky-painted and backlit dome ceiling
and singing gondoliers. Fun!
On our last day, we retrieved the van and trailer from the
limo lot where they’d had us park (there not being many limos in it midweek)
and took a little driving tour of the strip. I have done that much before—we
visited Vegas when the girls were small and spent a couple of days riding
rollercoasters and winning stuffed animals at Circus Circus—and was happy to do
it again. Vegas is a fantasyland. Where else can you see a pirate ship, the
Eiffel Tower, New York City, the Sphynx and a pyramid all within about ten
minutes?
Then we dropped Mom at the airport and got ourselves back on
the road. By nightfall, we were in Bryce Canyon. Talk about culture shock!
P.S. to Mom – Thanks for a lovely vacation from our
vacation! I love you.
