Thursday, January 12, 2012

The Big 3-0

Wally and I recently celebrated our 30th anniversary. Now, we consider that a pretty big deal, so we decided to take our kids and their significant others to a celebratory dinner in Seattle, where we had an absolutely wonderful meal at the Metropolitan Grill. As far as Wally knew, that was the extent of our celebration. Unbeknownst to him, the kids and I had been plotting a surprise!
Sarah and Nick were scheduled to fly back to Texas on our actual anniversary date. Wally and I planned to take them to the airport, and Scott came along under the pretense that he wanted us to help him shop for a new TV on the way home. Sarah helped me get our luggage hidden in the trunk, and we were off. At the airport, we all hopped out of the car to give the kids goodbye hugs. Wally says he wondered why the kids had so many suitcases, but he didn't really understand what was up until Scott gave hugs to Wally and me, told us goodbye, then got in the car and drove away. We were headed for Las Vegas!
We checked in for our flight and had time to have breakfast with Nick and Sarah before they took off. On Scott's recommendation, I had made reservations at Bellagio. We were not disappointed! Here is the view from our room.

Shortly after we arrived at the hotel, there was a knock at the door. Another surprise! Our best friends Larry and Cheryl sent a gift of champagne, balloons and chocolate-covered strawberries. Delicious, and a great start to a fun weekend. 

We (make that I) really wanted to try out FIX restaurant in Bellagio, so we headed there the first night. Scott highly recommended the fried macaroni & cheese. I'm thinking the only way to make mac & cheese more decadent is to fry or deep-fry it, but I was wrong. Try frying it AND adding an extra cheese sauce for dipping...heaven! The menu calls it "Very Adult Mac & Cheese, with Truffle Oil, Prosciutto and 4 cheeses".  You must try it if you go!

Scott and Sandra gave us a wonderful gift to enjoy in Vegas. With their help, we saw Cirque du Soleil The Beatles "LOVE" at the Mirage. We had fantastic seats in the seventh row, and enjoyed every minute of the show. My favorite was the "Octopus' Garden" segment. What talented, imaginative performers! Really the highlight of our trip.
The last day in Vegas we headed to the Fremont Street area downtown. We spent most of the day making our way from casino to casino and bar to bar. There are some great places to watch football and have some cheap drinks. We happend to come upon the Miss America contestants taping introductions for the upcoming pageant, which will also be aired on TV. The stage hands mentioned that anyone who wanted to be on TV should go back behind the contestants. They didn't have to say that twice. I got a couple of great pics of Wally checking out the scenery. The pageant will be aired on Saturday, January 14th on ABC. See if you can find Waldo in the background proudly wearing his green Baylor jacket!
 We had a wonderful long weekend in Las Vegas. But it's always good to come back home to the real world. I think we're done traveling for awhile!

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