I was fortunate get a trip to Las Vegas for work, so I ended up extending my trip earlier into the weekend so that my friends and family in California and Arizona could meet with me as well. This trip was definitely a family-friendly affair and mostly involved exploration and food.

Friday

I arrived early afternoon and my family picked me up from the airport. We were so hungry that we went straight for lunch/dinner. I had gotten a recommendation from a friend to try The Modern Vegan, an entirely vegan restaurant in between the Las Vegas airport and the Strip. The menu had some very interesting items, but I’d highly recommend the fish and chips and the burger. I was shocked that so many items were actually vegan, even though they definitely did not taste vegan.

We ended up staying at a Marriott just off the Las Vegas Strip. The hotel was booked a little last minute and it was one of the few places left that were able to accommodate a larger group. We went back to the hotel and relaxed while the rest of our guests arrived.

The last of our group arrived at 1 AM and we were off to dinner! We had made reservations at Herbs and Rye, a restaurant off the Strip open well into the morning. At the time we went, there was a late night happy hour in which beers, wines, and well drinks were discounted, and steaks and select items were 50% off too. I had a cocktail and tried their steak, clam linguine, flatbread, and mac and cheese. If you stop in, definitely get a steak and a cocktail from their menu.

Saturday

After such a late dinner, we had a late start to the day. We ended up starting at the Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood and walked around window shopping. We stopped and grabbed some cookies from the Nestle Toll House Cafe (hot take: I think my Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies are better).

From Planet Hollywood, we crossed Las Vegas Boulevard to the Cosmopolitan for lunch at the Block 16 Urban Food Hall. This was a great option for our large group. We ended up sharing so we could try as many items from the different vendors in the area as possible. It would be really great if you’re trying to satisfy palettes in a large group.

After lunch, we continued to the Bellagio. First stop was outside to watch the fountains and then inside to explore the conservatory and botanical gardens. The plants were so beautiful and I was so tempted to take cuttings… but I didn’t. We stopped at the Bellagio Patisserie and admired the world’s largest chocolate fountain for some time, wondering what happened to all the chocolate that flowed through it. We then grabbed some lattes as we were getting so sleepy-full from all the food we had just eaten.

My brother wanted to do a bit of gambling at the Cosmopolitan so we decided to venture on to Caesars Palace. We wandered through the casino floor until we stumbled upon Vanderpump Cocktail Garden, an alluring oasis from the gambling. The cocktails were delicious (and pricey) but it was a nice stop from our exploring.

After an afternoon of walking, eating and drinking, we decided we needed a break to rest. We went back to the hotel for a nap and some rest. Before the trip I had watched so many food YouTube videos on where to eat in Las Vegas and obviously we needed to try a buffet. Many videos later, I had settled on trying the Buffet at the Wynn. The reservation/cut-the-line situation is a little confusing where you can pay to be seated sooner, but we decided to wait in line. We waited about an hour and a half to get a table for 7 people. We were seated about 30 minutes before closing, but there was still plenty of food leftover and plenty of time to eat.

We were so full that we had to end the evening with a walk through the Venetian and the Grand Canal Shoppes to help digest the food.

Sunday

Another late night led to another late morning. We slept in and took our time getting packed up and ready to go as groups would be driving back to California, driving back to Arizona, flying back to Washington while I stayed behind for business. After checking out the hotel, we went straight to Rainbow Kitchen for dimsum.

I was expecting the restaurant to be so busy, but we only had to wait 10 minutes for a table to be ready. We tried nearly everything on the dimsum menu and it was all divine. We were hungry and ended up going a little overboard on the ordering, but that’s what you’re supposed to do when you have dimsum, right?

After our dimsum brunch, we said our farewells. Until next time.

I’m most proud that I didn’t spend a single dime gambling in Las Vegas 🙂