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Nevada

Las Vegas, baby! We had a fabulous time in Vegas with extended family and staying at the Venetian. We arrived in the evening but even with the time difference, the kids were surprisingly energetic. The Venetian was one of the nicest hotels they've stayed at, and our daughter wondered why the soap had a throne. 😆

We rested up and spent most of the next day walking the strip and enjoying the 11 pools and hot tubs at the Venetian and their connected sister hotel, the Palazzo. Several of the pools were kid-friendly being only 1 or 2 feet in depth, and there were lifeguards at every pool. 


For dinner, we ate at the Wynn Buffet. We tried to reserve online but they were fully booked for the night. We joined the line at 4:50 pm thinking it would be an hour or so wait, but it turned into a 2.5 hour wait! We were all getting a bit hangry, but the kids were troopers. The food was good, but nothing stuck out to me as amazing. The desserts were my highlight as I did have two crĂšme brĂ»lĂ©es. 😋 

The next day, we woke up bright and early before 6 am due to the time difference. We rented a car from Hertz (conveniently located at the hotel) and got breakfast at Lee's Sandwiches (only an 8 minute drive). The baguettes were on point, and the Vietnamese coffee was exactly what we needed before a 40 minute drive to Hoover Dam.


Hoover Dam was so impressive. I would take a quick peek and snap a quick photo, but it certainly made my legs tremble to stand near the wall. I'm still in awe that it was built in the 1930s. The planning, engineering, and construction - working 24 hours a day for 363 days a year, completing the dam 2 years ahead of schedule. 


We took the guided power plant tour, $15 per person, where we watched a short video about the dam, walked through the original construction tunnels, saw enormous generators and learning exhibits, and viewed the dam from a platform overlook.


The following day for breakfast, we enjoyed Bouchon Bakery at the casino level of our hotel. I had noticed the long lines there the previous day and thought surely, it had to be good...and it was! We had a chocolate croissant, almond croissant, fruit pastry, blueberry muffin, and cheese danish. Here's our daughter's thoughts on the cheese danish:
  

Afterwards, we wanted to visit the Discovery Children's Museum (only 15 min from the Strip) but it didn't open until 10 am, and we had reservations at Din Tai Fung at 11:30 am. Of course, food would be our priority. 😉 Instead, we went to the Las Vegas Natural History Museum since it opened at 9 am. It's an older, smaller museum (ASTC and Smithsonian Affiliate) but packed full of exhibits, and our kids seemed to especially enjoy the Treasures of Egypt exhibit. 


We had lunch at Din Tai Fung at Aria, and it did not disappoint. The xiao long bao are hand crafted and absolutely amazing! We enjoyed the savory ones along with appetizers, string beans, spicy wontons, braised beef noodle, and chicken noodle soups. But we also tried the sweet xiao long bao desserts: red bean, taro, and black sesame. The black sesame was my favorite!    


For dinner, we ate at Bacchanal Buffet at Caesars Palace. We made a reservation weeks in advance to eat here with our party of 12. Even though it's $79.99 for adults and $39.99 for kids 4 to 10 years old, it was definitely worth it compared to other buffets on the Strip. They had the most amount of seafood, every kind you could want to eat, but I mostly went for the prime rib and small plates - perfectly portioned, plated, and every bite was gourmet. I tried new dishes for the first time like shakshuka which was delish. And the bone marrow, ahh so good is an understatement. This is maybe my third time at this buffet and each time I look forward to the bone marrow.


I was proud of my kids who all ate prime rib too. My middle son ate 2-1/2 pieces of prime rib, truffle mashed potatoes, lobster mac and cheese, seafood linguine, and a variety of other foods along with dessert, of course!   

My dessert plate 😁: Some delish ube dessert, chocolate ganache, tiramisu, matcha cheesecake, crĂšme brĂ»lĂ©e, red velvet cake, matcha ice cream, and pistachio ice cream

On our final night, we watched the Bellagio fountains from my sister's room at the Bellagio. The perfect ending to our time in Vegas!

Comments

  1. DJ ChuangAugust 16, 2023 at 5:26 PM

    What a great family excursion to travel all across the United States of America! We've also found this kind of a multi-state road trip to be a most wonderful way to share lasting memories for the fam (we did ours as a cross-country drive from DC to the OC, in the summer of 2007, with a stop in Las Vegas, too.)

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