Viva Las Vegas!

You gotta love a convention that has an M&M World nearby! Brett had meetings in Las Vegas, and although it is not really my kind of town, I found a lot to gawk at and even admire. I was on a mission to find anything "lovely, virtuous, or of good report or praiseworthy." I actually found quite a bit to enjoy. The floral arrangements, for one thing in Vegas are AMAZING!



They are bigger than life and use real flowers! One of my favorite hotels is the Bellagio. It ranks so high because they change their atrium by the season. When we were there in the spring, it was all butterflies and springtime flowers. This time, it being October, the theme was centered around pumpkins and gourds. They even used Chili Peppers for red borders. Who would've thought of that?




We stayed at the Venetian. It is very Italian inspired and has the Phantom of the Opera music piped in everywhere.





The Phantom is one of my favorite shows and Brett got us great tickets. We were sitting just under and off to the side of the huge chandelier that falls down during the show. It was an amazing performance, the music, the sets, the costumes...awesome! I have had the music running through my mind now for weeks...and that is a good thing!



Our room had a amazing view of the Mirage hotel, with it's erupting volcano, and the Sierra Nevada mountain range just outside of Las Vegas. We went with Dave and Barb Stapleton. Since I had just recently been to Vegas, I played tour guide for Barb on one day, giving her an overview of the strip. We found a lot of photo ops and walked for miles! Then on the other days, after some sightseeing in the morning, I got to sit in our gorgeous hotel room and organize photos on my computer, while overlooking an amazing view.



On our last night, Brett and I decided to try The Cheesecake Factory. There are many great places to eat in Las Vegas, but we had never eaten at a Cheesecake Factory. We were a little overwhelmed by the selections, but we were pretty hungry and finally decided. It was hands down the best food we had all week! We had even eaten at a 5 star restaurant one night (in a business deal, Brett got a voucher for anything we wanted at Piero's Italian restaurant. Dave and Barb came and it was pretty ritzy). But The Cheesecake Factory is now one of our favorites. Too bad there isn't one in the Tri-Cities. Or maybe that is a good thing, considering how amazing their Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Cheesecake is. What a way to end a great get-away vacation!