Labor Day in Las Vegas! Part 2

Did you see Part 1?  If not, read it here.

When last I blogged, Chris and I were back in our hotel room in the Aria Las Vegas resort, having enjoyed a day of seeing cool art, eating good food, and wandering the Strip (a bit).  As I've mentioned before, half-marathon training plans wait for no man or vacation, and since I had a long run on the schedule, I was up early on Saturday morning.  Into the extremely spacious bathroom to get ready!

Some extra bed pillows

(so that's why they give you so many!)

serving as a cushy seating arrangement

while I caffeinated and carb'ed up.

Since the temps were going to top 105 that day and I had a good 14 miles to do, I headed out right as the sun was rising at 6-6:30.  I'd done research ahead of time (shocking!) and mapped myself out a route that should work for my needs; first, I planned to head south along Las Vegas Blvd past the airport, then back to Harmon (the street that runs east/west just north of Ballys), heading east on Harmon to UNLV.  I'd do some extra legwork in a few neighborhoods out that way, finishing up by heading back to Aria, Chris, and hopefully, a whole lotta second breakfast (technically, first breakfast was half a cold, stale cinnamon raisin bagel and two strawberry Huma gels while on the road.  Yum).

My anticipated run route

Handwritten notes, which I "laminated"

in packing tape and tucked in my pocket.

14 miles of running in the desert heat

can do a number on your brain,

so it's better to have things written down

rather than rely on memory.

I know this varies for some runners, but I really enjoy logging miles in Vegas, provided it's not too hot or crowded.  It was super quiet when I started my run (the only other folks I saw for the first few hours were...other runners.  Actually, there was just one guy strolling by Luxor, wearing a wide variety of clothing options, including a jean skirt.  How could I forget him?), and I relaxed into cruising along and spending some time in the dry desert air.  

Looking north toward the airport and Strip.

That's Mandalay Bay, gleaming gold up there.

One of my incentives for heading south on the Strip and to the airport was seeing the famous "Welcome to Las Vegas!" sign.  We've never actually stopped for pictures here (or even driven past it), and even at 7am, there was a short line for snaps.  I volunteered to grab some shots of a Dad and his two kiddos, and they did the same for me.

Ta da!

Behold the new crew socks with tennis shoes,

basketball shorts, and not knowing the camera is on.

That is some White Guy Tourist Dad realness right there.

I continued my run, heading along my prescribed path.  In our visits to Vegas, we've ventured off the Strip many times, but never in this particular direction and certainly never by foot; it was cool to get a sense for how things were laid out in this city that so many folks call home (for example, I realized the Hofbrauhaus is exactly halfway between the Strip and UNLV.  Good planning, that).  I'd read online that UNLV was a good running area, as it had some shady trees and a quiet, pedestrian-focused campus, and I had fun tooling around my buddy Megan's old stomping ground.

The side of campus I entered from had the athletic fields - 

including Megan's former softball area!

I like sightseeing on foot!

I puttered through campus, made a quick bathroom/water run at a 7-11, got turned around just a bit (and then righted myself), and was almost back to the Strip when I noticed Chris walking towards me.  Of course, I'd told him where I'd be (the shots of my route above were actually for him, should he need to find me), and since he was awake, he wandered out to meet me near the end.  It was getting toasty, and I was pretty much done, so I called it at mile 13.5 and strolled back to Aria with him and back into our room.  I got cleaned up and we headed to the Aria Cafe for breakfast and to use another voucher we had for some Bloody Mary's!

While you don't get to make the Bloody's

yourself, you do have a list of items to choose from.

All kinds of customization here!

As we were planning this trip, we decided to make the Saturday of our adventure a pool day, as we'd never done that before.  We splurged on reserved seating with cushions and umbrellas, as we figured we're wimps now and can't hang in the hot desert sun any longer.  Our spot came with an awesome waitress/hostess who kept us supplied with cold water, an ice bucket, and all of the drinks and foods we cared to order.

Pool time!

Our room is up there somewhere

The ice bucket worked for keeping many things cool

Pool selfie!

Can you spot the missing toenail?

They had Four Peaks Peach!

I couldn't pass it up.

We chilled out by the pool, napping, eating, and drinking for 3-4 hours, and finally deciding we'd had enough, we headed back to the room for yet another nap (this one in the A/C).  We woke up before too long and got ready for our second night out along the Strip.

When we head to Vegas, we normally plan to catch a show, but in planning this trip, we figured we'd play it by ear.  That lasted all of three days or so, at which point I received an email about how a new act's residency was starting up at the MGM Park Theater (in the old Monte Carlo) the Saturday night we'd be in town.  The act in question was Queen with Adam Lambert doing the lead vocals - if you know me pretty well, you know that Queen is probably my number three favorite group in the whole wide world (preceded only by Jimmy Buffett and Green Day - what?  I contain multitudes), so after consulting with Chris, we grabbed some tickets.  Show time was 8pm, so we planned for an early dinner reservation at CraftSteak, Tom Colicchio's steakhouse inside the MGM Grand.

Yes to a pre-dinner cocktail!

After a long day of running and then lounging, we were hungry, so we decided to go with the two person meal option which allowed you to taste two different cuts of steak plus a whole assortment of other starters, desserts, and sides.  Even being hungry, it was so.much.food that we ended up taking a lot of it back to the room before the show and then home to the LBC, where we enjoyed it again a few days later.  Everything was outstanding!

Yeah, so this is just our dessert course.

Redonk.

Beyond completely full, we waddled to the show and were in our seats for a few minutes before the show started.

I know, gift shop mannequin,

I'm excited, too!

Ready to see Queen!

The show was absolutely fantastic - Brian May and Roger Taylor represented the original members of Queen, and they hadn't lost a single step over the years.  Adam Lambert was great, too - he fully acknowledged he could never fill Freddie Mercury's shoes, but he brought an awesome energy and swagger to the stage, and I'm sure Freddie was smiling down at all of us that night.

Brian May gets the spotlight

Honestly, what an amazing show.  I knew I would love it, but Chris thoroughly enjoyed it too, even as someone with only the most passing of acquaintances with Queen's music ("They sing 'We Will Rock You' AND 'Another One Bites the Dust?'"  Mind blown).  We headed back to Aria and to bed, fully stuffed with awesome food and even better music.

Later!

Amy