Las Vegas 2022
The last weekend in March 2022, my sister Shannon, my mom, and I went to Las Vegas for my belated 25th birthday trip that had been postponed twice due to COVID. It was totally worth waiting for. We had a blast!
We flew into Las Vegas and then took an Uber for the short trip to the Elara Hilton Grand Vacation Club Hotel where we were staying. My sister was participating in the vacation club viewing and we got a very good deal because of it! It’s a very cool place to stay and we especially liked it because it is not a casino so there is no smoking! We settled in our room which had a huge window with remote control shades and a great view. Shortly after, we left for dinner at Lotus of Siam, a Thai restaurant whose chef is a James Beard Award winner. It is tucked away off the strip and we wouldn’t have known about it but my mom got a recommendation from a friend at work who had been there before. It’s a busy place with lots of people and the food was delicious. We started with the Thai Salad, then onto the Drunken Noodle with Prawns (my favorite dish), and the Yellow Curry with chicken and rice. It is definitely a place to try if you love Thai food as much as we do! When we finished our meal, we ride-shared back to the Elara to relax and get a good night’s sleep.
On the next day, we stopped at Starbucks conveniently located in the Elara on our way to shopping in The Miracle Mile shopping mall connected to our hotel. Shannon went off to her timeshare presentation while my mom and I checked out quite a few shops! I found some cute things at Billabong. After shopping, we went to The Cosmopolitan to find Milk Bar by Christina Tosi for a snack. I have been wanting to go there for a long time as I think she is an awesome pastry chef. We got a “Compost” cookie and the “Milk-Bar Pie” which was my favorite. We met up with Shannon at the Paris hotel which is really pretty inside and shared a sandwich. Back at the hotel, we relaxed until our special evening began. First, we went to Giada de Laurentiis’ restaurant (Giada Vegas) in The Cromwell. She is my favorite celebrity chef; at the time she was with Food Network. I had high expectations for this meal and although it was good, I was a little disappointed with our entrees. Then after the restaurant, we went over to the Bellagio for Cirque du Soleil: “O” that we had tickets purchased ahead of time. We had great seats that were accessible for me and the show was incredible. I especially liked the acts that splashed into the water. I would definitely recommend this performance!
The next day was our last full day in Las Vegas and we spent most of the day at the pool. It was crowded but fun. After the pool, we went back to Billabong so I could show my sister the dresses that I tried on to help me choose.
After we finished shopping we went back to get changed to go to Amalfi by Bobby Flay for dinner located in Caesars Palace The food was amazing. I got a Bellini, Shannon got the Amalfi Spritz, and my Mom got the Limonata for our cocktails that we all really liked. For our Antipasti we ordered Shellfish Fritto Misto (wonderful) and Soft Scrambled Eggs. The chef then surprised us with the grilled Octopus and it was unexpectedly, amazingly delicious! Then we shared an Amalfi Chopped Salad and also a Baby Gem Caesar (courtesy of the chef!) which were both yummy. For our entrées, I got the Scialatielli, a pasta dish with a scampi and Basil sauce that was awesome; my mom and sister split the Jidori Chicken Al Forno which is a roasted chicken dish. They said that the chicken was the best they ever had. My mom even said it reminded her of her Italian grandma’s special chicken! Of course, we had to share a dessert. My absolute favorite dessert is tiramisu. Amalfi’s is a “Caramel Espresso Tiramisu” which was the best tiramisu! Definitely number one in my opinion! We kept saying this was our favorite meal we had on our trip. I would highly recommend that you go to this restaurant if you are in Las Vegas. It is beautiful and they have enormous mosaic containers with fresh fish that you can pick whichever fish you’d like and they will cook it many different ways. It would be fun to try one of those fresh fish! I would return to this restaurant because this was our favorite. It is expensive but so much fun to splurge for my 25th birthday!
After dinner, we went over to the slot machines. I wanted to have the experience of doing a slot machine because I had never done it before. I wasn’t successful, lol, but it was fun to try! Because it was a Friday night, the casinos, clubs, and streets were packed with people. We decided we enjoyed the weekdays better when it was less crazy! We stopped by the Bellagio fountains on our way back to our hotel which were amazing.
The next day was the last day of our trip and we were going home. Before our flight, we went to the Miracle Mile Mall one last time. We had to get to the airport and end our fun few days in Vegas. This trip was a great way to celebrate my 25th birthday even though it had been delayed due to COVID and I look forward to another fun visit in the future!
