We weren't overly hungry, so our plan was to walk to the Venetian to have breakfast at the Grand Luxe Cafe there (which is owned by the Cheesecake Factory, and which is one of our favorites for breakfast). Best laid plans and all that; when we started north on the Strip, we decided we were hungrier than we thought and didn't want to wait until we got to the Venetian before we ate. So we remembered that the Bellagio Cafe, their 24-hour restaurant, was also pretty damn good, and went there instead.
The Bellagio Cafe is right next to the Conservatory, the garden area with a display that changes at least once every season. This display was all about hot-air balloons and bugs. The balloons hung above in lots of different colors, and the bugs were at ground level and a zillion times their real size. I really enjoy the artistry the gardeners use for these displays. Lots of colors and all the plants make the whole place seem fresh.
After breakfast, we took a slow walk back to our hotel where Kelly needed to get some real work done.
When we walked in to the room, I noticed that the message light was on the phone. Expecting one of those pro forma messages from the manager a la "we hope your room is to your liking" kinds of messages, I was surprised to hear the agent say that there was a message from the "amenity department." When I was connected, I learned that they had wanted to deliver "an amenity," but since we weren't in the room when they came by earlier, they would deliver it within the hour. Kelly hunkered down at the computer and I knit for a while while we waited. No, we really weren't waiting for "the amenity," we were waiting to hear from our friends Greg and Kerry, who were going to be joining us for the evening.
So here's the story with G & K... they're nuts, like us. A few years ago, the male spouses surprised the female spouses by showing up at Crimson restaurant in Los Gatos for Valentine's Day. The guys out-did themselves, with flowers and chocolates waiting for us - but we were the only table of four at the place... it was Valentine's Day! We, on the other hand, thought it was grand fun, and thus began our mini-tradition of celebrating romantic occasions together.
Kelly and I had gone to Vegas for our anniversary last year and we wanted to keep that tradition going. But with the big cross-country adventure, we wouldn't have time (or probably $$) to take another trip so soon after this one. So the solution was to stay 2 nights in Vegas and call it an early anniversary celebration. Well, who do we call to share romantic occasions with? Why, Greg and Kerry, of course! And who agreed to join us? Greg and Kerry! (I said they were nuts!)
Kerry had been down in L.A., seeing her daughter off on a plane Friday night. She stayed over in L.A. that night, then drove to Las Vegas Saturday morning in time to pick up Greg at the airport. We finally connected (after many hilarious and ill-timed text messages - sorry, Kerry!) around 4:00 and started celebrating. Let the drinking begin!
We eventually made our way to Caesar's Palace, stopping along the way at the View Bar at Aria and the Seahorse Bar in Caesar's, before getting to Mesa Grill for our 7:45 reservations. Mesa is one of Bobby Flay's restaurants, and it's one of Kelly's and my favorites. I've been a fan since they opened, and on Saturday, we brought Greg and Kerry into the fan fold, too. Simply fabulous.
We gambled a bit there, then took our time walking back to our hotel, stopping in to Paris, Planet Hollywood, and MGM, finally getting back to Aria around midnight. We arranged to meet for breakfast the next morning, and as Greg, Kelly, and I headed to our rooms, Kerry decided she wanted to do a "little more" gambling. When we got back into our room, we snacked on "the amenity," which turned out to be chocolate covered strawberries and macaroons. When I made the reservation, I told the agent that we would be celebrating our anniversary, and I think she set this up. They were yummy!
Next up: day 9, leaving Vegas and heading for Oxnard.
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