Las Vegas! I miss you!

Christina got me thinking about Vegas. About all the great things to do there and about all the things I really want to do while I'm there this time. Everything I wrote is in this blue color. Stuff I pulled off other websites is in black. I tried to link everything up so ya'll would know where it came from. If you have more information about Vegas that you'd like to share, I'd love to hear about it. I LOVE Vegas.

Hotdog - Gold Coast - 10 am-7 pm - 75¢ The 75¢ hot dogs served from a vendor's cart at the Gold Coast also move up a notch on a seasonal consideration (#9). It's baseball season, after all, and they're available right there in the sports book where the games are constantly televised. And unlike the ballpark (where the dogs cost five times as much), these come with fantastic fixins', including sauerkraut, relish, and onions.
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I don't think it was the Gold Coast, I think it might be next door, but the 1/2 pound hotdog is definitely enough to share!!! Buy one and split it just for the novelty. I smothered mine in the runny cheese they have, but it didn't really save the taste. It was still a boiled hotdog. hehe. I won't order that again, but it was DEFINITELY worth the giggles the first time. The margaritas sold with the 1/2 hotdogs are okay, not great on taste, but pretty strong on the tequila. My boyfriend, loved the strawberry shortcake (I think it might have been $1.25). Fun for a quick lunch.


Barbary Coast - (Check Prices) The Victorian coffee shop is a nice one, especially if you can enjoy a decent breakfast with sausage, hash browns and eggs for about $3 late at night.
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I haven't tried this place yet, but I think it is worth looking into, so I posted it to help remind myself. Generally speaking, we weren't up late enough to do any of the midnight dinners, or at least we weren't hungry at that time. Still a very cute idea. I think my goal might be to stay awake long enough to get some late night yum-yums.

Link to Free/Cheap things to do in Vegas
The fountains at the Bellagio are very neat. You have to show up a little early or you won't get a front row view. When the fountains aren't going, hehe, I always thought it was fun to watch the ducks/geese (I'm pretty sure they were unwanted guests). One thing I've read a lot is to watch your purse/wallet at the Bellagio fountain show. You get packed in pretty tight with people pushing forward trying to get a better view, so remember that there are pick-pockets in the crowd.

The show at Treasure Island is fun, but if someone so much as sneezes, the show is cancelled due to wind restrictions. It is definitely worth a watch, plus it is free! The same wind restrictions limit the Mirage's volcano from going off, but when it does it is pretty neat. The volcano erupting didn't ever seem to draw much of a crowd, so it is a great thing to watch at your leisure.

I adore the circus --just blame it on the 6-year-old side of my personality-- so I love all the free shows at Circus Circus. You get to watch high-wire trapeez acts and clowns and skits...very fun! I never really figured out the schedule for shows, we just would walk in and within 30 minutes or so a new show would be starting.

Link to Cheap Food choices in Vegas

For breakfast I would recommend La Salsa Cantina. There are a few of them on the Strip and breakfast is $3.95, not huge portions but enough. I know there is one inside Desert Passage (Planet Hollywood) and on by MGM in the mall with M&M World.
I haven't eaten here, but once again, something I plan to check out when I'm in Vegas. I loved the Desert Passage Mall. Hehe. How cool is it to have a random mall inside a casino! I didn't do any shopping while in Vegas (hadn't really budgeted for it) and to be honest, I thought the prices were a little high (I'm from the midwest, everything is cheaper here =0p ) but it was still a great time for window shopping.

A great list of the Buffets
We loved the spice Market Buffet inside of the Alladin (I think it is "planet hollywood" now). We'll probably make that our first stop when we get into Vegas after checking into the hotel. A great big meal, a quick nap (or vice versa depending on how I feel after the plane ride) and then lots of fun!

Excalibur's buffet was okay, but I won't eat there again.

The boyfriend and I both really enjoyed the Buffet at Treasure Island named Dishes. At least I'm fairly certain it was at treasure island. Believe it or not, he LOVED their salads which were made to order right in front of your eyes. I liked the sweets (suprise, suprise!) but come on! When was the last time you saw cotton candy on the sweets table. hehe.

As you can probably see from that link, buffets get MUCH more expensive for the "dinner" hour. However, if you don't mind eating a little early, figure out what time becomes "dinner" and show up 30 minutes early. That should get you through any line and into the buffet for "lunch time" prices. Plus, if the buffet changes out food from lunch to dinner, you actually get more choices most of the time =)

Other random thoughts:
Jimmy Buffets Margarita Ville is fun. It has a fun atmosphere with a giant blender full of booze. hehe. The hamburgers were yummy and the drinks were good. The prices weren't awful, but it was slightly pricey. I thought it was worth it, but I've always been a Jimmy fan.

Hardrock Cafe and Nascar Cafe. Both are cute, but I'm not sure I'd ever visit them again. Maybe for the novelty value, they are worth the trip, but the food wasn't all the great. It was very "pre-fab" food. Or, in other words, any 16 year old could have pushed a button on a microwave in the back to cook it.

Excalibur --while the food wasn't great, they did have some fun stuff going on upstairs. They had a free magic show. Sure, it was targeted at kids, but I loved it anyway. They also had some cute booths that did face painting (did I mention I act like a 6 year old sometimes?) and hair wrapping. Tons of fun! They have an arcade (I think it is called the midway) that has a bunch of cute, fun prizes. An easy way to spend $30 and an hour or two of your time.

Speaking of arcades, there is one on the strip too. I think it might be near the M&Ms store, there is a staircase in the middle of the sidewalk going down. I thought it might be some sort of subway entrance at first glance, but down inside is an arcade. I thought it was a fun stop over, plus it was well air conditioned inside which was nice since it was 110 degrees when we went.

For fancy dining, we dressed up and went out to Emeril's New Orleans Fish House . OMG!!! Yum doesn't even begin to describe it, but if you notice, the prices aren't labeled on the menu. Never a good sign! We splurged here and went big on the food. It was fantastic and worth every penny. The fish house is located inside the MGM grand, and reservations are pretty much a MUST. Dress code is also "nice" so no wearing shorts and a ratty t-shirt =) If the "fish house" part of the name turns you off because you don't like sea food, check out the menu. We had a steak and it was ....*sigh*....no words to describe it....just *heavenly sigh*

On the flip side, we also went to Emeril's Del Monico and we weren't impressed. We're from Missouri, so we love our steak, but for the price, this one wasn't that great. I would have rather spent that money somewhere else....a very disappointing feeling. Now, maybe we just didn't try the right steak for us, but if you want to go to an Emeril restaurant, I'd definitely recommend the Fish House of Delmonico.

This is starting to look like a novel, so I'll stop writing now. Once again, I'd love to hear comments and suggestions about things to do on the Vegas Strip or Fremont Street (we have yet to make it down there on a vacation. This year will be the year to visit Fremont Street!!!)