December 29th: Arrival

Headed out from NYC on AA#33 (JFK/LAX) and AA#1074 (LAX/LAS) to meet a group of friends for the weekend festivities. Both flights were uneventful and we arrived in each city more or less on time. Besides being almost completely full, #33 was clearly family friendly, as 8 of the 30 seats in biz class contained children of various ages. All well behaved, however, and the FAs gave each a set of AA wings. I also had one FA notice my spiffy AA.COM cd carrier, and ask how I got it.

I booked a 3-bedroom suite in the Four Seasons as no one in the party gambles much and as AMEX Centurion got us a very good rate. It was Mike and Cindy's anniversary, so I had roses and champagne delivered to their room upon arrival.

Once everyone arrived, we headed downstairs for a couple of introductory cocktails, then went over to Chinois (in Caesars) for dinner. The food was very good, although the ambiance is closer to food court than restaurant and really doesn't suit the cuisine. The whole catfish was the winner this evening.

December 30th: Time to Hit the Town

Since everyone was running on east coast time, we got up early and went downstairs to work out. We took a look at the health club in Mandalay first, but decided that we liked the equipment in the 4 Seasons better. Almost immediately post working out, someone decided it was time for bloodies on the Verandah and we were off.

We next headed over to Border Grill (in Mandalay) for an appropraitely spicey early lunch, and the food was excellent. A couple of plates of tacos got us started (not to mention a couple of shakers of margerittas). The stack of enchiladas and the roasted pork were voted favorites.

We then began a leisurely stroll through the various casinos heading towards the center of the strip. Half the party hadn't been to Vegas in over a decade, and they wanted to see each of the casinos. Fortunately, it didn't take them long to recognize that they all are pretty much the same, so we decided to take a break and grab a drink at Commander's Palace. If you haven't been there yet, I would highly recommend (see below). Today, we simply had cocktails, but they made some of the better mint julips I've had in a while. We also had a brief discussion and taste test of vodkas curtesy of the bartender, who we seemed to amuse.

After a short afternoon nap, we headed down to Bellagio to plant ourselves in Petrossian, for a snack of caviar, oysters and chilled vodka, of course. I have never had less than an excellent experience there and recommend it highly.

Right before 7:30, we headed over to see "O"-Cirque Du Soleil. Very mixed reviews: I liked it, but I was also a big fan of HR PufinStuf. Everyone thought some parts were very good, but other parts dragged. However, the acrobatics were pretty impressive, and the coordination in the water is good enought that you notice when one of the performers doesn't nail a dive.

Then it was off to Aqua (still in Bellagio) for dinner. I always find the biggest problem with eating here is determining what to order, and tonight was no exception. I started with scallops and foie gras, which was as good as it sounds, followed by a seared tuna also served with foie gras (maybe a little too rich after the appetizer, but still very good). We were also seated next to one of the members of KISS, for what that is worth.