Hawaii Vegas Connect: June 2022

Saturday, June 18, 2022

Vegas Trip Diary - December 2019

No, you're not seeing things . . . the title of this post is "Vegas Trip Diary - December 2019" and this post is dated June 2022.

We took a trip to Vegas in December 2019, and I was very slow in getting a post together. And by the time I was ready to post it in 2020, COVID hit and my priorities went elsewhere.

Fast forward to 2022 . . . I just got my May 2022 Trip Diary up, and I decided, "why not post the 2019 trip?" So here it is!

This was our first trip to Vegas with the kids. They were barely teenagers at the time, and they've never really experienced cold weather before, so this was a fun trip for them to see what the fuss was all about when Mom and Dad goes to Vegas.

As usual, my first meal when landing: won ton mein from The California's Market Street Cafe. Funny story . . . we got in after midnight, and finally got a table after a 20 minute wait (it was packed). When I ordered won ton mein, the waitress asked if I minded waiting about 20 minutes for it. I commented that it must be very busy and she replied, "That's not it. We don't have enough bowls because everyone is ordering ox tail soup." IYKYK. 😂

A California clubhouse sandwich from Market Street Cafe.

We visited the Shark Reef Aquarium at Mandalay Bay.

The touch tank was the best part of the aquarium.

Siegfried and Roys' Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat is a hidden gem at the Mirage. Here, you can visit with dolphins at the Dolphin Habitat and the see many large cats at the Secret Garden. I don't know what's going to happen to this attraction with Hard Rock Cafe purchasing the Mirage. If you haven't heard, Hard Rock is planning to demolish the Mirage's fronting Las Vegas Boulevard and replace it with a guitar shaped hotel.

The next few pictures are from the Bellagio Conservatory.

We dropped the kids off at the HyperX E-Sports Arena at Luxor for a couple of hours and gambled for a bit. 😀

Holiday decorations at Wynn.

Container Park on East Fremont Street, Downtown Las Vegas

Praying mantis at Container Park.

Favorite slot machine of this trip.

And that's it for this trip! I hope to make to Vegas again soon! Thanks for reading!

Thursday, June 9, 2022

My Biased Review of The California Hotel and Casino

Disclaimer: I've been staying at The California Hotel for most of my trips to Vegas, so I'm very familiar with the property and maybe have gotten used to things that I might call out if I stayed here for the first time.

When I was younger, I thought the Cal was OK. I mean, it's a nice property (especially since the renovation a few years back), but it didn't have the glitz and the glamour of Strip properties. But now that I'm older, I really appreciate the the size and intimacy of the property. It's not a long walk to the casino or to restaurants and even when it's crowded, it doesn't feel like I'm bumping elbows with people. I've become one of those "low floor, near elevator" person when requesting a room. It's also connected to Main Street Station and is a short walk to Fremont Street Experience. And I normally bump into my friend's dad whenever I visit. 😁

Standard room. I'm not sure what the official name of this tower is, but it's the "mezzanine" tower next to Market Street Cafe (vs. the Buddha tower, next to the Buddha near the front desk). We had two queen beds.

Love having a desk in the room. There's a safe and a mini refrigerator. The door was missing from the cabinet with the safe and refrigerator.

View from the room.

Nice size tv. I like the full left length mirror.

Separate seating area. We couldn't open the shutters on the right because the lamp was in the way, and the lamp was a little bent, as you can see.

Closet area and entrance to the bathroom.

I like the large vanity space in the bathroom. The bathrooms in the Buddha tower is smaller and doesn't have much countertop space.

Shower

Did you know that the Cal has a pool?!?!? It's totally tiny. It wasn't open on our visit, so these are pictures from a previous trip.

Another view of the pool. There's also a tiny gym next to the pool.

Have you stayed at The Cal? What are your thoughts on it?

What I Ate in Vegas - May /June 2022

Photo Dump of the food we ate in Vegas.

Market Street Cafe at The California

Saimin

Clubhouse Sandwich

I forget. Asian saimin? Basically won ton mein with shrimp.

Chicken fried steak

Loco moco with eggs scrambled well

My favorite breakfast at The Cal. Tocino breakfast.

Gotta have that Spam just once.

Pizza, Pizza and More Pizza

We ate a lot of pizza on this trip.

Evel Pie, located on East Fremont Street

Cheesy Rider

Hog Heaven: BBQ sauce, smoked mozzarella, fontina, pulled pork, man candy bacon, red onion, fresh parsley

Chicken ranch

322 Pizza Bar on Fremont Street

Secret pizza at Cosmopolitan

The teen ordered a cheese, mushroom and fresh garlic pizza on a whim. It was really good!

No caption needed. :-)

Next few pictures are from Triple 7 Brewery at Main Street Station

Flippin' Good Burgers on Fremont Street East

Project BBQ food truck at Circa

Our dinner at Redwood Steakhouse, The California

Got some sweet treats at Le Macaron, Venetian

If you go upstairs, there's a little nook that overlooks the canal.

Not the best picture. Enjoyed this macaron at NYNY while the hubz and the teen was at the arcade. Really good; not too sweet!

At Paris

Nutella/chocolate and banana fosters.

Really, really, good chocolate. Located at Venetian.