Kaleidoscopic Wandering » I Love Las Vegas

I Love Las Vegas: Happy Hour at Cabo Wabo

JoAnna — Fri, 11 May 2012 10:00:38 +0000

In those months between the winter Las Vegas chill and the scorching Sin City summer, people seek any opportunity to be outdoors. There’s a catch-22 here, though, because the casinos want to keep people in while the very best place to be is in the open air.

Luckily, a few places in Las Vegas have addressed the desire to enjoy al fresco dining with balconies and terraces overlooking the Las Vegas Strip. It’s the perfect excuse to tip back a cocktail, especially after a long day of work when the sun is shining.

Enter Cabo Wabo, a Mexican cantina that combines chilling out with rock-n-roll. The first order of business is ordering a drink. One of the signature cocktails is the Sammy’s Beach Bar Rum Toasted Colada, which combines rum, coco lopez and pineapple juice. I tend to be a white wine girl because hard alcohol turns my tummy, but this is one beverage I can get behind. Others in my party found it a bit strong, but I thought it was the perfect combination of sweet, creamy and satisfying. The highlight of the drink is the garnish: Toasted coconut stuck around the rim of the cup with rich honey. There are, of course, plenty of margaritas on the menu as well in flavors ranging from coconut and red pepper to pineapple and cactus pear. People looking for beer and other cocktails have plenty of options to choose from, and the tequila selection is exhaustive.

Happy hour at Cabo Wabo runs from 3:00 p.m.-6:00 p.m. and includes half-priced beer and frozen drinks.

With every drink, you need a snack, or so it tends to go with happy hours. Cabo Wabo has an extensive appetizer menu with a distinctly Mexican flavor. Hearty tortilla chips are served with chunky chip salsa. Guacamole is also available for order. Appetizer samplers with cheese quesadillas, nachos, taquitos, queso, guacamole and chicken wings is a good option for a large party that can’t decide on any one dish. It’s all delicious, rich food that is hearty enough to pass as a meal. The appetizers are just a little too heavy for me, but for those who want to fill up after a long day or before a long night, Cabo Wabo might be the ideal stop.

If you dine inside Cabo Wabo, expect to be blasted away by the loud music, but take a seat outside on the terrace and the music fades away, the claustrophobia of being inside disappears and the end-of-the-day energy gets its second wind.

My experience at Cabo Wabo was compensated, but the opinions stated here are my own.

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I Love Las Vegas: Happy Hour at Cabo Wabo | Kaleidoscopic Wandering

I Love Las Vegas: St. Mark’s Square at The Venetian

JoAnna — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 17:07:30 +0000

I’ll admit that the crowds on the Las Vegas Strip can be a bit trying on the nerves at times, and there are very specific times that I avoid Las Vegas Boulevard and the most popular attractions in the city. There are spaces I love regardless of how crowded it gets, however, and one of these places is St. Mark’s Square at The Venetian.

Tucked among the Grand Canal Shoppes in The Venetian is St. Mark’s Square, which can be reached by a bridge over a canal on one side, stairs coming up from the conference center on another and down a couple pedestrian walkways that lead right into this bustling corner of The Venetian. I’ve never actually been to Venice or the real St. Mark’s Square, so I don’t know how Las Vegas’ versions compare to the real ones, but there are lots of things I really love about our local take.

All of the restaurants offer leisurely, “al fresco” dining beneath the high, cloud-painted ceiling. We’ve eaten on the square and enjoyed watching people wander by. It’s ideal for a light lunch or for something a little classier in the evening. In addition to the restaurants, there are a number of shops that surround St. Mark’s Square, but it’s not either of these things that really makes it special to me. It’s the energy and atmosphere of an open space that invites people to relax and stay awhile. Stilt walkers, characters in costume, living statues, jugglers, jesters and other entertainers make their way around the square and often perform on a small stage surrounded by benches and chairs. Lamp posts scattered sporadically across the cobblestone are punctuated by independent vendors selling masks and other Venice-themed items (though nothing is overly kitschy).

St. Mark’s Square, even in its busiest hours, feels like a place where you can spend a few minutes to relax, whether you take a seat to watch the street performers, order a cappuccino to sip at one of the restaurants or watch the gondolas float by from the top of the bridge. It’s one of those special places in Las Vegas that I like to return to over and over again.

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I Love Las Vegas: St. Mark’s Square at The Venetian | Kaleidoscopic Wandering

I Love Las Vegas: Bellagio Fountains

JoAnna — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 10:00:02 +0000

As much as I love to get off the Las Vegas Strip to explore some of the city’s lesser known sites, there are some things that can’t be denied. The fact that the Fountains of Bellagio are truly awesome is one of them.

The Bellagio fountains are one of the most popular and recommended sites in Las Vegas. They make every “must do” list, and it’s just a bonus that it’s completely free to set up shop in front of the Bellagio to watch hours upon hours of water-worthy shows. I’ve lived in Las Vegas for quite a few years now, but I never get tired of watching the shows at the Bellagio, even if I have seen some of the same ones several times (“Singing in the Rain” is one example), and I always take new visitors to check out the fountains, especially when they’re lit up at night.

So what should you know about the Fountains of Bellagio? Here are a few fun facts:

> They dance in an eight-acre pool in front of the famous Bellagio Resort and Casino.

> Right now there are 29 songs that the fountains dance to, but some are seasonal so come during the holidays for the biggest variety. Songs include show tunes, movie favorites and patriotic songs. New shows are added very rarely, so it’s a big deal when something else joins the line-up.

> The technology includes white lights, a fog system and four types of devices (oarsmen, mini shooters, super shooters and extreme shooters) that shoot water into the air at a variety of heights.

> A staff of 30 engineers maintains and operates the fountains daily.

> There are 22 million gallons of water in the man-made lake, which is reused and recycled in the lake (one of the reasons shows may be cancelled on windy days).

> There are 5,000 lightbulbs in the lake that light up the fountain.

> The 16 extreme shooters can send water up to 460 feet in the water.

> Music is piped in through 183 speakers around the lake.

Though the sidewalk lining the fountains has gotten a bit chaotic with buskers, it’s definitely possible to enjoy the Bellagio fountains from there as well as select restaurants in the resort itself and from the balconies of the neighboring property, The Cosmopolitan. You can catch shows during the day, but the fountains are most magical once the sun goes down and the lights come on.

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I Love Las Vegas: Bellagio Fountains | Kaleidoscopic Wandering