Posts Tagged ‘Las Vegas’

I Love Las Vegas: Happy Hour at Cabo WaboIn 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.

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I Love Las Vegas: St. Marks Square at The VenetianI’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.

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I Love Las Vegas: Bellagio Fountains

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:

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I Love Las Vegas: Hoover Dam and Bypass BridgeOkay, so the Hoover Dam isn’t exactly in Las Vegas, but chances are you wouldn’t visit the dam in isolation without taking the time to visit Las Vegas. And actually, most people who want to visit Hoover Dam do so as a day trip from the city.

And who wouldn’t? The Hoover Dam is pretty darn spiffy. I’ve never considered myself an engineering geek by any stretch of the imagination, but I can’t help but be impressed with the Hoover Dam and the Hoover Dam bypass bridge, located about 30 minutes from the heart of Las Vegas by car.

There are so many fantastic things to do beyond the Strip and even the immediate city limits of Las Vegas, and visiting the Hoover Dam is one of those things. I’ve been to the dam before, but every time I go (usually to take someone who is visiting us), I’m blown away by the enormity and scale of the dam. Built in the 1930s as a way to control floods, store water and provide hydroelectric power, the Hoover Dam is an engineering feat with an awesome list of statistics including:

  • The dam weighs 6.6 million tons.
  • It is 726.4 feet from foundation rock to the roadway on the crest of the dam.
  • There are 3.25 million cubic yards of concrete in the dam.

And so on and so forth.

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I Love Las Vegas: Smith CenterYou might know Las Vegas for it’s glitz and glam, the highrise hotels and celebrity chefs, Cirque shows and all-night parties.

But now, my friends, Las Vegas is going to become a hotspot for the arts, and I am ridiculously excited!

The Smith Center, which is part of Las Vegas’ downtown revitalization project, sits on five acres and is 100% dedicated to arts and culture. The center includes:

  • A massive, multi-level hall with a full orchestra pit, a huge stage for big-name productions and great seats … even in the balconies.
  • A 258-seat cabaret performance space with full meal service. This space reminds me of cabaret clubs in New Orleans.
  • A small black box theatre that has many uses including rehearsal space, small-scale productions and lecture space.

Education and community outreach play a huge part in the Smith Center’s mission. Students and educators will have access to arts and culture materials and presentations, and a number of resident artists will work closely with the center to enhance creative education throughout the community.

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I Love Las Vegas: I ♥ BurgersI’ve dabbled in vegetarianism, and I’d be okay with writing off meat except for the fact that I absolutely adore a juicy, perfectly prepared burger every now and again. Luckily for me, I live in Las Vegas where the gourmet burger craze is in full force. Though In & Out Burger is supposedly the go-to option for good hamburgers, it loses out on the vibe that comes with a hip restaurant/café staffed by fun employees serving top-of-the-line fare.

I ♥ Burgers (as in “I love burgers” not “I heart burgers) is one of these burger joints worth noting. It’s not as jazzed up as some (think Holstein’s at The Cosmopolitan), but it also doesn’t come with a big bill at the end. The menu is accessible (nothing unpronounceable here!), the food is top-rate, the atmosphere is fun, the milkshake selection is thorough … and the prices are still totally and completely reasonable.

The menu at I ♥ Burgers is fairly straightforward: There are appetizers, salads, burgers, fries and desserts. Appetizer options include fried pickles, onion rings and mozzarella sticks but we opted to start out with the mac & cheese nom noms. These little pieces of goodness weren’t the best fried macaroni and cheese I’ve ever had in Las Vegas, but they were definitely tasty and worth ordering to start a meal. I preferred them without the dipping sauce provided, but I suggest you give it a try and see what you think.

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