This travel journal will chronicle a 21st birthday celebration for my daughter, Lex, as she ventures into adulthood and shenanigans. Just a Mom and Me trip for girls.
After putting in a full day of work and quickly running to the hospital to meet my new niece and nephew, we headed to Lambert Field St. Louis Airport to catch our Southwest flight, direct, to Las Vegas. Ironically, at the gate I ran into an old classmate from school. We’re coming up on our 30 year high school reunion which is INSANE. It was good to catch up on life. ;)
The flight was uneventful except let me just leave this little PSA here. If you are on the plane and don’t have ear buds, do not, I repeat, do not play your d*mn phone on full volume for the entire plane to hear. Some young adult who sat back drinking his Jack and Coke was watching parkour videos very loudly and dang it I was trying to catch some sleep before landing in Sin City.
We landed and quickly caught a taxi. No lines, but huge backups for Uber and Lyft.
I had heard nightmares about the check in process at the hotels taking up to an hour and I was prepared for a wait. It was maybe 15 minutes at the Paris Las Vegas Hotel and Casino. Piece of cake. If you’ve never stayed at Paris, it is gorgeous. Walking through the casino is like walking through the streets of Paris. The ceiling is painted like the sky. The streets are cobblestone. Street lamps adorn the streets. In the reception area there are gorgeous chandeliers. It’s just a really pretty hotel. Plus, it has the Eiffel Tower outside too. There are plenty of dining options and of course shopping options.
We dropped our things off at the room and decided that since we landed later we’d opt to eat at the hotel instead of venturing out. We dined at Cafe Americano which I do recommend for meals. It wasn’t necessarily any more expensive than the rest of Vegas. I ordered this Chicken Parmesan that I swear was the size of the plate itself and then all of the noodles. It could have easily fed three people. Lex ordered a cocktail (didn’t get carded) which she didn’t care for and a burger that was absolutely humongous. Next up, we just had to gamble. She discovered a love for slots. I played roulette, but at a $25 minimum bet per table I only played for a short time.
Our room was in the Bordeaux Tower. We had a standard room with two double beds. The room was spacious, updated, and the bath had nice toiletries which is something I always pay attention to.
We called it a night early-we were just beat by 11pm and the time difference. Saturday is a full day!
Saturday
We started with breakfast at Cafe Americano as we wanted a hot breakfast. Lex had oatmeal, I had a classic breakfast with ham, eggs, toast, and breakfast potatoes. With beverages and tip the meal was around $75 I think. Not horrible for Vegas and the food was good.
We took a taxi over to the Venetian Las Vegas. It’s worth it to note that if you DO take a taxi which is faster and more convenient to get to from the hotels (pick up and drop off) it’s cheaper to pay in cash. Just something to note. The Venetian is a gorgeous hotel and offers the water feature with the gondola rides. I skipped that this time but had done that in the past.
I really wanted to do Madame Tussauds Wax Museum. I had been before 10 years ago and I know they swap out exhibits and enjoyed the photo ops last time. This time did not disappoint either. I will say, the figures that were living today looked better and more realistic than those that were already expired. Example, TuPac and Biggie. They looked very fake. Very waxy. Drake and The Rock? Very realistic. All in all it made for some good laughs. I think my favorite picture was with Zach Galifinakis from The Hangover in the bar area with our purses/bags.
We had to gamble for a bit at the Venetian before heading off to our next stop just to say we did. We taxi’d to Planet Hollywood Las Vegas Resort and Casino to get ready for our second activity: The Popovich Comedy Pet Theater for the pet show.
We were early so we grabbed a bite to eat at Blondie’s Sports Bar right inside the Miracle Mile Shops. Best chicken noodle soup ever. The theater itself left much to be desired. It was small, it was run down, it was dirty. With that said, the show was downright adorable. We loved watching the trained animals and you could tell that Gregory Popovich himself was incredibly proud of his pets. We especially loved the dachshunds.
We window shopped and walked back to Paris as it was the property next door so not a far walk at all. You can’t always tell that in Vegas though. Things that appear close on the map are really a 20 minute walk at a minimum. We had a bit of time to get ready for dinner at Gordon Ramsay’s “steak”. I helped Lex with makeup, we donned our retro dresses and walked down to “steak” which was located within Paris.
Now when I booked this, I specifically didn’t want to do the expensive tasting menu with 5 courses. I didn’t think we’d eat it all and I didn’t want to spend that much. So I booked the regular reservation. We arrived and they greeted us with, “Oh, you booked the Chef’s Table Experience. Right this way.” Not thinking anything of it, they sat us in a plush booth that looked at the kitchen line. They treated us like royalty. They commented that we would have a full view of the workings of an elegant kitchen and how efficiently it is run. I started to get nervous. What on EARTH did I book and OMG what is this going to cost me?! We rolled with it. I ordered a shrimp cocktail for $35. It was meh at best. Oh man, was this going to be how the meal was?
No, that was a one off. It was an amazing experience. We watched how at one station they cooked the scallops and finished at the same exact time the risotto was finished to plate at the same exact time. Amazing. She ordered beef wellington which came out at the same time as my entrée as well. She loved her dish, I loved my risotto, and her dessert was outstanding. Then came the bill. Honestly, it wasn’t horrible. $400. My risotto alone was $90 so I mean once you add it all up plus tip. We didn’t have alcohol either! I don’t regret the experience.
We headed to The Strat Hotel, Casino and Tower for the burlesque show “Rouge”. Deemed the sexiest show in Vegas. We arrived early so, once again, we gambled just to check another casino off the list. We lost. This property was older, not as clean, and just overall run down and felt like a real downgrade compared to Paris. I guess we were spoiled. The show was…well, it was good. It came recommended to me in a Facebook group when I specifically mentioned taking my 21 year old daughter to a burlesque show. This show was…interesting. I had expected burlesque with some slight coverage. No. Maybe it would be like the Moulin Rouge in Paris where you don’t realize they are topless? No. This show was very adult natured. It had laughs too but was definitely for the guys. Don’t get me wrong, there were guys in the show, but the show was geared towards men. I don’t regret taking her and I don’t think I’m automatically disqualified from mother-of-the-year, either. She’s an adult and took it in stride.
It was late and we headed back via taxi to Paris as Sunday is a full itinerary.
Sunday
We slept in since we had VIP tickets for Meow Wolf’s Omega Mart. Of course, we had our breakfast at Cafe Americano because it’s quick and good and the bakery/counter service options were very busy. We took a taxi to the facility which was at the far end of the strip and a little beyond. It wasn’t terribly far.
VIP tickets allow you to go whenever you want during the day versus a set block of time for entry. We also learned that it gave us a 15% discount at the gift shop, an alcoholic beverage at the bar and a trading pin. I wasn’t feeling so hot so I let Lex go explore while I sat in the exhibit and took in all the sights and sounds. It was interesting to say the least. I preferred the grocery store “Omega Mart” versus the portal area. She had a blast and really enjoyed it so I would say to add this to your list if you’re looking for something to do with the kids that’s out of the ordinary.
We came back to the room early. I still wasn’t feeling that hot and we had dinner reservations again so I needed to pull it together. After a nap and a quick Uber ride to the area by the Rio Hotel and Casino we arrived at BLACKOUT Dining in the Dark for our reservation. This was absolutely the coolest experience. First, they handed us a lock and key and directed us to a locker to put our things away so we didn’t need to worry about phones, purses, etc. during the meal. Our waiter greeted us and took us into a room with a red light, similar to a photography darkroom. He then gave the rundown of how the evening would play out. He had us form a conga line with our hands on each other's shoulders so that he could lead us to the table, the curtain was pulled back and we stepped into complete darkness with house music playing and it was very soothing. We walked what felt like forever to our table and he talked us through where the table was, where our chair was, and how to sit down without falling. Piece of cake. Carlos, very soft spoken, explained where our water glasses were, our utensils, our plates. I’m not able to share much about the meal as it would spoil the surprise for others, but I can tell you it was a 7 course Vegan meal and was absolutely delicious. Never once did I knock anything over. I managed to eat a bisque with a spoon, eat with a fork, use a knife, all in the dark. Most important thing? I never wore any of my food! It was a delightful dinner. We had a wonderful dinner conversation and a great meal. Carlos led us back out to the darkroom where our eyes could adjust. We paid for the bill and they handed us the menu. It was not as much as the Gordon Ramsay dinner but it was an experience. We took an Uber back to the hotel and gambled at the Horseshoe Las Vegas Center Strip Hotel and Casino which is in Paris. Again, just to say we gambled at another casino. We did much better at this one! We called it an early night as we have pool time booked tomorrow before we fly out.
Monday
This is our pool day! We rented a pool cabana and we were both really looking forward to it. Of course, we started our day with breakfast at Cafe Americano because why not. Then headed off to the pool. Our cabana was swanky. We had two double bed sized loungers with comfy cushions, full awning over the top and sides that we could retract if we wanted to, a bucket of iced down waters, and a safe to lock up our belongings.
I decided to lounge for a bit while Lex went for a swim. After a bit she came back and said was watching the other end of the pool. “Mom, I think that teenager just took a dump in the pool.” No way, no way a teenager would do that, right? “MOM, the parents were yelling at him and I saw him shake it out.” I didn’t believe her. I went to the far end of the opposite side of the pool to cool off. Temps were hovering over 110 degrees this weekend! After ten minutes, a voice booms over the megaphone, “POOLS CLOSED FOR AN HOUR. EVERYONE OUT OF THE POOL.”
Sure enough, it was not a Baby Ruth in the pool. Lex watched the entire thing transpire and watched as they tried to fish it out. Gross. We waited about 10 minutes and then asked if we could get a refund. The cabana was only booked for 3 hours, we couldn’t extend it because we were flying out later today, so I NICELY asked for a refund from the pool manager. I felt so bad for this kid. He was mid-twenties. He told us his degree was in investment banking and he wasn’t paid enough to deal with this literal poo, to put it nicely. He’d try to get us a refund. (As of 7/19, a refund has not hit my card). We decided to call it a day and headed up to the room to clean up, take a nap, and get ready to head to the airport.
We had plenty of time before our flight so what do you do in the Las Vegas Airport? You gamble. That’s what you do. Lex won, lost, won, lost. I won and quit while I was ahead. Man, I hate slots.
Then we were delayed. And delayed. We were now scheduled to LAND at 12:45am. Yuck. I had to work on Tuesday and present at a work event. To be fair, the work event was moved after I had my flights booked so it’s not like I could have planned this better.
I really cherished this one-on-one time with Lex. I miss my adult child. We’re usually two ships sailing past each other at home. This was a great time to catch up with her. It has been awhile since we traveled together without the other two. She learned how to drink. She learned she’s not really into drinking and that’s OK. (She has only had 2 alcoholic beverages since turning 21). She learned how to gamble. She learned her limits. She learned that when you’re up, you quit. She learned how to walk away when you’re down and NOT take out more $$ to keep playing. All in all, this was a great trip and I’m very fortunate for that time with her. If you asked her, she's say this was a great 21st birthday bash in Vegas.
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