Day Tripping: Beacon, NY

5 and I were way overdue for a day trip.  It was free admission to DIA: Beacon so we jumped at the excuse to take a trip up there on a crisp fall day. I hadn't been up there since it first opened, and it was definitely a different experience so many years later.  The town of Beacon has developed a lot since then (all I remembered was a desolate town and a sketchy Mexican restaurant we ate at) and we actually ran into some friends on Main Street.  Two minor disappointments:  the Warhols weren't up and it rained during our frantic run to catch the train back into the city.

Oh Vegas, My Vegas!

 

I had the opportunity to visit Sin City for the first time in September.  It's never been high on my list of places to go, as I'm not a huge gambler, strip club frequenter, or Celine Dion fan.  But I do love to eat, and the idea of phenomenal buffets had its allure.

But I was excited when I found out my annual work conference was going to be held in Vegas.  Not only would I get to eat to my heart's content and learn more about clinical research, I was going to give my first big conference talk.  Woo-hoo!  Accompanying me on this adventure were Vickie (of course), Sandy, and Zoo Melanie (also her first time in Vegas).

My shortlist of Vegas activities:

• Eat Buffet
• Bellagio Fountain
• Downtown Vegas (Fremont)
• Sunshine
• Slots

And guess what?  I crossed each and every one of those things and then some. The buffets were pretty great, particularly the Bacchanal Buffet at Caesar's Palace.  It just had a $17M renovation and although the food wasn't life changing, the selection was. Gelato station, made to order dessert crepes, pho/ramen/soba noodle station, little deep fry baskets of everything you could ever want deep fried (a midwestern girl's dream!) and so many meats (brisket, prime rib, pork chops, ribs...) and endless seafood.  It was worth the 90+ minute wait and $39.99!   

We also took a gondola ride at the Venetian, ate French food at the Paris, went to some ridiculous igloo bar and drank out of cups made of ice at the Monte Carlo, and cruised around town in a Benz (at the economy rental rate).  No hookers, no excessive booze, and no excessive gambling losses.  No fun, right? Oh, but it was.  Did I forget to mention we went to see Chippendales? Yes. For reals. I really had high expectations for the dancing.  There was no Magic Mike. And some of them were pretty pathetic in their efforts. Yet, the girls went wild. What was most interesting was that there was no stuffing of money in g-strings.  I mentioned it to my mom and the convo was as follows:

     Fortune: We went to Chippendales and it was weird because they didn't take dollar bills!

     Mom:  Of course they didn't take dollar bills! They want $10s and $20s instead!

     Fortune: Ummm, I meant that they didn't take ANY bills at all, Mom. 

     Mom:  Oh. That is weird.

Riiiiiiight.

Overall I had great time. It is always fun being a tourist and the number of lights in Vegas puts Times Square to shame. It wasn't really how I imagined it to be, but I definitely wasn't disappointed.  If I never go back again, I'm okay with that.  But if I do go back, I would like to eat more buffet and check out the spectacle of the rest of the casinos like we did in Macao.

One last thing to mention:  I totally rocked my talk!  It was at 8:30am on Saturday morning, so I figured the turnout might be sparse.  Turns out, it was standing room only!  I had a bunch of questions from the audience and a lot of positive feedback.  A girl came up to me later that day and told me it was the best talk she had heard at the conference.  That was nice.




Buffet Round 1: Prime Rib, Kobe beef, and fixin's. 
Round 2 was very similar.

 


Crab legs galore!  Not my thing, but the quantity was amazing.

 


 

Howdy, Cowboy! Fremont Street.