a matter of teys.t

I’ve decided to make my Tuesday - tEysT-ful which simply means my take on anything that suits my taste or fancy just as it says up there in my header. So you may agree or disagree with my opinion and that’s fine because we all have different perspectives about how we see things. That’s what makes life more interesting. In the end, I hope you will have a good read.

I remember years ago when we lived in Arizona for a while, every weekend, my husband and I would go on long drives across the States. Looking back at what we did, I realized that we did some pretty foolish things. Once, while still pregnant with my first baby, we drove all the way to L.A armed with just a tiny map at the back of a slim diary, no cellphone, no specific destination or contact to go to, no emergency stuff.  I didn’t even remember my mom’s phone number in case something happened to us. We were married for less than a year so everything was like an adventure. Every rest area we found was like finding an oasis and a chance to get those hotel/motel coupon booklets that gave you discounted lodging rates. Now that I think about all that, what we did was pretty scary and actually really st__id.  But we were hooked on these long drives. The views were just exhilarating  and you can’t relish all that when you’re on  a plane.

So next time we had the chance to go on another long drive, we hit LAS VEGAS! This time, my mom, my brother and his wife went together with us and my son. We had to be a little bit more prepared this time. We rented this big van to fit all of us. We checked out the best rates that all these Vegas hotels were offering to find out which had deals and perks and low season rates that we could take advantage of. No coupon books, budget hotel discount cards this time, at least.Finally, we agreed to stay at the Excalibur Hotel. It wasn’t that spectacular for me but it was okay. It fit our budget. I wanted to go to the Venezia but it was way tooo expensive. Not worth the $$$. Unfortunately, we didn’t have the time to at least stop by for pictures with the gondolier. 

Of course, if you are in Vegas you would normally want to experience what the celebs do even if it was just once in your lifetime. So for dinner, we wanted to do something a bit more fancy than Denny’s. We wanted to try either Emeril Lagasse’s Delmonico restaurant or Wolfgang Puck’s but they were all fully booked and the only place that was available was at a steak restaurant over at the MGM hotel. So we trooped over there, dressed to the nines, feeling like celebs for a night and had dinner. It was okay but I’ve had better steak for a lot less because it was a bit dry. The ambience was great, the service was fine. It was a pleasant experience.

Overall, the experience was memorable and I’d love to go back and do it all over again. Not really the fancy stuff but the long drive, the rest areas, the coupon books, the rustic diners that don’t have that fastfood burger taste… this time with my kids and of course more prepared than ever…with a cellphone.