Vegas Recap
Time for the inevitable Vegas recap. It is nice not writing a blog on my iPhone, as it was kinda annoying to do so. But anyway…
Even after being home for a number of days, I’m not done processing the whole experience. I think it’s that I don’t get why Vegas is the way it is. I don’t get why people go back so often. I don’t get why it’s built up as high as it is. I really don’t get how it’s become a family destination…
It’s hard not to have some form of fun there. If you like seeing unique environments, sights and architecture – then you’ll like Vegas. If you’re into shows and entertainment – you’ll like Vegas. If you’re into trying a lot of different foods while traveling – you’ll like Vegas. If you like people watching – you’ll love Vegas. If you’re into the gambling thing – you can’t not love Vegas.
So what did I like the best about Vegas? I’m not sure. Probably just the experience in general that is unique from anywhere else in America that I’ve been… The world for that matter. It felt a little like some weird, trippy, choose your own adventure book. The myriad of different experiences available at all times of day.
What didn’t I like about Vegas? That’s kinda hard to articulate. Part of it is that there’s a place that exists solely as a result of taking money away from visitors. In most areas it also feels like some weird, closed environment that is built to control you more than you realize… Kinda like Disney World, but bigger and with a different seedy underbelly.
I’ve started a set on Flickr that I’ll be posting some images from Vegas. It’s HERE. Not sure how much I’ll post to it, but we’ll see.
I’m fairly certain that I’ll be back at some point in the future, but it’s pretty low on my list of places to return to. 2 to 1 that the next time we go back is because of a conference or seminar and not our real desire to do so…
The Craftsteak Experience
This was something I really wanted to do as soon as we decided to go to Vegas. I knew that Vegas is full of very high end restaurants with very renowned owners / chefs, and this rose to the top pretty fast. Part of it for me was that we’d been to restaurants of a few of the other well known chefs that we’d at least like to try at some point. But hey, most of it was honestly our recent love of the show Top Chef.
If you don’t know, the owner of Craftsteak is Tom Colicchio – one of the main judges on Top Chef.
So, I did the research and even got a few third-hand accounts. Basically, the vast majority was very, very positive with a large emphasis on the quality of the steak. That said, there were also a number of glowing accounts of everything else.
Our dinner was on Christmas night at 7:30. We arrived at 7, but were told that all tables were on time. So we waited at the bad for our table to be ready. My wife had a Key Lime Martini, which still makes her swoon. I had a Hendrick’s and Tonic, which wasn’t very good mostly because the tonic was straight out of a little bottle. At 7:50, I inquire as to why our table isn’t ready. We were seated in about five more minutes, and they gave us another drink as an apology. Given Colicchio’s other endorsement, shouldn’t Diet Coke be on tap and cheaper than tap water?
Taking a look at the menu, and the first thought is DAMN! That’s expensive. But we expected that to a point. We made the decision to go big since this was out only big meal, and it being Xmas. We chose the three course domestic Wagyu selection, which wasn’t much more than just getting the steak alone… And boy did we get a lot of food.
First course: Hawaiian Prawns (grilled), Caesar Salad and Marinated Anchovy, Arugula / Blue Cheese / Bacon, and Wagyu Beef Tartare. If we had our choice, we’d have ordered the Caesar Salad, but it was our least favorite of the four. We’d never had Tartare, but damn it was good. That and the Arugula salad were the stars of this course.
Second Course: Wagyu Ribeye, Wagyu Filet, Mushroom Assortment, Baby Broccoli, and Yukon Gold Purée. The sides were all good, but this whole course is about the steak… And DAMN! Had high expectations, but it blew them out of the water. Way out of the water. I never knew steak could be so good.
Third Course: Sorbet Duo (Orange Basil and Quince), Warm Ganache Lava cake with Whipped Cream, Pear and Cranberry Cobbler with Oatmeal and Brown Sugar Crust, and Pineapple Cooked with 5 Spices. We probably would have probably ordered the Ganache, but that was also the least favorite of the choices given to us. Vic liked the Quince Sorbet the best, and I was a big fan of the Cobbler.
We left feeling fuller than either of us could recall. It’s weird, because it’s not like we consumed as much as you’d think by reading the above accounts. We never finished any course, but we each tried some of everything. Some dishes we only had a bite or two despite it being great. Sometimes we felt downright wasteful for not eating all of a dish, but we realized that we couldn’t eat it all and we had to pace ourselves.
So what’s the conclusion to this exercise in culinary adventure? It was amazing. It was expensive, but it was amazing. Though keep in mind, it’s not for everyone. I’m pretty sure I know enough people that wouldn’t think it’s worth it given the price difference from Outback steakhouse.
But for us, a culinary adventure is very much worth it. It has implications in how we strive to cook and experience its ripple effects long after the experience. Sure, we could have spent the money gambling, or on a room upgrade… But going to a place the caliber of Craftsteak is worth it to us. If we make it back to Vegas, I’m not sure if I’d want to go back to Craftsteak, or to have a new culinary adventure at another of the amazing restaurants around the city.
A TSA Experience
So now that I’m back, I can talk about something I didn’t want to while I was out in Las Vegas. I had a pretty interesting experience involving TSA which was made more interesting by the failed terrorist attack while we were out there. This failed attack was supposed to force an immediate beefing up of scrutiny on the TSA side.
While packing the night before we left (Dec 23rd), I couldn’t find my drivers license. It went missing sometime in the fun that is Xmas shopping. I searched high and low, but it wasn’t to be found. So I got my passport out, and went about my business of final preparations.
Next day, going through the TSA line when I noticed something – my passport expired earlier in the year.
Really? Yup.
So, I went about giving the person looking at the ID and boarding pass like I hadn’t noticed the expiration. TSA did notice the expiration, but according to him “it still goes through the system”. I board my flights and go about my vacationing ways.
Then some terrorist activities go down, and I begin to worry if I’ll be able to get home given my identification predicament. And oh yeah, I was never carded or asked for identification during my entire visit to Las Vegas.
So I emailed the TSA on the 26th, detailing my situation and asking what to do when I get to the airport on the 28th. No response (until after I had made it home).
So I called the TSA on the 27th, and went over the situation on the phone with someone. According to what I was told (and the call was recorded), I would have to allow myself and baggage for extra searches with some measure of identification confirmation in a dark room, a one way mirror, and a water boarding apparatus.
I go to the airport hoping for the best, but ready for hassle. The airline (Midwest) examines my ID, and says nothing. Checks our bag, and we head for TSA. Go through the line, and hand over my expired passport and boarding pass.
They didn’t even notice the expiration date in all their pumped up security measures.
Vegas post four
So our time is winding down in Vegas. It’s up early tomorrow and off to tha airport for a whole day gone to the morons at the department of daylight savings time.
First with the good and most recent news. On our last walk through the casino floor at the Bellagio, I hit a two cent slot for a hundred bucks. It barely pushed us into the black for the trip.
Penn and Teller puts on a great show at the Rio. But a nasty line experience at that dinner buffet assured us that if we did go back it wouldn’t be for their automation and organization.
And now that we’ve done three buffets, there is a definite correlation between the niceness of the hotel and the edible nature of the buffet food. Stay away from golden nugget.
Freemont St. was kinda lackluster for us. The big LCD was cool in it’s own right, but whoever decided to show some super crappy song and video featuring some band named “Culture Killers” covering Born to be Wild. We were both shaking our heads wondering why the he’ll we made the effort. The old windows starfield screen saver would have been better and spiritually fulfilling.
If you didn’t see my tweet, there was a nasty observation on the bus on the way back to the hotel this evening. Some mother was standing by as their at least five year old child licked the hand rail of a Las Vegas public bus. I asked her if she knew her child was doing just that, and she looked momentarily embarrassed, but he was back to doing it a few minutes later, and she wasn’t caring.
But we have a lot to digest (not hand rail juice). The jury of whether we’ll ever come back is still out. Anyone care to make the odds on that.
Vegas post three
We’re most of the way through the middle day of our Vegas Xmas.
Yesterday was exploring south of our hotel, and today we did north. It’s all just so much to take in if you’ve never been.
Last night was the culinary part of the trip that I was looking forward to, and boy it was one of those rare times that high expectations were vastly exceeded. I’ll be posting about that at some time with much more detail.
Tonight is the show night for us. We’re seeing Penn & Teller. So we’ll see if we like it.
So far we’ve hit one buffet, gone to one sports book, and only played slots. We are in the red overall, buy neither of came here to gamble.
As of right now, not sure if coming back is a real priority, but we will never do Xmas here again.
Looking forward to Freemont st tomorrow.
Vegas post two
Got in later than expected. Two flight delays will do that.
Took so long to check in. Had dinner sometime around 1 am Indy time. Slept in to 1 pm Indy time.
So we for up and decided to have lunch at Olives, which is at the Bellagio. And because the doors just opened, we got the front table overlooking the fountain. Very cool. Took about 110 pictures, and will post when I get home.
Still haven’t made and bets or anything. Looking forward to dinner at CraftSteak later. I’m tweeting a decent amount and posting images there for those interested.
Vegas post one
It’s time for the first of the Vegas posts. Writing this is beginning at the Indy airport on my iPhone.
It’s my first time here in the new airport. It’s pretty nice. It’s definitely an improvement, but a delay isn’t making the experience any better.
Part of why I decided to post in this manner is because of the people watching. I’d have a video of some weirdo, but I’ve got no video zoom… And I don’t want to get close enough to alert the wildlife. Not as good as the DC airport worker wearing the shirt saying “mujahideen”, but it would take something special to beat that. It’s just some kid practicing some skill that only seems handy if there’s a real demand for second rate street performers.
So right now, it’s still “Vegas here we come!”. Hopefully sooner than later.
National Parks and Such
I’m watching the second of five segments of the PBS series on the National Parks of the US.
It’s a good series thus far chalked full of historical details that I was previously unaware. I do wish that they’d have a larger range of music available as I’ve already heard the same segments over, and over.
I know this is Ken Burns’ formula, but damn if it isn’t hard not to go to sleep.
I’ve luckily been to a lot of the parks, and most of the more prominent ones. It’s common within this series so far to hear over and over what a gift the national treasures are because they have been given to all the people by the government.
To an extent I agree, but I have a hard time totally agreeing with the consumerism within many of the National Parks. There’s nickel and dime stuff in so many places. That’s even with the ever increasing cost to even go into one of the National Parks also makes me pause.
Not that I don’t recognize that these properties need funding for preservation and maintenance. But if the initial reason to set aside National Parks was to protect it from exploitation on many levels, the current exploitation seems to be privatized and condoned by the government.
But this seems to just point towards one of those classic arguments about how can you expect a large populace to publicly fund something that only a few use in a given year. There is no good solution.
I’m sure I’ll hit a lot of National Parks and National Monuments in the rest of my life. I’ll also head to my favorite places in Colorado that aren’t National Parks, but are just as amazing. I love them so much partially because of the lack of commercialization.
But I hope everyone has the chance of seeing some of the amazing natural wonders that America has to offer. They are so amazing in so many ways. Watching a series of documentaries is great, but actual witness is something of such natural wonder is completely different. It’s easily up there in the most powerful things that I’ve witnessed to date.
Cleveland doesn’t rock.
On our way home from Maine, we stopped in Cleveland. Some may say “why they hell would you do that?” And after driving through a really nasty stretch of the east side, I agree with that question.
But we wanted to do two things in Cleveland. Go see the Gehry building on the Case Western Reserve Campus and hit the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame.
Gehery first. It’s a very cool building with his usual curved metalwork dominating the building, but it had a nice understated inclusion of curved brick areas as well. If you’re not an architecture / Gehry fan, then it’s not worth your time. But we love this stuff. (here’s a link to the 6 images I processed from the building)
Now for the real reason for this post, the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame. It was cool to go, but it was a disappointment of sorts that I don’t think I’ll ever bother doing again.
Let me explain…
First and foremost, it was way too slanted towards certain specific artists (Hendrix, Morrison, Rolling Stones, etc).
I was surprised to see nothing from an acts like Rush or The Cure and very (I stress very) little from Led Zeppelin of all bands. I also saw a few things about Sting, but nothing really about The Police.
I understand that the term Rockstar has been adapted to encompass all musicians living a certain lifestyle, but I’m not sure about pure Rap groups being inducted into the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame. I love Run DMC, but they were not a Rock act by any definition. Neither is Jay-Z or Public Enemy which had artifacts in the museum. At least the Beastie Boys had punk roots and incorporated a lot of classic rock into their music.
I don’t like the categorization of music that they utilize in the main exhibit space. There’s a whole section devoted to Seattle Grunge, but that was part of the larger alternative music movement that began long before. When I see more about Temple of the Dog than I do about Jane’s Addiction, then something is very wrong. And if you’re going to create these categories, then you missed major pieces like progressive rock that have endured.
The last thing about the Hall that really struck us was why the hell was it so damn expensive. It costs an adult $22 for admission. They seemed pretty recession proof for a Friday morning, so there’s no reason there for such a high price. The biggest thing: almost everything in the museum is part of another collection – not property of the museum (aka they didn’t have to procure it). Sure there’s insurance, property taxes (maybe), and all the costs with being an employer. But $22? Most of the best museums in the country and world are cheaper or free.
So anyway, that was my Cleveland experience. It’d take a pretty big event to get me back to the city for any reason.
east and back
We got back from out jaunt to Maine. It was a much needed break for both of us.
The Cliff Notes… Drove out to Chamberlain, Maine (also near New Harbor and Pemaquid). Spent most time there. Spent a day in Rockland. Spend half day in Freeport – I didn’t buy a thing. Got to spend time with Mom, Wayne, Carrie, Rick, Noah, Charlotte, and Baxter (the new nephew). Stopped off in Cleveland on the way home to see a Gehry building and hit the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame.
I’ll be posting pimctures soon on Flickr. So far, the only good ones are family and the Gehry building. I’ll definately be posting about the Rock ‘n Roll HOF. We talked about it a lot on our way home. Anyway, work time…
