Day 3 – Last day in Vegas

Friday turned out to be a bittersweet day for us.  We were definitely sad to be checking out of the Palazzo and leaving Vegas, but we were also very excited about the adventures to come in Hawaii.  We tried to make the most of our last day, but also needed to stay cool as well.  The weather in Vegas has been hovering at about 100 degrees during the day, so we sought refuge indoors where we could.  Friday was also a day for us to fulfill our Vegas traditions that we’ve formed.

We woke up on Friday to breakfast in bed, ordering Eggs Benedict for room service.  This was the first time either of us had room service, and were very excited to be able to eat great food up in our room.

We quickly began to pack for Hawaii and loaded our luggage into the car for the day, and then checked out of our lovely room at the Palazzo.  Looking to escape the heat, we took in Transformers 2 at The Orleans Hotel.  This was our first movie we saw as husband and wife.  We didn’t find the movie that great (which Jeromey will probably post on his other blog), but this was a very relaxing way to spend the afternoon.

After the movie we fulfilled another Vegas tradition by visiting the Bellagio and taking in the gardens.  The gardens were beautiful as always, as we marveled at the giant Farris Wheel and Bethany stopped to smell the geraniums.

A visit to the Bellagio wouldn’t be complete without visiting the chocolate store behind the gardens.  We shared a banana crepe and gelato, then started heading towards our other Vegas tradition: Battista’s Hole in the Wall.

We’re pleased to say that the staple of Battista’s – the old man that plays the accordion – is  alive and well.  In fact, he serenaded us with “Love Me Tender” for our Honeymoon.  We ate far too much and tried to walk it off on our way to the Venetian to see the Phantom of the Opera.  Bethany was especially excited to see Phantom, as she saw the play once before during a traveling production stop in Denver, but she was also excited to share the experience with Jeromey for the first time.  Both of us were blown away by the performances.  Phantom is currently celebrating their third year in Vegas, and it’s incredible some of the things they were able to do with the permanent stage setting.  The chandelier scene was spectacular, so much so that the audience shrieked.  We were pleasantly surprised by our seats, as we only purchased orchestra-level, but found that we were actually in the 4th row off to the side.  At one point, performers were doing scenes only a few feet away from us. The only complaint we had about Phantom was that it was too short and wouldn’t tide us over until we had to leave for the airport.

After taking in Phantom, we thought it would be romantic to experience the gondola (boat) ride through the stream around the Venetian.  We shared a boat with another couple on their honeymoon as well.  Santo, our guide, shared great stories as he navigated us through the waters then topped off our experience by serenading us three different times.

We topped the night off by playing penny slots, then gathered our luggage for the long flight to Hawaii.

Next up: Flying to Kauai, our first day in paradise.

Note: We have an abundance of pictures that we would like to share, but our internet connection is limiting us from posting too many on Flickr.  We hope to upload our first batch of pictures in the next few days. Stay tuned.

Our hotel room

We’re in the process of packing for Hawaii right now and checking out of our room, but before we did that we wanted to share with you the room where we spent our time in Vegas.

The Palazzo is a beautiful new hotel.  Everything looks fresh and clean, with the rooms being especially spacious and luxurious.  We stayed on the 44th floor, with a view overlooking the the golf course at the Wynn.

Our bedroom

Looking out to the sunken living room

The living room

Looking back in the room from the window

     
Bethany’s makeup table

Bethany enjoying the bathtub

Day 2 – Ate, drank and gambled well

Our second day of our Honeymoon could be summed up with good food, good drink and lot of relaxation.  We took advantage of our first day we got to sleep in and stayed in bed until after 10:00am.  After logging over 10 hours of sleep, we finally got up and made our way downstairs right before noon.  Our first stop was to get tickets for Phantom of the Opera – they’re running a special for the 3rd anniversary of being at the Venetian.  We then headed over the Wynn to try out one of the best buffets in Vegas.  We weren’t disappointed! It was filled with lots of great seafood, as well as food from different genres, but most of all Bethany loved the room with nothing but dessert!  We ate enough to tide us over for the rest of the day.

Our dessert plate

We spent the afternoon at the mall across the street from the Wynn, doing a little shopping for Hawaii.  After some more walking around we went back and napped at the Palazzo.  We woke up to the shocking news about Michael Jackson’s death and spent the rest of the afternoon watching the news coverage, listening to Michael Jackson songs as we got ready for the evening.  We’re still having a hard time believing that he’s gone…

We made our way to the Paris hotel and played some penny slots as we waited for our 7:00pm reservation at the Eiffel Tower restaurant.  We went based on a recommendation from a friend and had no idea what to expect.  We were completely blown away with how fancy this place was.  We mentioned to the host that we were here for our Honeymoon, and they gifted us with a table with a fantastic view of the Strip and the fountains of the Bellagio.  We enjoyed a bottle of wine, great entrees, and ended our dinner with amazing soufflés. 

 
Our view from the Eiffel Tower

After the lunch that we had, we were more than stuffed by the fine dinner.  The experience at the Eiffel Tower restaurant, as great as it was, was a lot fancier than we are used to.  We decided to follow up dinner with an experience with an old friend: Fremont Street.

When we pulled up at Fremont Street, the light show was playing Michael Jackson music, with a montage of his album covers – definitely a somber tribute.  The next light show played Don McLean’s “American Pie”.  All of it seemed very appropriate for today.

After losing some money at the penny slots at Fremont, we went over to the Four Queens and tried our luck at $5 Blackjack table.  We quickly learned about the benefits of playing as a married couple.  I kept riding the ups and down of the BlackJack river, while Bethany quietly won all of our money back, plus cab fare home.  We ended up entertaining ourselves for over 90 minutes, making it a fun trip to Fremont Street.

We’re back early at the Palazzo, catching Be Cool as well and some sleep before we check out of the hotel and get ready to make the flight to Hawaii.

Next up: Our last day in Vegas, Phantom of the Opera, and killing time before our 2am flight.

Day 1 – Making it to Vegas!

We set out on our adventure early Wednesday morning and were out of Denver at about 7:15am.  The day was spent making the long drive out to Vegas, an 11 hour trip.  Luckily the drive was mostly uneventful, with our excitement increasing as we drew closer.  We hit Vegas right during rush hour traffic, but after we got off the Interstate it was incredibly easy to park in our hotel – the Palazzo.

Our room is absolutely amazing.  We’re on the 44th floor, with a view overlooking the Wynn’s golf course (we’ll post pictures of everything tomorrow).  We quickly got cleaned up and headed out to the Rio for Penn & Teller.  Throughout the day we had it in our mind that the show started at 9:30pm, only to realize the show started at 9:00pm (and being asked to be in our seats by 8:30pm).  We went and found the nearest, fastest-looking place: Sao Paulo Cafe. The food was surprisingly good, and we made it to our seats with time to spare.

We were blown away by Penn & Teller!  The show is a classic Vegas show: magic mixed in with comedy.  The show flew by real quickly. When they said “goodnight” to us we looked at our watch to realize that 90 minutes already breezed by.  As we walked out, we saw that Penn & Teller were signing autographs and taking pictures, where we managed to get this one:

We tried to end the night by watching a movie, but the long day took its toll on us, and we fell asleep halfway through the Wedding Singer.

Next up: Our first full day in Vegas!

Pre-Honeymoon: Estes Park

We spent our wedding night back at home, figuring if we would arrive to a hotel so late that we likely would be too tired to enjoy it.  We also wanted to take the opportunity with visit with all of our family and friends as well, which led to Sunday’s Brunch at my mom’s house.  We were able to share some informal time playing yard games, eating yummy casseroles and opening our wedding gifts.  We couldn’t have asked for a more relaxing day after the wedding.

After sharing in the family festivities, we made our way up to Estes Park.  We had a night’s stay saved up at Mary’s Lake Lodge and thought Sunday night would be the best night to use it.  We’ve also heard the stories from other newly-weds about the benefits of mentioning your Honeymoon, but wanted to find a way to mention it without sounding too forward.  We thought of a sneaky way to do this at Mary’s Lake Lodge, by asking them if they had any restaurant recommendations for a couple on the first night of their Honeymoon.  We quickly scrapped that idea when we realized they have two restaurants of their own.  We cut our losses and tried to get into our room, only to find that the room key wasn’t working.  I went down and had them re-key my card, only to find it still wasn’t working.  Bethany and I went back down and while the manager was trying to re-key it once again, they jokingly made the comment “We want you guys to stay here, really”.  Bethany responded with “We really want to stay here too, as we’re starting out Honeymoon.”  Both desk attendants wished us congratulations and we went up with the manager to try this key again.  After another unsuccessful attempt, the manager came back and said that rather than have us wait to fix the lock on the door, they’d go ahead and upgrade us to a suite (being that we’re on our Honeymoon and all).  The room was fantastic!

We went back down to Estes to eat dinner at Mama Rosa’s, an Italian restaurant.  Bethany had a trio pasta with a Riesling wine flight (a sample of three), and I decided to have lasagna and try scotch for the first time with their scotch flight. I’m not sure if I’m a scotch person, as it’s definitely an acquired taste.  We ate and drank very well, and Bethany skipped the last glass of Riesling so that she could drive us home.  We then spent the evening opening all of our wedding cards, reading every single one.  We were blown away with the wonderful words and generosity of our family and friends!

The next morning we awoke to continental breakfast in bed and checked out of the hotel.  Our friends Jamie, Dain and Sara gave us their week-long pass to Rocky Mountain National Park, so we drove out to Bear Lake.  Bethany got some great pictures along the way:

When we got to Bear Lake, we found out that the parking lot was full (surprisingly for a Monday morning), preventing us from doing any quick strolls around the lake. We drove back into town and stopped for a quick photo-op:

Back in Estes we went to Penelope’s (a great burger joint) for lunch, then walked down to get some salt water taffy and made our way back home.

While this wasn’t officially part of the Honeymoon, this gave a great taste of what we get to look forward to later this week, and definitely a wonderful way to spend our second night as husband and wife!

Beginning the Honeymoon adventure

Welcome to our friends and family!  On June 20th we experienced the happiest day of our lives, as we were married in front of our friends and family in Fort Collins, CO.  Everything about that day was absolutely wonderful, and were grateful for everyone who shared the experience with us!

After such a beautiful wedding, we are kicking off our marriage with an adventure in paradise!  Starting on Wednesday we will start a drive to Las Vegas, and spend three days in the City of Lights.  Early on Saturday morning we will fly out to Hawaii in the “Honeymooners Island” of Kauai, spending a week in paradise.  We’ll return to Las Vegas and spend the 4th of July there before we begin the trek home.

We look forward to you joining us on our journey and hope you’ll tune in to see stories, updates and perhaps some video.

Comments are more than welcome!