Las Vegas, NV
Best Birthday Surprise Ever?!?!
John wanted to surprise Sarah for her birthday so he chose the obvious place....Las Vegas. Perfect destination for a birthday surprise for the wife. (Sarah agrees and has no complaints!)
The surprise started with driving to Salt Lake City in the morning and timing it right to eat at In N Out for lunch before the flight to Las Vegas. (Please know, this is how you know John really loves Sarah--he skipped an opportunity to go to Chipotle) We flew Alaska Airways which was perfect for a Vegas trip because you get a free alcoholic beverage on the flight. The couple sitting behind them appreciated that John switched drinks with Sarah to let her have a little more to celebrate the start of her birthday weekend. There was a limousine, arranged through Presidential Limousine, waiting to take us to Treasure Island. This was John’s first experience in a limo and loved seeing Sarah’s expression as we crawled into a limo at the airport. There was a complimentary bottle of champagne, and of course we had to drink the whole thing before the 20 minute ride was over. Why not? You're in Vegas and it's your birthday!
John didn't stop the surprises at the limo...he had more in store: We had dinner at Café Bellagio before the main event. After dinner, we went to "O," a Cirque du Soleil show at the Bellagio. The seats felt like front row and we got a fantastic view of the show. This was an amazing experience and we were blown away with all of the stunts in and out of the water. John, being an engineer, tried to figure out how the water platform worked. Sarah, on the other hand, was trying to figure out how someone could be so nimble and not fall out of their costume. This is a show that you can’t miss when you are in Vegas. After the show we walked around for a bit to get ice cream and watch the fountain show at the Bellagio.
The next day, John had to pick up the tickets to the Illusions magic show he had bought. He found the perfect distraction for Sarah: shopping at the mall next door. After shopping for a bit, Sarah and John grabbed a taxi to the Monte Carlo where we ate at 800 Degrees Pizza for lunch. This place had wonderful fresh, quick, and tasty pizza. Everything is fresh and made in front of you, including the basil leaves and oregano they add fresh off of the stems to put directly on your pizza. The pizzas are cooked in an oven that only take 5 minutes to make because...guess why....it's 800 degrees. :DJohn and Sarah went across the street and took a tour of the three story M&M store. We relaxed for a bit at the hotel and got ready for the next surprise. John took Sarah to the Riviera Casino where the Illusions Magic Show was. This casino was quite a bit old and a little run down. Despite first impressions. the show was great with some good magic tricks. Does everyone else also try to figure out how the tricks are done? Well, we tried. After the show we walked across Las Vegas Boulevard to check out Circus Circus where we heard about $1 black jack tables. Those tables were full when we got there so instead we played around on some slot machines. After playing the slots a little bit we got a taxi ride to Joyful House for dinner. The dinner’s food, smell, and atmosphere brought John back to his backpacking trip through China. The food was delicious and we're glad that we got so much food so that we could take extra food home.
Sarah’s birthday was the second to last day we were in Vegas. Sarah and John ordered breakfast through the hotel and ate in their room. John planned a massage with the Massage Couple that come to you for the massage. They brought their portable message tables and we had a couple’s massage in our hotel room. It was nice to not have to travel. The one thing that we should have done was make our room warmer before the massage because it was a little cold due to us liking to be cold when we sleep. Another thing about surprises is that John should have warned Sarah of the massage before two people come walking into their hotel room. John didn't think of what Sarah would think of A) being in Vegas and B) having two unknown people walking into their hotel room with equipment.
John surprised Sarah with another limo ride to Casa di Amore. This restaurant provides a free limo ride from any hotel off of the strip. John was freaking out about the timing of everything because he didn't know until that night that the Rock N Roll Marathon was happening that evening. During the marathon the strip is closed to cars the whole night so that the marathoners can run on the strip. The strip in Las Vegas is really long and takes a long time to have to drive around and this is what the limo driver had to do to pick us up. Despite the stress, we tried to enjoy our dining experience. This restaurant brought back memories of our honeymoon in Italy. The food tasted fresh, authentic, and they make their own pasta. The limo ride took so long that John had to rush dinner a little bit--he felt bad, but this sometimes seems to be a common occurrence for us. Despite this, we were able to get caprese for an appetizer, dinner, wine, and a cannoli for dessert. John told the waiter that we had a show that we needed to go to and the waiter was very accommodating and even brought out dessert for Sarah's birthday AND had the live band serenade her--so sweet! John told Sarah that he was a little worried about being late for the show because they make fun of people coming in late. The limo driver was ready right when we were done with dinner and dropped us off on the opposite side of the strip of where we needed to go but that helped us out with not having to drive all the way around. John and Sarah crossed the strip and went into the Monte Carlo Casino.
Once Sarah walked into the casino she got really excited because she figured out that we were going to the Blue Man Group. John was wanting to hurry to get to the seats and kind of ignored a worker who helped seat people. Sarah, however, talked to the guy who asked if it was just the two of us. After she said yes, he asked if we wanted to be part of the show and get really good seats. Sarah and John tried not to seem too excited but exclaimed a definite "Yes!" He then pointed us to seats that were in the back but were still better than the tickets that we had. We were given instructions that someone would grab us after the show starts and will then take us to sit in the fourth row on the aisle. Those directions seemed pretty easy for John since he is not an actor. John then suddenly remembered from his childhood what was about to happen...
The Blue Man Group show started out with a bang and John slowly started getting more and more nervous. Five minutes into the show the worker grabbed John and Sarah and walked them down to the main floor. We stood near the doorway until it was time to be part of the show. The worker then turned on his flashlight and walked us down the aisle. All of the sudden alarms were blaring, lights were flashing, the blue man group looked angry through their expressionless faces, and the speakers started singing "You're late... You are really really late...You're late" The cameras were on our faces and John and Sarah did an amazing job of looking embarrassed. John was definitely not acting at all. To this day Sarah won't share if she was acting or not that night. We sat down in the seats with everyone laughing at us and then John looked at his watch and we started taking off our jackets. It was such a nice surprise and great way to celebrate Sarah's birthday. The seats were incredible and we were blessed to see everything up close and personal--especially for buying nose bleed tickets. Of course John's fear of being made fun of for being late came true, despite the fact that we were early to the show. Oops. ^_^
John then grabbed a taxi to go to the next event of the night. Sarah was already having the night of her life and couldn't think what else there could be. The taxi brought them to their hotel and John fibbed saying he needed to pick up something for the next event in the hotel room. While walking towards their Treasure Island hotel room, John had them take a different turn into "Mystere," ANOTHER Cirque du Solei show. John had a photographer take a picture of them to remember this night. "Mystere" is another show that you can't miss. It is always fun trying to figure out the story that is going on in the Cirque du Solei shows.
Sarah jumping for joy at all the surprises!
After an amazing weekend of shows, food, shopping, urban exploring, gambling, and limo rides, we were so sad to have to leave Las Vegas. The trip felt so quick, but Sarah and John had to climb back into the limo and head back to their life in Idaho. We, of course, took advantage of the free alcohol drinks on the plane to finish the birthday bash right.
John and Sarah apologize for sharing their experience in Vegas and not abiding to the rule of what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, but this trip was too wonderful not to share. What are trips that you want to take for your birthday? Do you like surprise trips or do you prefer to plan it out yourself?
Chasing Time Zones,
J&S