Thursday, October 7, 2010

My Vegas weekend with Cher

I have to confess something right now before I go any further... When I was a little pre-teen/teen gay boy tucked away in the closet, covered with my Southern Baptist up bringing, I used to sneak listening to Cher in between country and praise and worship music. It gets even better though... I've never been one to pick up the words from songs that I hear and so I was, and still am always making up words to go with the song... knowing that I didn't know the correct words.

Well, one day I was singing "If I Could Turn Back Time" by Cher and I thought I was sooooo cool because I finally knew the words to a song. Well come to find out that I didn't. Instead of singing, "If I could Turn Back Time" I was singing "If I could turn around, If I could find my way". The funny thing is that I did it in front of some close family friends and they started laughing at me... I'll never forget that moment. I hope Cher will forgive me. Now onto the Trip!

So I have to say that this trip was absolutely wonderful! For those of you who don't know, Cher tickets were a gift to me from Matt for quitting smoking and being so successful at it. (Isn't he awesome!) It also fell really close to our anniversary so we made it a combo trip. Here's a rundown of the trip.

Sunday:

  • Travel To Vegas
  • Check into our room at Caesars Palace
  • Lose $20 in a slot 
  • Pop open a bottle of Champagne to enjoy while getting ready for Cher
  • Go to the Concert (or Experience as I like to call it)
  • Lose another $20 in a slot machine
  • Enjoy a night out around Vegas with Matt.
  • Eat Steak and Eggs at 1:30am at the Award Winning restaurant in some shitty little casino.
Monday:
  • Enjoy and amazing breakfast from room service
  • Check in at the Qua Baths and Spa at Caesars Palace
  • Enjoy a wonderful 1 hour massage
  • Spend 5 hours in the Qua Roman baths
  • Eat an amazing dinner at Marrakech Moroccan restaurant 
Tuesday:
  • Check Out of Caesars
  • Eat at Serendipity 3 
  • Drive Home
Now for the documentation of the trip. Ill start with the hotel room. We stayed in a Deluxe room at Caesars Palace and it was amazing! Here are some photos.

The Sleeping / Living Area

The Bathroom

TV and Desk

The VIEW

Next up, I want to show you some of the video from the concert. Now I must warn you, the quality is pretty bad because they were super crazy about filming the show so I had to sneak it a few times. Also, I apologize for all of my screaming. It got a little intense at time. 

Half Breed






If I Could Turn Back Time



Believe



I have some audio clips as well that I want to try to get up on my blog, but Im going to have to reformat them. Now onto the relaxing part of the trip.

On Monday Matt and I enjoyed an amazing day at the Qua Baths and Spa located in the Augustus tower at Caesars Palace. This place was amazing! There were 4 different saunas ranging from dry to wet and herbal infused, and a really amazing arctic room that actually had snow falling in it. But my favorite were the Roman Baths, 3 different mineral water based jet baths. So relaxing, definitely a place to spend hours relaxing the stress away. Here are a few pictures that I found online. 



After a very relaxing day at the Spa, we went to a Morracan restaurant called Marakeech just off the strip. A few of our friends had been raving about it so we knew that it was a must while we were in Vegas on vacation. Its a 6 course set menu just under $40 that is amazing! Make sure you eat light during the day because you'll leave stuffed. Its a really cool experience. They start off by washing your hands with rose water and there are beautiful belly dancers there to entertain you as well. Here is a little more information about it. 

Feast
Six-Course Moroccan Feast
All courses served with Homemade Moroccan Bread.

Appetizer
Moroccan Style Shrimp Scampi in lemon, wine, and garlic sauce. (acknowledged as the best in Las Vegas)

Harira Soup
Traditional Moroccan Lentil soup with rice, lemon, and spices.

Marrakech Salad
Hummus, accompanied by assorted vegetables in Moroccan seasoning.

Beef Kabob
Filet Mignon marinated in 7 moroccan spices and grilled to perfection.

Main Course
Royal Cous Cous platter served with Cornish Game Hen in a traditional raisin-vegetable sauce.

B'stilla - Dessert
Our Version of the Moroccan Classic transformed into a Dessert. A fillo dough pastry stuffed with nuts, fruit, and sugar. Then topped with heaps of powdered sugar and cinnamon. Served with Moroccan Tea



For more information visit.

http://www.marrakechvegas.com

On Tuesday it was time for us to say Goodbye for now but we thought we couldn't leave without eating at Serendipity 3. The peanut butter frozen hot chocolate for 2 was a perfect way to end the best trip to Vegas I have ever had. 




Thanks for visiting the Chronicles of and Ex Smoker... Come back soon for my next blog about my guilty pleasures of TV. :)