May 25, 20215 min read

Back at it in Milwaukee

Birthday celebrations and a few days in Vegas are just what we needed. It really feels like things are getting normal again. We got back to Milwaukee on Friday and had some beautiful 80-degree weather, which turned into a day in the low 50s, the next morning in the 50s, and ending with it being in the low 80s that exact same afternoon. I will not even try to understand this weather. I will, however, really hope that we don't get sick from the wide and crazy swings in temperature.

Vegas Baby!

We stayed at the Wynn, as always. We started staying at the Wynn back when I was vegan because they have a large variety of vegan options at every restaurant. We fell in love with the hotel and never looked back. Sure, we have tried to stay at a few others but nothing matches up to the Wynn. Our Vegas' days are spent poolside and nights are spent eating (surprising, I know) and the Wynn is hard to beat.

Pool Time

We spent our first day hanging out at the pool without a cabana. It was crowded but not too crowded. We got there an hour or so after it opened and were able to snag some great seats right near the edge of the pool. For my birthday, we decided to get a cabana. Since it's first come first serve for the best cabanas, we got there about 15 minutes before the pool opened and man, was there a line! It was in the high 90s that day so everyone had the same idea. We were the first there for a cabana and we got the best one, close to the pool and sunlight for most of the day. Reading in the pool with a drink is my idea of an amazing day. I'm very jealous of last week Karen right now! The rest of the week was very windy and started to cool down so we really picked a couple of great days to be at the pool.

Birthday Dinner

Birthday dinner was spent at SW Steakhouse in the Wynn, which has great food and an incredible atmosphere. Their A5 Japanese Waygu was featured on Food Network's "Best Thing I Ever Ate". While steaks are the focus of this award-winning restaurant, they have some really great seafood and vegan options as well. I ended up ordering the butter-poached lobster (middle picture below) and was so enamored with it I didn't even get a picture of Eric's domestic wagyu that he said was one of, if not the, best steak he has ever had. And the bread! Most places bring you a bread basket, SW brought a cheese-incrusted fluff of amazingness (pictured left below). It was really hard to stop eating it. My saddest moment of the night is when we were watching the Lake of Dreams show and they took it away from us! We ordered the molten lava cake (pictured right below), which came with a nice birthday message and candle.

While at SW, you get prime seats to the Wynn's Lake of Dreams shows. Running every 30 minutes starting from dusk and going to midnight, you get a variety of about 7 different shows. If you have been to the Wynn before, we have great news! All of the shows have been updated. We were lucky enough to get a seat right along the rail giving us the perfect viewing point. My favorite was when the emojis sang "I Got You Babe" by Sonny and Cher. I couldn't have asked for a better birthday!

Chandelier Bar at the Cosmopolitan

The Chandelier Bar at the Cosmo is a staple of ours and we always make our way over there while we are in Vegas. Our first time here, we ended up staying too long and inviting everyone at the bar to our wedding, was such a fun night, but not such a fun morning the next day.

Eric's favorite drink is the Verbena (pictured above) which is an off-menu drink with a buzz button. The drink itself is a lemon verbena and ginger-infused margarita with a Sichuan flower (aka buzz button). You eat the flower first which temporarily alters your taste buds to make you a "supertaster" and enhances the flavors of the drink. In the picture above I am holding a Cosmo that I couldn't stop spilling on myself. I always enjoy them but they are a little on the sweet side since they are made with a little white grape juice.

There are three levels (1, 1.5 and 2) all with different menus (though you can get the Verbena at all three). You can usually find us at the bar on the 2nd level. However, we decided to make it down to the 1.5 floor this time. I tried the We're All Mad Here, pictured below, which included Gin, St. Germain, Soho Lychee, Lemon Juice, Apple Rosewater and Chardonnay Cardamom Ginger Syrup. It was a little sweet but delicious and the fun factor makes it even more worth it.

We are big on atmosphere and there are few bars that can match that of The Chandelier Bar, with beautiful backlight crystals that drape throughout all the floors and well-made drinks, it's hard to beat.

Lots of Walking

Besides eating and laying around the pool, we always do a ton of walking in Vegas, mostly up and down the strip, which helps burn some of those eating and drinking calories and it's always a fun people-watching experience.

The Conservatory and Botanical Garden at the Bellagio is always a must-stop on our list. They update it a couple of times a year. It was pretty crowded this time around so we ran through and skipped some of it but that didn't stop me from snapping some cool pictures.

We took a walk through Paris which has some cute cafes and stores modeled after those you see in Paris. There is even a model of the Eiffel Tower that has a restaurant with a view. You can also go to the top of the Eiffel Tower. We didn't do either, but we did snap some cool pictures of silhouette windows while we were there.

We walked through almost every casino on the strip and some of my other favorite finds were Michael Jackson's leather shoes and Swarovski crystal socks from his Dangerous Tour (Mandalay Bay) and fake steam coming out of a pothole (New York, New York)!

And!! We ended most nights with a Chocolate Martini from Parasol Up, one of our go-to late night spots at the Wynn. The perfect liquid dessert!

Eric never did get to gamble as he had planned. We didn't make it to the new Virgin Hotel (by Hard Rock off strip) and Resort World doesn't open until the end of June (right across from the Wynn) but we will be back for sure!