An American Road Trip: Part 5: Vegas

Day 10 - 14 Las Vegas
Hotel: MGM Grand

The Road Trip so far had brought some of the most memorable experiences of my life, and as I woke on the morning of my birthday I knew that the day would bring another.  How many times could a guy from Manchester drive to Las Vegas on his birthday.  This was a birthday I will never forget.

When we arrived at the MGM Grande, my family back at home had sent us a voucher to congratulate us on our engagement, to be spent on either food or a show.  My brother also requested that when we get to our room we should drop him a text so he could ring us.

The MGM Grand is huge, absolutely massive! It took us at least 30 minutes to get from the lobby to our room.  The size and scale of this hotel was a little daunting, even though we had been to Vegas just a week earlier.  When we checked into our room, we had a little chat with the family, checked up on Baby Lisa and then out onto the strip we went.  On the first week in Vegas, we had tried to stay at the top end of the strip so that once we returned we could see the hotel nearer to the MGM.  Our first stop, because it was my birthday request, was for Hot Wings and Key Lime Pie in Hooters.

We then went off to see the newly refurbished Tropicana, The New York New York and a new group of hotels that when I came to Vegas in 2009 were still just metal structures with no fascia.    The Aria, Cosmopolitan, Crystal and YSL are phenomenal.  Both beautiful inside and out.

Clare had bought me a Grand Canyon trip for my birthday, but we got a phone call in the morning to let us know the President Obama was coming to town and all flights were grounded.  So we decided a little walk to the Vegas Sign would be a lovely treat.  It looks a lot closer than it actually is.

On our way to the airport that evening,we passed Limo-One, the Presidential Limousine and gave Mr Obama a little wave.  The flight over the Grand Canyon was something I had always wanted to do and was as breathtaking as I thought it would be.  In our little tiny but very noisy plane, we flew over Vegas, out to the Hoover Dam and Lake Mead and then on to the Canyon itself.  The pictures do not really give it justice, it mainly looks like huge rocky caverns and crevices, but it is an amazing sight.  On our return flight to Vegas, as we had taken the later journey we saw the sun set over Sin City.

After an amazing day, there was only one way we could end it. Still wearing jeans and Tshirt from our trip we were sat at our table in Wolfgang Puck's restaurant surrounded by suits, ball gowns and high rollers.  The waiter looked a little cranky as we refused the Wine List and just asked for two beers.  When he came to take our order though his demeanor changed.  Two of the most expensive steaks please and serve them bloody.  The Kobe steak I had was THE BEST steak I have ever, and will ever, have!  Clare had a blue cheese sauce on hers which I could have had on it's own.  My mouth is watering now as I type

Clare had really wanted to go and see M&M world, and all three floors of it, since we had arrived in Vegas, so me being the perfect fiancee willing took her to see this delight.  M&M brand on everything you can imagine and some things you can't.

Our amazing holiday was coming to a close and we had seen and done so much.  We were both looking forward to coming home knowing that the next twelve months were going to be pretty hectic with wedding planning.  At the start of our holiday (before Clare knew about the proposal) Clare had decided that the winner of the two week game of Uno should choose the next holiday destination. This meant, as the winner, I could choose and it was going to be our honeymoon.  

As the plane started it's pre-flight checks and made it's way towards the runway, I bade farewell to this great city and promised I would be back, but this fell onto deaf ears as Clare was already asleep.