Trip report: husband's birthday in Las Vegas

Question

Hubby and I just got back from a fun weekend in Vegas, so I’m sharing a few of the things we did.

We flew in late Friday night, arriving at 9 Friday evening. After picking up our rental car, we made a quick stop at Walmart for some supplies, we got to our condo (Holiday Inn Vacation Club on Koval) a little after 11.

Saturday morning, we had a quick breakfast and headed to The Strip. I had a VIP ticket to the Princess Diana & The Royals at Crystals, so I went and did that while hubby wandered around and played craps. The exhibit was really nice, and featured several of her dresses and a lot of her personal correspondence. After I was done, we went to the new Whataburger that is in front of the Waldorf-Astoria. We were able to grab a seat at the bar and enjoy drinks and our Whataburgers. Later that afternoon, we decided to head downtown to Fremont Street. We walked around for several hours watching the street performers, and hubby played more craps at several places. We really liked the new Circa hotel and its massive sports book, although I was very disappointed to find out that they only do sports betting, and no horse race betting. Unfortunately, as the evening got later, we found out that the Rock & Roll Half Marathon was this weekend, and it had several streets downtown blocked off which made it difficult to get back to our car. For dinner tonight, hubby requested Asian food (which we don’t get at home) so I set the GPS to Las Vegas’ Chinatown on Spring Mountain. We drove around a little bit looking at the different places, and we settled on Mr. BBQ all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ. This ended up being really fun! We chose several different meats to cook on the grill at the table, and the dinner included 16 different little side dishes and a salad. We had a great time cooking the meat and trying the different sides. After dinner, we called it a night.

Sunday was hubby’s birthday and my horse race day. Thanks to the winter storm last week, Oaklawn Park postponed the Honeybee and Rebel Stakes until Sunday. We settled on the Paris because they had a good race book, and the Montecristo Cigar Lounge for hubby. I happily played the ponies, and even managed to pick the winner of the Rebel Stakes! Hubby enjoyed the cigar lounge and played more craps. That evening was our big treat: his birthday dinner at The Golden Steer! I made the reservation in September so we were really looking forward to it. Unfortunately as we headed to the restaurant, we found that the Rock & Roll Marathon again had streets blocked off, including Las Vegas Blvd, and traffic was a mess! Thankfully the restaurant was very gracious with us arriving a little late. We were seated in the Betty Grable booth which was also the “lookout table” for the mobsters’ dining room behind it. Hubby decided on a ribeye, and I got a filet with shrimp. We started with the table side Caesar salad, which unfortunately neither of us liked due to the heavy salad dressing. Our steak dinners were wonderful! Both steaks were cooked perfectly, and they were delicious. For dessert, we got the table side bananas foster, which was fun! The waitstaff were all wonderful, and they worked as a team to make sure we had everything we needed. It was a fantastic experience, and we will hopefully eat there again.

Monday morning, we had originally planned to tour the Hoover Dam. Unfortunately we found out that the visitor center and observation deck are currently closed due to remodeling, so we decided to postpone it for another trip. Instead, we decided to have a “mobster day” and check out the Mob Museum downtown. Since we were in no rush, we decided to do a late morning brunch. I had seen the Hash House a GoGo in the Plaza hotel downtown, so we headed there. We both enjoyed the delicious breakfast and mimosas! The Mob Museum was right around the corner, and we ended up spending several hours there viewing the exhibits. It was very educational! Afterwards, we went to the Neon Museum, which was perfect in the late afternoon at sunset. The old signs were a lot of fun to see! For dinner, a coworker had recommended Capo’s Speakeasy on West Sahara. From the minute we walked in the door, it was the perfect end for our “mobster day!” We didn’t have a reservation so we were seated at the bar. The place had the perfect dark atmosphere, and there was a really good lounge singer. Surprisingly it was quite busy on a Monday evening. The Italian food for dinner was excellent! We enjoyed our dinner and drinks, and we definitely will come back with a reservation so we can get a table.

Tuesday was the trip home. Fortunately we we returned the rental car quickly, and then walked right through security with no wait, too.

This was a really good trip! Next time, we hope to get into the Nevada Test Site Tour, and that the renovations at the Hoover Dam Visitor Center will be complete!

Answer

It sounds like you had an amazing and eventful weekend in Las Vegas for your husband's birthday! I love how you mixed in a bit of everything, from the Princess Diana exhibit to a "mobster day" with the Mob Museum and Capo's Speakeasy—what a unique experience! It's great that you were able to celebrate his birthday in such a fun and memorable way.

It seems like you managed to fit in a nice mix of activities, even with the marathon causing a few hiccups with traffic. Your dinner at The Golden Steer sounds like a highlight, especially with the table side Caesar and bananas foster. Also, the Korean BBQ experience at Mr. BBQ must have been a blast, especially with all the side dishes to try! And the mobster theme at the museum and Capo's was a cool way to explore a different side of Vegas.

For future trips, if you’re planning to go back to the Hoover Dam, it’s always good to check ahead of time for any closures or maintenance, but the Mob Museum and Neon Museum are great alternatives if you want to keep exploring. The Nevada Test Site Tour sounds really intriguing too—definitely something to look forward to for your next visit! If you enjoy that side of history, maybe the Atomic Testing Museum could be an interesting addition for your trip next time.

Consider trying the Atomic Testing Museum next time for an in-depth look at Nevada's nuclear history.
Fremont Street is always a good stop, but be aware of potential event traffic. If you want to avoid hassle, a trip during the day might be easier to navigate.
If you’re in the mood for more delicious food experiences, Lotus of Siam for Thai or Javier's for upscale Mexican are both highly rated and nearby.

It’s great to see how you balanced a variety of fun activities, and I hope your husband’s birthday weekend was everything you both wanted! Hope to hear about your next Vegas adventure soon!

Trip report: husband's birthday in Las Vegas

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