Life is always busy for me and my family. My days are filled with sports and school for the kids, laundry, meal prep, housework, yard work, Mac Kid, and so much more. Did I mention I have a day job too? It's exhausting just thinking about it. With all the obligations, I barely have time to take a moment for myself. On a good day, the only alone time I get is in the bathroom, and even then I have kids beating on the door yelling for momma. Sometimes I'll sneak in a night out with the girls or a date night, but let's be honest, those are few and far between. When my husband suggested a mom's weekend away, I knew I must have been a hot mess. My full schedule was driving me so crazy, he insisted I take a weekend to blow off some steam. It was definitely time to get away. I called my friend, and fellow Macaroni Kid publisher mom, and suggested a weekend getaway. When the subject of where our destination should be, we were of the same mind. I swear we said it out loud at the same time. "Let's go to Vegas!"
I'll admit we did spend some time lounging by the pool and even snuck in a couple of naps, be we also enjoyed Vegas. And I mean we REALLY enjoyed Vegas. You know the saying "What happens in Vegas?" Well I'm going to share some of my favorites with you, in hopes that, as a deserving mom, you can also take some time to let your hair down.
The first night we were invited by Nacho Daddy to enjoy some food and beverages, of course we happily agreed. We started our meal with margaritas and the Triple Dip appetizer which included, guacamole, salsa, and homemade queso dip and chips. The white queso was so good, it took all my willpower not to lick the bowl clean! We both decided to try different things and share, so we could try even more delicious food. We chose the Mexican Street Burger, a pound beef patty with caramelized chipotle onions, mango salsa, pepperjack cheese, bacon and a spicy mustard (just writing this is making my mouth water) and some signature soft tacos with jack cheese, chicken, and a roasted chipotle salsa. Neither one of us were disappointed, the food and service were both amazing!
We were also invited to try Nacho Daddy's famous "Get Stung" drink -- a scorpion shot. Yep, you read that right. Scorpion! I actually put a baby scorpion on my tongue and chased it with a shot of tequila. Talk about letting my hair down, right?! We were also invited by the chef Ruben, to tour the kitchen, and I have to admit, this was one of my favorite parts of the meal. Ruben was very proud of his staff and kitchen, and after seeing it, I can understand why. All the food is cooked from scratch and even on such a busy night the kitchen was amazingly clean. I was already convinced that this restaurant would be a regular dining spot for me, but then I had the apple pie nachos. These were to die for! Granny Smith apples covered in a warm caramel sauce, served on cinnamon flour tortilla chips with whipped cream and a scoop of ice cream. Although we were both full from the delicious dinner, we did lick this plate clean. Forget willpower, this was a dessert that dreams were made of! I'm definitely bringing the family here on my next visit to Vegas. Take a look at the menu HERE yourself, and plan to pay them a visit while you're in Vegas.
The second night we enjoyed some appetizers and drinks at The Hard Rock Cafe, and then the premier night of The Men of The Strip show. Yes, that kind of strip ;) Jeff Timmons from 98 Degrees partnered with the amazing choreographer Glenn Douglas Packard to create a truly memorable show. This show was so much more than gyrating gorgeous men, although I did enjoy that part too, these men were amazing performers. The dancing was incredible, and they even had a phenomenal boy band tribute dance, where they performed a dance celebrating famous boy bands from The Jacksons, to NKOTB, and of course 98 Degrees. Many of the men in the show are faces that you may even recognize from both the big and small screens. These men are multi-talented, we saw everything from singing, dancing, and even some flips and tricks. This is a show for the memory books, but definitely for a mom's night out and not to be shared with the kids. :) Follow the link HERE to get your tickets.
The next morning we headed out for brunch, which was just what the doctor ordered. Late nights, cocktails, and breakfast food go hand in hand. We had been invited to dine at Hash House A Go Go, a restaurant I had heard about from friends. I wish they would have warned me about the portions though! Hash House a Go Go is a restaurant chain founded in California in 2000, it is known for large portions of breakfast food, and has additional locations in Nevada, Illinois, Florida and Connecticut. They pride themselves on twisted farm food, and serve breakfast, lunch and dinner. The Las Vegas location is in The Linq, which was a nice little walk for us from The Flamingo.
Thank goodness we had been invited to come in, and a table was being held for us, because when we got to the top of the escalator, there was a huge crowd, apparently we weren't the only ones wanting brunch. We started the meal with some Baileys and coffee, as suggest by our server, like we were going to argue! I also felt some vitamin C was in order and got the fresh squeezed orange juice, it was so good, I always forget how much better it is than the carton version from the grocery store. We didn't even know where to start when we looked at the menu, but I took the advice of our server and got the Farm Benedict, Andy's sage fried chicken w/ fresh spinach, hardwood smoked bacon, market tomato, griddled mozzarella, chipotle cream and scrambled eggs. The funniest part about it was that I took a little walk downstairs to the restroom, and when I came back upstairs and walked back into the dining area, or table was right in front of me, and there was this behemoth mound of food at my seat. My jaw must have dropped as I walked to our table, because even the people at the tables around me were laughing, and made comments about how I planned to eat all that. Kari had ordered the sausage gravy and buttermilk biscuits, 2 eggs and mashed potatoes, and it was so big as well. If you have the chance to go, you could share one of these meals with your spouse, or split it between multiple children, I will let the pictures speak for themselves. The food was amazing, and I am so glad we got to try them out, we will be back for sure. I do believe they take reservations and I would make sure to call ahead if you can, I have heard the wait can be an hour or so on weekends, and let me tell you, there is good reason! You can check out the menu for yourself HERE.
We managed to waddle our way out of Hash House, and now it was time to take a short walk to Bally's for the Real Bodies exhibit. I know this show is not what you think about when you think Vegas shows, but I have been wanting to see it for years. Cross one of my bucket list, only 300 to go! This powerful exhibition explores life by displaying more than 20 real, perfectly preserved human bodies and more than 200 anatomical specimens. More than a simple display of human specimens, REAL BODIES at Bally's will connect audiences to a deeper sense of what it means to be alive. REAL BODIES at Bally's takes visitors on a journey asking them to explore who they are, where they come from and what they choose to do with the life and body they have been given. As a student in the medical field, it was so amazing to be able to take what I had learned in my anatomy and physiology classes, and see just what they were referring to. It was so much more relatable when you actually see it in real life versus a textbook. I think this exhibit would be amazing to take older children to, I know my 10 year old would love it and it would be so educational. You can learn more about the exhibit HERE.
Our Vegas getaway was coming to an end, we had one evening left, and decided to just hang low and relax. We had long drives ahead of us the next day, and we were literally in a food coma, I think mine lasted a few days. I have to tell you, if you can convince your spouse to watch the children, or find a sitter if you fly solo, a mom's getaway weekend in Vegas is just what every mama needs. I am not against family vacations by any means, but there is something so refreshing about hanging with one of your besties for a weekend. It's uplifting to the soul to be able to share the stresses of life with one another, and just escape from it all. No one understands what it's like to be a mom better than another mom. There was no pressure to do anything, we just went with it. No bedtimes to worry about, no kids fighting with each other, no husband getting annoyed by the kids fighting with each other..sigh, yes it was amazing, I can't wait to do it again!
