Wednesday, December 04, 2019

Las Vegas Adventure - Day 1

[Composed 11/26/2019]

Man that flight approach in to Las Vegas is sweet. At first there's nothing but desert. It's like another planet. And then bam! you're over Lake Mead with its beyond perfect blue waters. Then before you know it, you've landed in Sin City. It's all so dramatic.

After getting our luggage and checking into our hotel room we hit up Burnt Offerings, a tasty Kosher restaurant with a menu that can't help but make you chuckle. All the food was good, but it was Shira's burger that was the yummiest part of the meal. And she had it cooked well done no less. Yet, it still beat out any burger in my recent memory. From there, we hit up a specific Smith's Grocery Store that has a Kosher Experience at the front of the store. That gave us access to all sorts of Kosher foodstuffs, which given that we had access to a full kitchen in our suite, was a nice bonus.

Between the restaurant and the supermarket we hit up Springs Preserve, which is a combination museum, gardens and trails. I didn't have high expectations for the Nevada State Museum, but apparently I should have. The museum was quite solid, providing info about the geology, wildlife and history of Nevada. One highlight was a cabinet full of gaming 'cheats' that were previously employed to beat the house. People sure are clever! The fossils on display were also quite epic.

The trails offered at the springs were less impressive. The weather was cold and windy, so that didn't help. But still, there wasn't a whole lot to see on said trails and we could have safely skipped that experience. The cactus garden at the botanic gardens, however, was well done. I'm a sucker for cacti, so seeing such an impressive variety is always going to win me over.

I could see how the Springs would be a great activity for kids, especially those not ready for a full blown trail experience.

The other highlight from our day was grabbing some pics of the Strip at night. The Galaxy S9's night mode vastly simplified this task. In fact, I had to smile at myself for being able to walk up to a scene, snap a photo, and walk away, all while a fellow photographer worked on capturing the same pic using his tripod and DSLR. His pic may be better, but mine certainly got the job done. Truthfully, by then the chilly afternoon had turned into a cold night, so I was glad to be able to snap and run.

The next couple days promise more cold and wet weather. Who comes to Vegas and expects winter conditions?

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