Las Vegas: Sin City for the Tame at Heart

Las Vegas-not one of my favorite places. That being said up front, I will admit to having a pretty darn nice time there starting Christmas Day and leaving before the New Year's Eve crowd began piling into the town to "party-hearty". We were there to celebrate my husband's 50th birthday. I wanted to throw him a moderately-sized soiree. But, it was his monumentous occasion, so four days in Vegas with our adult children it would be!

By the way, we don't gamble or drink.

This crowd was the two of us, our son-in-law with our very pregnant daughter and our son, a 22 year old college senior. Quite a group-I am just literally getting back on my "feet" after a severely broken foot.

What were 5 semi-functioning adults going to do for fun?

Here it is: We shopped til we dropped. We ate til we popped. Vegas has become quite the mecca for outlet malls. In the actual city, we visited the "premium outlet" mall which had over 150 stores and it is expanding. We also went to the older outlet area which also has over 130 venues. The strip has numerous hotels with high-end shopping and lifelike statues that provide you with entertainment as you stroll the premises. There is also a shuttle available to take heavy-duty spenders to the outlet center by stateline. May I remind you that we were there for the after-Christmas sales?

So we shopped.

We also tried some very nice restaurants. Vegas has really become quite the foodie destination. Many celebrity chefs have opened up some really nice places. Too bad we can't afford to visit those, but if you've ever watched the Food Network, you can taste the foods of Bobby Flay, Emeril, the Too Hot Tamales and many more.

Our tastes are up there, but our budgets were not, but we did find some get places! For breakfast, we took the advice of Penn Gillette (the quiet half of Penn and Teller). He suggested "the Hash House". A cute family run place in strip mall with great service, great food and even better prices. Oh yes, and my son-in-law and I fell in love with their homemade jalapeno jelly and jam. Their berry preserves were terrific as well. Penn said not to confuse this place with "Hash House a go-go". We had found that place last year and took "the kids" there our first morning. It's also quite good. Huge portions, more upscale and prices were about double. We actually loved Penn's suggestion and will probably make it a destination spot next winter.

Thanks to our daughter who told us about the 1/2 price tix booth in the Fashion Show Mall, we were able to try a Pampas-a Brazilian restaurant for obviously half price. This was my husband's main choice for his big birthday celebration. We also bought show tickets for 1/2 off as well.

There you have it-Las Vegas. We didn't drink, we didn't lose money, but all of us still had a wonderful four days walking, talking, shopping and eating. Oh, I did lose one thing: my favorite black suede gloves. Too bad. I guess I'll really have to go back and buy myself a new pair!

Carine Nadel is always willing to try and write about new/re-visited venues. To read more of what interests her, log onto: www.Carine-whatscooking.blogspot.com or www.fabulously40.com