Day 5-All CA students must be vaccinated
Top of the World Restaurant, at The Stratosphere Casino - Vegas, NV…
The Stratosphere Casino…
10/5/21. Tuesday
8:00-8:30 – I’m up and I go downstairs to greet the animal. I won’t see her for the next four days – I hope L. takes good care of her. Dogfood and water bowl are filled and I cut up several pieces of cheese for her treats – L. doesn’t have to do any maintenance while I’m gone. The dog rolls over on her back and I sit next to her and rub her tummy for some time. L.’s schedule is so crazy, the dog will be alone much of this week and I know L. won’t take her for any walks. I’m a little concerned, but I know that L. loves her, too…she just doesn’t put in the time and effort that I put in.
Outside and I wait for the dog to go potty, then return inside: cheese for her, coffee for me.
8:30-9:00 – I close the doggy door and return outside so I can water all of my plants. If the dog is with me, she plays in the water and digs in the mud - it’s a big mess!
9:00-10:30 – Shower. Spa Day. I insert a Crest strip, Ped-Egg my heels, and touch up my toenail polish. Full make-up. When I was in my 30s, I could get ready in 30 minutes…now, in my 50s, it takes hours just to look presentable (sigh). I pack the last of my toiletries, grab my suitcase, and go downstairs.
10:30-11:00 – I take my lunch bag out of the fridge and set it on the counter as a reminder, then enter my office and check the Canvas shell for my highschoolers to make sure course content is ready for tomorrow and Friday.
11:00 – 3:00 – B. arrives and we leave for VEGAS, BABY!!!
Driving.
Around 11:30, we stop at Arbys so B. can order a disgusting, processed, mystery-meat hamburger and drink an aspartame-laden soda AND so I can order a GMO, non-organic, limp salad and water. Although I eat the salad, it’s gross – I don’t bother to use the dressing packet.
Back on the road. Traffic is light. Nobody comes to Vegas on a Tuesday, thank God.
3:00 – 5:00 – Arrive at the Las Vegas Hilton Grand Vacations!! B. booked another time share presentation here and got an excellent deal on a 3-night/4-day package. For this time share, we get to use valet. I travel extremely light, so I take my suitcase with me – the bellhop says he’ll bring B.’s luggage to our room when we call him. After two escalator rides, we reach the lobby and it’s very beautiful…floor to ceiling windows looking out on a pristine pool (Ahoy! One bar spotted at the north end, near the Jacuzzi! – ok, I’m good). The weather is perfect.
Everyone, and I do mean EVERYONE, is masked. I was just here, in July, with my family [Mom, brother, sister-in-law, L.] and almost nobody masked. This was during the “2-week interval” [and I’m being sarcastic] between the vaccine rollout and Delta, when “Rochelle” [CDC] announced to the American people, “Ok, you can take off your masks”, then told us “an hour” later, “Ok, put your masks back on.” Even though L. and I are vaccinated, we NEVER stopped masking, along with ALL casino employees. HOWEVER, once filthy tourists crossed the Nevada state line, or landed at the ‘Wayne Newton Airport’, they threw caution to the wind and ditched their masks so they could cough, sneeze, and vomit all over the rest of us.
That’s over now. There are signs posted everywhere that ALL patrons inside this hotel MUST mask. It is so refreshing.
B. and I stand in line for check in and a Time Share representative briefly stops us to make sure B. is registered for the tour. Strangely, the representative says there is no listing of B. or our reservation, but B. has all of his paperwork – of course there’s a confirmation. He apologizes and then says B. IS on the list. After we check in, the same representative stops us again and asks B. his name. I said, “You just spoke with us 10 minutes ago – you already confirmed that he’s scheduled for the tour.” BUT, he says he needs B.’s name again. I don’t get this and it’s irritating. The representative looks and talks like he might be “special needs” OR maybe he’s just stupid.
We finally extricate ourselves from this idiot and make our way to the elevators – our hotel room is on the 29th floor. We arrive, enter, and the hotel suite is…beautiful! The view is absolutely breathtaking and the suite is huge, with a full kitchen, coffee maker, and dishes. I love it!
We call the Bellhop and he arrives with B.’s luggage, right on time. I crack two “Grapefruit-Rose Wine Spritzers” that I packed, find two wine glasses in the cupboard, and B. and I toast from the couch as we put our feet up and look out the window. I could sit here for hours, but we better motor if we’re going to make our 7:00 p.m. dinner reservations at the Top of the World Restaurant, at the Stratosphere Casino.
5:00-6:00 – The “Strat” has a dress code, so I change into a dress and touch-up my make-up. We go downstairs to the Uber/Lyft area and B. calls an Uber – it arrives within minutes.
6:00-7:00 – Traffic is somewhat heavy, surprisingly, and it takes a considerable amount of time to make our way across Vegas. Somehow, I’d forgotten that the beautiful Stratosphere Hotel is smack in the middle of the slums, to include actual run-down homes, on the Strip! Our Uber driver warns us NEVER to walk in this neighborhood as we’ll be mugged for sure.
7:00-10:00 - Once we get past the graffiti, the sex workers, and two black men doing a drug deal on their porch, everything is great! We have to enter through the lobby and walk through the entire casino, in our search for the restaurant – I smell marijuana everywhere, both outside AND inside the casino. It takes some time to find Top of the World [see Chevy Chase and family in Vegas Vacation], but we eventually get there.
A fat, obese, security guard who can barely move – one of his buttons popped off his uniform - “greets” us by searching my bag and making us walk through a metal detector. He immediately confiscates B.’s pocket knife. Note: B. and I will forget that he checked his knife, only to remember the next day, when B. will have to retrieve it. Then, we’re escorted to the elevators, which will take us to The Top of the World.
I’m afraid of heights and I pray that I don’t have a panic attack in the elevator. For context, The Top of the World, is 800 feet!! above Vegas. I’m so relieved that an employee is manning the elevator – there are only four of us inside, five if you include the employee – and she talks the entire time, which takes my mind off the fact that we’re traveling 800 feet above Vegas. It’s about a 2-minute ride and very manageable.
B. made the reservations and I guess he told them it was his birthday, because staff repeatedly tell B. “Happy Birthday” the rest of the night. We’re a tad early, so we settle in at the bar and order a round – “Chandon Brut” for me and B. gets…something?? We’ve barely sipped our drinks, when it’s time to be seated. It’s B.’s birthday tomorrow, so I pick up the bar tab. [cha ching :-) ].
There’s a bit of a snafu as we’re being led to our table…B. booked a window seat, but the hostess seats us in the middle of the restaurant. I want that window seat and so does B! He pulls out his paperwork and shows the hostess that he did, in fact, book a window seat. We’re led to an out-of-the way area and told to “sit here” while they figure it out. Ten minutes later, we are seated at the most amazing table, where we can see ALL of Vegas!! Did I mention this is a revolving restaurant? This is easily one of my Top-10 Favorite restaurant experiences of all time.
B. splits a salad with me and I order the Seared Sea Bass and a side order of the Mac and Cheese [carmelized spring onion, Fontina cheese, and Cheddar cheese – OMG!!] Just as I’m about to order another Chandon, I knock my glass of champagne over…and I’m not even intoxicated! (j/k) There is almost nothing left in the glass anyway, but the waiter whisks away my dishes and cleans the space. I cheerfully say, “Well, I’ll have another” and he brings a second glass promptly. Note: When I check the bill, I see that I’m NOT charged for that second glass. How nice!
B. orders…some sort of meat entree???...and proclaims it a “great cut”…possibly better than the entrée he had at Meat on Ocean, where I treated him for Fathers’ Day. And Meat on Ocean specializes in meat, as evidenced by the title. This means Top of the World’s menu is top-notch!
Dessert is comped because it’s B.’s birthday and is a vanilla-bean ice cream and chocolate compilation – very, very good!
It’s B.’s birthday tomorrow, so I pick up the tab [cha ching :-) ]. A wonderful dining experience AND I have lots of leftovers that I can store in our suite refrigerator.
10:00-11:00 – We take the elevator down to the bottom of the restaurant and walk through the casino again – more marijuana – to Valet. B. requests an Uber and the driver arrives promptly and takes us back to the Hilton. Traffic is still congested so it takes some time, but is very reasonable.
11:00-12:00 – Back at our hotel room and it’s cocktail hour! B. and I unwind with a couple of glasses from the bottle of champagne that I packed. Then, nighttime routine. Bed. A great day!!