A Food Truck and a Speakeasy

 Las Vegas, NV

The Cherry Blossoms are in full bloom at The Bellagio Conservatory

Eating at a Food Truck Inside a Casino

Today we headed back to Park MGM to eat at The Chef Food Truck I talked about in this post.  Our adventure started on The Deuce by using our transit passes.  Our passes are just about paid for now and all of our other rides will be gravy.  

We went straight to The Chef Truck and Donna ordered while I took photos

They have a pretty big eating area behind the truck

We split a Pork Sandwich and a Molten Chocolate Cake.  They were both delicious and the cake is probably a best value for here so far.

On the way to the restroom we stopped to point at the oval sportsball.  There is some sort of sportsball thingy going on here soon.

Exploring The Cosmo

Our next stop was The Cosmo which is a short walk from Park MGM or we could have taken the free sky shuttle.  We weren't sure the shuttle stopped there so we walked and found out later we could have taken the shuttle.  No biggie, we have taken the shuttle before and we will take it again for sure.

Many of the casinos have Lunar New Year decorations up.  This dragon on the way to The Cosmo was very cool.

Check out these Balenciaga Sneakers!  They don't look like they cost $1150 but they do.  You can jump off The Strat about 8.5 times for that price.

Hand polished butt

We got to our next stop early so I took a photo and we continued to explore

The Bellagio

We walked all the way out of the back of The Cosmo and into The Bellagio to see what's new there while we killed time until our next stop opened.

Mirror selfie!

I saw this awesome super sportsball rhinestone jacket.

The chocolate fountain was flowing

Our walk took us to the Bellagio Conservancy of Flowers so we checked it out.  They are also doing a Lunar New Year celebration.  It was really pretty as always.

The Dragon was chasing a giant pearl

And the Money Tree was in full bloom

They even had fake incense burning.

The Ski Lodge

Our final stop of the day (not including the bus ride back) was The Ski Lodge which is a speakeasy in The Cosmo.  We arrived right at 2pm but the door was still locked and closed so we took a seat and gave them some time.  Their website said it opens at 2pm but Google said 4pm so there was some question as to what time it opened.  At 2:15 we walked back to the door to try it just as a worker opened it and welcomed us in.  The décor is awesome and they were pumping 80s music.  

The snow was piling up outside the window.

They had a huge penguin collection.

I got a delicious Old Fashion variation

And Donna got a delicious Martini with Wasabi infused Gin.  It was incredible.

We also split a fantastic Pistachio Mortadella Pizza.  I was intrigued but skeptical when Donna chose it but she knew what she was doing.  It was amazing.

The great bartender caught me snapping his photo.  We walked and got some good intel from him on other stops we should make while we are here.  We also sent him to Stray Pirate.  He wasn't aware of it.

I took one more photo of my cocktail for social media before finishing it.

Donna said she would have a little of another cocktail if I ordered one so I did.  This is the Soy Soy Good.  It's another whiskey based cocktail with a sweet apple finish.  Donna and I debated about what the garnish might be.

I confirmed it was a slice of daikon radish.

On the way out we explored a bit more of The Cosmopolitan Casino.  Our bus stop was out front and across the street so we didn't have a long way to go.

The Ski Lodge is associated with Superfrico

The lobby has large columns with video screens.  Right now they are displaying books but I assume they can do other things.

There are old school cigarette machines around town.  They are converted to art dispensers and they are usually empty.  We found one that had just been filled so Donna made her choice.

Her box contained an artsy jar opener.  

I took this photo for my Lebowski facebook group.  "I'm just going to go find a cash machine."

More oval sportsball advertising.  I guess a few people are coming to watch it.

That's it for today.  If you missed, Exploring More Local Casinos, check it out.

Christmas Cocktails and a Pinball Speakeasy

 Scottsdale, AZ

The Pink Dolphin

Today we headed over to the newly opened Global Ambassador Hotel in Scottsdale.  It's a new really fancy hotel with a couple cool bars.  We both wanted to celebrate the Christmas season by visiting a festive hotel and bar.  Instead we had amazing drinks at a poolside bar called The Pink Dolphin.  The hotel wasn't very festive and the bar we had intended on going to didn't look that fun.  The Pink Dolphin delivered on drinks, atmosphere, and service.  We had a great time.

The bar was right next to the pool and had inside and outside seating.  We sat outside facing inside.

It really felt like a Vegas Bar.

Donna ordered a drink and it ended up being a frozen drink.  It was fantastic despite it's frozenness.  A bit later we asked the bartender what the other frozen drink was and she gave us a sample.  It was also fantastic.  

We bought Tajin Fries and they were great.

Since we were by the pool, everything was served in plastic cups but they were very fancy plastic cups.

Donna couldn't wait for the photo to be taken.

My drink was pink too and it was a really good drink.

After our drink and snacks we walked around the hotel a bit.  Rooms are like $500 a night so we shan't be staying there.

A Pinball Speakeasy

Later in the evening I went to Stardust Pinbar for some pinball.  Yesterday my sister asked if I ever get bored because I have no schedule or deadlines to meet (you know because it used to be all work work work) and I said no, I make my own silly goals and try to drive them forward each day.  Pinball is one of my goals (it isn't a silly one) and I wanted to get some of the Stern Insider Badges that expire at the end of the night (this, I admit, is a somewhat silly goal).  I headed over just before 7pm (later than I normally play) because one of the badges was Play James Bond 007 after 7pm.  

I snapped this cool Prince mural on the way over

The pinbar is behind a refrigerator door in the back of a pizza parlor.  I had to look twice to make sure I was going the right direction.

The machines played really well.  They were more expensive than normal, $1 each play vs. 3 plays for $2.

The murals on the wall are cool.

Both Godzilla and Foo Fighters had a free game on them so I played them.  I ended up winning 5 more games on Foo Fighters.  Replay scores were pretty low.  I was mostly there to play James Bond 007 and Venom for the badges.

I got the 007 badges I set out to get and one of the Venom badges.  I have until the end of the year to get the other Venom badges and they are all based on cumulative score between now and the end of the year.  

Tomorrow, Saturday, and Sunday I play in pinball tournaments.  They should be pretty fun.  I hope to replace some of my lower scoring tournaments.  My IFPA ranking is based on the 20 highest scoring tournaments played in the past 12 months.  I just hit 20 tournaments so now the really bad ones get replaced as I finish higher in the tournaments.

Right now I am 4764th in "The World" but I have a few real stinkers at the bottom (one I didn't even play in so I got last place).  As I replace those with better results my score will go up.  It's dumb but fun.  

That's it for today.  If you missed Another Day, Another Pinball Trophy, check it out.  I won another pinball trophy!