Las Vegas and Laughlin

The hubz and I recently did a road trip from San Diego to Laughlin, NV then on to Vegas and back home.  My husband had some business to attend to in Laughlin, so Bamboo and I hung out at the Harrah's (dog friendly rooms available for $30 extra) and did a little sleeping in to prepare ourselves for a wild time in Vegas.  Harrah's was much nicer than I expected and you can't beat the price.  Bamboo made this postcard of herself as a souvenir (it's hard to write with a paw).

Ronda and Chuck

Once my husband was free from his duties we high tailed it to The Colorado Belle to visit Pints Brewery.  Pints is the only brewery in Laughlin and I must admit I didn't expect much.  Wow, was I ever wrong, the beer at Pints is really good.

I was lucky enough to sit next to the head brewery (Chuck) who gave me a tour of his operation and took this sweet picture with me.  He took over the brewing a short time ago and, according to everyone I spoke to, has made a huge impact with his fantastic beer.

The drive from Laughlin to Vegas was much prettier than anticipated.  Before arriving in Las Vegas we took a slight detour to Boulder City and stopped off at Boulder Dam Brewing. This was our second visit to Boulder Dam Brewing and I didn't like it any better the second time around, so that's that.

Howdy partner

Now on to Vegas to celebrate my husband's birthday.  We stayed at the La Quinta South Airport which was a nice hotel that was (most importantly) very clean.  Did you know that La Quinta Inns are all dog friendly and do not charge extra for dogs?

I hadn't been to downtown Vegas in years and it did not disappoint.  If you usually go to the strip, take some time and check out downtown one night.  It's a different sort of freak show than the strip.

Then it was on to the Shelby museum where I bought  took a picture of this car for my husband.  They offer a free tour with a lot of history on Carroll Shelby; if you go during the week you also get to tour the factory.

Remember, I said this was my husband's birthday trip which explains this next picture.  I don't get it.  Gold & Silver Pawn shop home to The History Channel's Pawn Stars.  I'm not a fan, my husband DVRs it.  We are a match made in heaven don't you think?

What's a hungry birthday boy to do for dinner while in Vegas?  Go to The Meatball Spot, of course.  This restaurant is really beautiful on the inside and the husband was happy with his meat filled dinner.  I am happy to say that they offer a vegetarian meatball which was really good.  They also have handmade ice cream sandwiches which made my husband's day.

Birthday surprise time; tickets to see Kevin James.  My husband LOVES Kevin James so when I saw he was going to be doing stand up at the Mirage I knew we had to go.  It was a great show and I really recommend seeing him.  The biggest surprise to me was that his act was family friendly.  I had seen him do stand up on TV before and assumed it was clean because it was for TV.  He will be back at the Mirage in March on a double billing with Ray Romano which would be fun to see.

After the show we stopped by the pub in New York, New York to listen to an Irish band that was surprisingly good.  We spent the rest of the night at the pub and in the casino where I won a whopping $27 at video poker.  Sure, it cost me $30 to win $27, but that's Vegas for you.  We got back to our room at 2:30 a.m. and Bamboo was pretty upset.

On our way home from Vegas we stopped by Alien Fresh Jerky in Baker, CA.  If you have ever made this drive you have seen many signs for Alien Fresh Jerky.  I love tourist traps and this one is awesome.  They have an enormous selection of jerky, olives, hot sauce and alien crap.

All growlers are Bamboo Approved

Closer to home (Redlands) we went to two breweries:  Donkey Punch and Hangar 24.  Donkey Punch was not my favorite (my husband liked the Vanilla Blonde), for my time and money I recommend Hangar 24.  I really enjoy their small batch seasonal beers.  The Tricot is an apricot wheat ale that they only produce for a very short time during the apricot season (they use local volunteers to clean and ready the apricots).  I ordered the sampler and bought my husband a growler of Orange Wheat. They have the most beautiful growlers.

Well, that was enough for a weekend.  See you next time when I check in from Eugene and Portland Oregon.