On the road: Viva Las Vegas

The fact that I've been to Las Vegas a zillion times works in my favor. Vacations always should be one thing; fun. The definition of fun varies with the user. I can define fun in different ways, but for this trip with my nearly four year old daughter, husband, and mother, it was all about "relax and get warm." For many people, the temptation to "do" Vegas is 24 hour pursuit. The glitz and glamor, lack of clocks, aromatherapy, and psychology of the place can convince a person never to slow down. Slowing down, though, is what vacation is for me. Because we've BTDT, it's a relaxing place full of every option. Heck, even the busy preschooler was able to lounge for four hours by the pool! Now that's a vacation - especially when we heard we missed snow and a wind storm at home.

What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas, or so the story goes. Well they can have their sins. While I partake in several (alcohol, gambling) the nudy cards on the streets and such can stay there. This is where bringing a child gets interesting. Up until a few years ago, Vegas was trying hard to promote this image of being a "family friendly destination." Yeah, right. It is sin city and shall always be. But for the half price airfare that we got through Southwest and a cheap room with my player's card discount at the Flamingo Hilton, the destination is just right for a quick and warm get away. We decided, though, that the destination is probably not a place to bring our little one back to for a long while -- perhaps until she's 21. She's becoming a little too aware of her surroundings!

While we tried to skirt carefully around the "sins" of the place, we did not shy away from the great food. In fact, we bellied up cheerfully for that! We greatly enjoyed the Carnaval Buffet at the Rio for a fabulous dinner (with a discount coupon from our hotel stay as well), while the Harrah's breakfast buffet was just passable. My daughter discovered that she can pack away the fresh fruit and desserts. She quickly added the concept of "buffet" to her working vocabulary! We always enjoy a theme meal of cheeseburgers in paradise along with appropriate frozen concoctions at Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville (Flamingo), and our daughter asks to go to Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill (Caesars) for the delectable blueberry coffeecake served during brunch. I have to hand it to her; she has remarkable taste for a little kid. The food at Mesa Grill is amazing; layers of flavors accented with the most delicately chosen chili peppers. It is exquisite service and great tastes that just don't end or fail to surprise. We also discovered a new restaurant quite worthy of a mention. Lombardi's in the Planet Hollywood Miracle Mile mall (formerly Aladdin), had exceptional service and great quality Italian food. Italian food can be either run-of-the-mill (Batista's Hole in the Wall) or something special like Lombardi's. We had a pleasant dining experience, and enjoyed dining "al fresco" by the show fountain. Go to Lombardi's - neither the food nor service will disappoint. They also happily catered to the child.

While we do enjoy our meals (and cocktails, but that goes without saying), we also enjoy other activities that Vegas has to offer. We did our share of gambling, usually taking turns while the little one took a nap, we also seek out the free. The malls of Caesars and Planet Hollywood are our favorites to browse, and promise hours of entertainment that costs whatever you want it to. Also, this trip we actually paid the $15 per adult to go to the Secret Gardens of Sigfried and Roy at the Mirage. This was worth every penny. You can spend as long as you like watching the dolphins in pools that you can walk right up to, view them from under the water, visit the exotic lions and tigers oh my!, and bask in the warm sun at the same time. The four year old was enthralled, and the adults got their sun. These are the best odds in Vegas. The pool at our hotel is a terrific feature of the hotel, but was not heated so was fairly chilly when we were there the end of March. This didn't stop us from lounging and splashing in the shallow parts. There's also a 2-for-1 happy hour every afternoon that includes all poolside drinks!

While my husband and I are always anxious for our next trip to Vegas, we will probably opt to leave the little one with suitable caregivers and make the journey ourselves. We might take in another show (we've done several on past trips). We think we'd like to see Wayne Brady. As for the daughter, she's starting to catch on to her environment, and now recites the names of slot machines on site. Good parenting? Well, there could be worse things. At least she's cultured. So we should perhaps balance this out and make our next trip to Disneyland? Nah...why be so traditional. Just because it has the word "Disney" doesn't mean it's the only place to take a kid.

We're off to the Florida Keys in early July. I'm working on planning both kid and adult activities, and, of course, a whole lot of nothing but beach and pool time! And a round of frozen concoctions with that -- after all, we'll be in Jimmy Buffet heaven: home of the original Margaritaville. Stay tuned!