Today has been a long day. The first day back to work after a quick vacation always is though! So where did we go?… Vegas of course! 
So why is this our favorite go to vacation spot? 1. Quick easy travel, 2. Lots and lots to do, 3. It’s always changing. 4. The weather is awesome! January in Vegas means weather that equates to a Michigan Spring. 40°F at night, 70°F during the day. Perfect temps when it’s 20°F at home lol! We found ourselves in a position for a quick trip the garden center was closed to allow the floor epoxy to cure, and the winter weather was due to hold off outside of a small dusting of snow on one of the nights we we’re gone. Nothing that our trusty team couldn’t handle. This was however a Very last minute decision. Like we decided Thursday afternoon that we were leaving on Saturday morning! 😱😬😆 So hotel options were limited and we weren’t trying to break the bank on this quick get away. So we chose to stay at the Monte Carlo Casino Hotel which had great rates as the direct result of their current renovation construction situation. More on that in a bit. We actually stayed at the Monte Carlo before, and had a really enjoyable stay. We upgraded that trip to stay in the Monaco Suite, and although dated it was a large comfortable room with a great view. I can’t find my pics from this trip so attached is a photo from the web. But it looked just like this. 
Our room this time was supposed to be a King room, non-smoking. Nothing fancy, but it will get the job done for a quick visit. However, our flight landed at 7:40am and we arrived at the hotel around 8:30am we didn’t expect a room to be immediately available but we were informed that housekeeping doesn’t even arrive for the day until 9 a.m. and it would likely be at least 11 before room would be available. Which is no problem but at 11:30 we stopped back again because we had not received any information that our room was ready only to find it still was not ready and we would be reassigned to a new room that was available. Sounds great right?! Upon arriving to the room we found that it was in fact a double room non-smoking at the very far end of the hallway across from a storage room, and construction directly below and above us. 
The room was dated and I can see why they are working on a major renovation. Aside from the obvious issues, we left and returned to our room to the overwhelming stench of marijuana in the hallway and in our room. We were able to crack open the window and air it out but this unfortunately would be an ongoing problem over the course of the weekend. Once the window was open we were also subject to the very loud construction noise as well. Outside of these issues, our safe did not work, no coffee maker in the room, and the maid service did not empty or clean the ice bucket during the duration of our stay… Luckily we don’t spend much time in our room. We went to some of our favorite spots including the Toby Keith Bar, and the Dueling Piano bar at Harrah’s Casino. But we also stopped by a few new spots like Carnival Court Bar for some live music, and lunch at the Budweiser Beer Park, great food, a super fun atmosphere, and an amazing view. The trifecta in Vegas! 
Outside of these spots we had a nice dinner out, I’ll do a full review on that later, and we went to the newly opened Zak Bagan’s Haunted Museum. In case you are not familiar, Zak Bagan’s is on a television show called Ghost Adventures, I will also tell you about the museum a little more in a later post as well. Overall the weather was perfect, great food, fabulous entertainment, and now a return to the frozen north in time to enjoy the polar vortex…insert sarcastic “Yaaaay…!” 😕 So I think that’s about it. I will say I look forward to returning to Monte Carlo post renovation I think it will be a welcomed upgrade. Keep an eye out for more info in the next day or so on the museum and that fabulous dinner out! Happy travels we’ll talk soon! Bye!
Barnwood and Baked Goods 