Summer Fun in Las Vegas

 Our favorite slot machine. Looks like we have a spin coming.

 Japanese hot pot at Swish...a tradition. I think Dawn's mom even enjoyed it

 Secret Pizza at the Cosmopolitan. Great pizza that's very hard to find without directions. Loved the pizza didn't care for the casino.

 Eggs Benedict at Mon Ami Gabi. My Dad finally got me to try this restaurant and now i see why they walk down for breakfast often. Good food and great atmosphere.

 Another good meal at Public house. These are the Crispy Frog Legs. This was my first time for frog legs. Tasted basically like small chicken wings. The way they were cooked and the sauce are what made this dish.

 More Public House pics. At the top is Grilled Octopus. It was good. Tender with a slightly charred flavor .Below that is an order of Poutine...best fries ever! On the bottom is a chicken sandwich on a pretzel roll. It was quite tasty altho i thought the chicken was a bit on the dry side.

 Checking out at the Palazzo...leaving always sucks

 dorks

 Between the Venetian and Palazzo

 Dinner at Aquaknox. One of, if not the best meal I've ever had. Amazing food. Above is the lobster bisque. Probably the best soup I've tasted. It was rich and creamy with a great lobster flavor with chunks of Maine lobster, caviar and crem fraiche.

 Dawn and her mom enjoying a fabulous meal.

 Dawn and Carol tried the surf and turf. It was half a crab stuffed Maine lobster and a prime filet on potato puree with madeira mustard reduction. She said it was the best steak she's ever had and after the bite i had, i would have to agree. Melt in your mouth goodness.

 I had Chef Moloney's Fish Soup. It had Maine lobster, John Dory, mussels, clams, prawns and couscous in a tomato-saffron broth. Everything was so tender and flavorful. You can defiantly tell when you're dealing with fresh seafood. Aquaknox has all theirs flown in daily.

 Seafood Trio appetizer. It was lobster, shrimp and crab. Good stuff.

We took the kids to Max Brenner for some fondue and chocolate syringes. They liked roasting the marshmallows and dipping in chocolate. I had a pizza that was surprisingly good. Dawn had a sundae and her mom a banana waffle thing.

Another trip to vegas in in the books. This time we drove down with Dawns mom and met my parents down there. The Palazzo and Rio were our hotels. Rio was nice but kind of out of the way. Palazzo was great. Huge rooms just like the Venetian. We crammed allot into this trip. Lots of good eats, shopping, swimming, gambling and just wondering around. We even managed to get desert from Delmonico. I thought the banana cream pie was my fav but i think his pecan pie has taken over that spot.  Whole Foods was fun to check out. I even managed to get some cheese home. No easy task with the temps topping out around 110. I think the highlight of the trip was Aquaknox..we will defiantly be going back. Another great trip and i can't wait for the next one!



Seattle

 Rialto beach on the Olympic Peninsula. It was a bit of a drive and involved a ferry ride but very worth it. Rialto is a great, wild looking beach. Huge trees everywhere and islands just off the coast. Brady and Kristi even found some tide pools. 

 Love this shot

 The best Beach cookout ever!

 Everything was so good. i cooked up some clams we had bought at pikes market. Mom and Dawn Cooked shrimp and roasted garlic over the campfire. We had a nice selection of cheese (Humboldt Fog, Fromager d'Affinois, and some good cheddar.) Mom picked up some good spreads, chips, bread and fresh mozzarella at DeLaurenti and we had some ham, Salami from Salumi and a couple other items. I'm really amazed how good everything was.

 Kids having fun looking for shells

 Old Man of the Woods

 Everything is so green and lush. This area gets the most rainfall in the United States.

 The whole crew

 We took in the King Tut exhibit at the Pacific Science Center. Supposedly this is the last time Egypt is going to let these artifacts leave their country. It was really something to see. So much history and most of the artifacts look almost new.

 Lunch at Ivers. Michael is a clam eating machine. He sucked down one of my oysters too.

 There was a folk life festival going on outside the science center. Brady and Kristi tried some Kenyan food. It looked so good i had to get one. I think it was called samosa.

 Pikes Market is so fun to browse through.

 This is where Andrew Zimmern tried the Filipino soup in Pikes Market. The lady that owns the booth and served Zimmern was super nice.

 This is the soup (Salmon Sinigang) Its made from salmon collars and has a slightly sour flavor. I loved it.

Dawn eating some awesome fried shrimp at the market.

Our semi annual trip to Seattle is always a blast. So much good food and tons to do. We had sushi at our favorite sushi restaurant, some good seafood and a killer beach cookout. Embassy Suits was nice as always(you cant beat the free breakfast). The last night we switched to the Doubletree. I think I like it better. Might have to stay there next time. We found a really good Vietnamese restraunt in the mall by our hotel. Probably the best Pho I'v had.  I can't wait to do it all again!

Las Vegas NASCAR 2012

 Pho at Treasure Island. It was good but I've had better

 These next 5 pictures are from Public House at the Venetian. Its quickly become one of our favorites. This is the Poutine. It consists of Fries, duck confit, cheese curds and gravy. Very, very good!

 These are by far the best fried oysters I've had. They are in foie gras with golder raisins and cider gastrique

 Foie Gras Parfait,and Jamon Serrano I wanted to try foie gras so this seemed like a good dish. It wasn't what i was expecting. The Foie just disappears in your mouth and has a slight cheesy flavor. I would get it again. The ham was good too.

How can you go wrong with raw oysters? Not as good as PJ Clarks but still tasty. 

 Roasted Bone Marrow with bacon marmalade. Kind of gross looking but really good. Fatty, beefy goodness.

 We had breakfast one morning at Morels at Palazzo with mom and dad. This was Dawns Banana and Marscapone stuffed french toast. Sure looks good. I had the Croque Madame. It was outstanding.

 Fondue at Max Brenner

 Dinner at Delmonico. One of the better meals we've had. My Rib Eye steak was outstanding but a little pricey ($64) Dawn had the Fillet and said it was good. For appetizers Dawn had Gumbo and i had Lobster Bisque. Both were good but i liked her gumbo more...it was killer.

 Another app we had....Escargot. I thought it was good but Dawn didn't care for it. The snails were a little on the big side for her.

 Nice views and unexpected sights in Vegas

 We ventured Downtown for the first time in along time. It was fun.

 Shabu Shabu and Sukiyaki at our favorite Vegas restaurant..Swish. It takes a car to get to but is worth it. We make sure to eat here at least once every trip.

 Mom and Dad even tried out chopsticks.

 The race was fun as usual even tho Gordon didn't have the best race. Oh well, there's always next year.

You just can't beat Las Vegas for a quick trip...great eating, good drinking and enough to do to keep everyone happy. We stayed at the Venetian for the first time and i don't think we'll be staying anywhere else in the future. The rooms are unbelievable. Sunken living room, huge bathroom and 3 flat screens.

We hit up the oyster happy hour at PJ Clarks. Dollar oysters, can't beat that. Really good too. We will defiantly be going back(try Kusshi oysters if you ever get the chance). Had my favorite Thai soup while we were down there too. All in all a GREAT trip.