Last Day on the Vegas Strip

The strip is all lit up, as usual, and ready to go! Gotta get out there and get some photos for your viewing pleasure.

My self-imposed exile in my swanky hotel room will come to an end today, as we have dinner plans at Giada Restaurant by celebrity chef Giada De Laurentiis inside the Cromwell Hotel, which just happens to have craps tables with the best odds in Vegas. Solid plan.

There is a lot to do in this town but I'm just not feeling it on this trip. If you read my last posts, I've been to Vegas a lot, mostly work-related (previous life) and the glitter has worn thin for me. But I do need to eat and a walk around the town is always a great idea. Let's start with Giada Restaurant.

The interior of Giada Restaurant on the second floor of the Hotel Cromwell is modern yet calming, done in mostly neutral colors. Ask for a window seat if you’d like to see the Bellagio fountain display during dinner.

Upon entering you are greeted with a large shiny counter with a huge seafood display and a pasta drying machine. I already know what I'm having for dinner! The interior is casual but elegant, done mostly in neutral tones with lots of interesting artwork and artifacts. Time to take a seat and check out the menu.

Wine and incredible bread with an assortment of toppings, chicken marsala meatballs with blistered cherry tomatoes, and a salad of radicchio, kale, red endive, walnuts & gorgonzola dolce dressing. Plus a few prosciutto rosettes just to show off. All were off the charts.

The menu is great even through she tells you how to pronounce all the pasta with an Italian accent which is kind of annoying. We start with wine, bread, some chicken marsala meatballs and a tricolore salad all pictured above and EVERYTHING is excellent! Now what about that pasta/seafood thing? Time to get on that.

Our shared pasta course of spaghetti with shrimp in a delicate cheese and lemon sauce, cooked to perfection.

Since I must have pasta, we decide to share the Spaghetti (Spah~geh~tee) with shrimp, mascarpone cheese, lemon & basil. I copied that off the menu so you can see the phonetics involved, apparently she really wants you to say it properly. That's fine. This pasta is cooked and dressed perfectly, as are the shrimp. Our waiter expertly twists us each up a plate and we savor every bite!

Believe it or not, we are full and opt out of a main course and even dessert, which is shocking in hindsight, but we have been on the road a bit and eating a lot of restaurant food lately. I highly recommend Giada Restaurant. Here are a few more pictures of the food display in the entrance. I don't think these are for sale, it's more of an ingredient assortment, and everything looks amazing and best quality.

Total deliciousness on display at the entry of Giada Restaurant in Las Vegas. I’d go there again today.

Well it's time to walk off that food but not before a quick stop at the craps tables in the Cromwell. I'm feeling particularly lazy so I go for the electric poker machine and an after dinner drink while Bob checks out the casino. It takes me exactly one cocktail to lose $20, funny how that works! Bob meets me right on time and just isn't feeling the vibe here, so we're gonna stroll the Las Vegas strip.

Mama didn’t strike it rich on the electronic poker machine, so I’ll have to keep my day job. Oh well.

We head out into the crisp Las Vegas air (mid 60's, can't complain) and I start snapping photos. There's a lot to look at. Please excuse this very long slide show.

Views from up and down the Vegas strip. So much to see and do!

Tomorrow we head to Park City and then home. Look, Vegas is a bucket list destination, especially if you like to gamble a little, but there is more to do, including shopping (not my fave), amusement attractions (also not my fave), dining (totally my fave) and shows. Everybody should go once, especially when it's warmer. Thanks for reading along, more adventures to come!