Joey and I have just returned home after a quick jaunt to America. It was Joey’s first time to the states and I made sure to share with him all my American favourites, including Denny’s , cheesecake factory and Walmart.
We spent a few days in Sydney first visiting family and friends and celebrating our wedding from earlier in the year with our nearest and dearest. We had a wonderful dinner at a small restaurant in Roseville. The restaurant is called Basil & Bedlam (the owners also have the restaurant next door called Salt, Pepper, Nutmeg, where I have eaten a few times previously) the menu that everyone got to sample was from the Salt, Pepper Nutmeg restaurant (contact details here). There was so much delicious food. We were more than pleased with our choice, the owners Marion and Peter were very helpful and even the decorations and flowers were included in the cost. If you need an easy option for a function on the North Shore of Sydney, check them out.
Our first stop in America was Las Angeles. We had a looooong Uber drive to our hotel in morning peak hour traffic, and then jumped on a metro train to Universal Studios for the day. A great way to keep the jet lag at bay. Lots of changes since the last time I visited (it’s been about 12 years). Lots of 3D type rides, which had me feeling a bit motion sick after a while! But the Transformers ride was well worth the uncomfortable feeling. And the adults choosing to dress up as Minions kept my mind off the sick feeling for a while.
We then spent the evening walking the Hollywood Walk of Fame and dinner in Downtown LA. The following day was spent at Santa Monica, strolling along the pier and around the shopping district.
Our next stop was fabulous Las Vegas. We got a great deal through the priceline.com website using their Express deals, and managed to steal a few nights at he Cosmopolitan Casino Hotel. It was such a beautiful room, and everywhere we went we would tell them it was our Honeymoon, here this got us a view looking over the Bellagio fountains.
We spent the next 3 days walking everywhere, and if you’ve ever been to Vegas you will know there is plenty of walking around. There are not many places to cross over the strip, so you have to walk to designated overwalks to cross the road, we certainly got some decent steps in over the few days.
We took an Uber out to the Gold & Silver Pawn shop from one of our favourite shows Pawn Stars. We hoped to see some of the guys from the show while we were there, but no such luck, plenty of photo ops with cardboard cut outs though.
After a browse around the outlet mall, we headed away from the touristy spots to a restaurant called Echo and Rig, contact details are here for anyone who wants brilliant service and amazing food at very reasonable prices. Adding a link or recommending specific places is a new thing for Cass & the Country, but when you get such fantastic service, why not?
Joey enjoyed the most amazing 38 ounce (1.1kg ) steak and I had a delicious meal of butter fish. This restaurant was recommended by two random people we had chatted to, the Uber driver from the airport, who definitely looked like he enjoyed his food, and a waiter at another restaurant where we stayed. It is a butcher shop downstairs where you can view all the meat as well as purchase it for your own use, or venture upstairs where the restaurant is. Our waitress Rae was so passionate about her job, having someone who really enjoys their job just adds to the full experience, have I mentioned how AMAZING the food is. A short 15-20 minute drive away from the strip, was definitely worth it.
Continuing on with the food theme, another top spot to visit was a recommendation as well as shouted to us as a Wedding gift from our friends Bee and Mark. The Buffet at the Wynn Casino. Words cannot describe the abundant choice of food. So much to choose from at the 80m + long buffet. Between these two mentioned restaurants, we will definitely be visiting Vegas again (as well as loosening our belts for a while!)
Another highlight of our time in Vegas was our ride on the New York, New York Roller Coaster (last time I visited this city it was closed for maintenance). Gosh we laughed hard, well I screamed more than laughed, and it wasn’t until we arrived home in Sydney and saw on our souvenir photos that the ride actually combines real G forces. Such crazy fun.
The rest of our trip which was all a road trip, will be continued in my next post
#seeyouontheroad
Cass & the Country 