On Saturday, we started our St. George trip by flying into Las Vegas. We took an afternoon flight and arrived in Las Vegas late in the afternoon. The flight was bumpy and Sue had technical issues with her computer and her phone, but other than that, the flight was uneventful. By the time we deplaned, got to the rental car company and checked into the hotel it was 6ish. The temps were still in the low 100’s, but it is a dry heat…

We stayed at New York New York because we are both from the real New York (only I am from the real New York; Steven grew up in what I consider Canada–that is, north of the Bronx) and what says real New York than one weirdly constructed casino in the middle of the desert? We survived the usual up sell on the room size and paid the mandatory “resort fee” and were assigned room 813.

Sue and I are planning on doing some hiking, and it was a good thing we were ready because it was a significant walk to get to the elevators. Once off the elevators on the 8th floor, it was another 132 steps to get to our room. The distance to the elevators is a double-edged sword; sure we needed to plan for a snack midway, but on the bright side, we were so far a the end of the maze that they called a hallway, we had virtually no one making noise.

We settled in for a few minutes and then headed out for dinner. We had decided to go to Chinatown and found a great noodle place called Mian. Sue had warm noodles with egg, vegetables and broth, which she ordered medium spicy. I had cold noodles with beef, which I ordered a little more spicy than mild. They were both delicious. Sue’s was a bit too spicy for me, and mine was as spicy as I get in Chicago when I order medium spicy. They served a delicious drink which was cold sweetened mung bean soup. It had a very mild sweet flavor and really worked to dampen down the spiciness of our food.

After dinner we wandered over a block or so to the Golden Tiki. It was just what you would expect in a tiki bar. The DJ was playing ’50s, ’60s and early ’70s hits. The TV on the bar was playing clips from old Hawaiian movies and the atmosphere was a cross between pirate nautical and advanced kitsch. What more could you ask?

Sue had a flaming rum drink called a Dragon’s Breath; I had what is normally called a Singapore sling, but they called it something else. We had a perfectly enjoyable time and after a couple of hours we headed back to the hotel for the night.

A great start to our vacation and tomorrow we will head to St. George.