{Friends, Food & Fun} Las Vegas, NV

 Early Tuesday morning, a couple of friends and I hopped on a plane and headed out west for a conference in San Francisco.  Since one of the three of us had never been, we made a quick stop in Las Vegas...25 hours to be exact!

Okay, so that was the l-o-o-o-n-g-e-s-t day ever!

We arrived absolutely STARVING at about 1:00pm local time (4:00pm our time).  We checked in, dropped off our bags, and headed to the closest place that looked fast.  We ended up at Margaritaville for what had to have been the best chips, salsa, guacamole and margaritas we have ever had...seriously, it had been since (an extremely early) breakfast that we had eaten!

We explored a bit, taking in the fountains at the Bellagio, before heading back to our room to get ready for dinner at Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill.

I ordered the Cornbread Crusted Chile Relleno and it was delish!

After dinner, we explored some more, watching the fountains again at night.  In front of the fountains, I racked up some serious "Cool Mommy" points posing with the local Stormtrooper...

Doesn't every city have one of those roaming the streets???

We decided to go back to our hotel for a drink and some late night (our time) snacks.  It was only about 8:30pm local time and we were exhausted!  BUT, we were determined to make the most of our 25 hours...  We ended up at Rao's, which just happens to be a famous little (and I do mean, little) place in New York City.

Once we got our second wind, we headed to PURE, where we ended the night with a little bit of dancing before calling it a night.

Unfortunately, even though it is a fairly famous venue, we had no celebrity sightings.  Ha!

The next morning, we got up and headed over to The Conservatory at The Bellagio.  This was truly a treat as I had not seen it on my last trip to Las Vegas.  We then took a taxi over to The Venetian, which I love, and brunched at Grand Lux Cafe, before heading back over to the airport!

Just a fun girls getaway, on the way to a conference!

{Spring Break} Philadelphia

If Chocolate and Crayons weren't enough, we headed off on another adventure today.  We spent the entire day touring Philadelphia.  My good friend, S, was brave enough to meet us, making the drive over from New York City.  Amazingly, we got to the city within minutes of each other and were able to park side by side in the garage! 

We started our day with a Ride the Ducks tour....the majority of the tour is on land, but a small part is actually on the water!

Before we got started, B got to model for everyone how to properly "quack"!

It was a hit with the little ones and a GREAT way to begin our day. We learned a lot and had fun.  The BEST part was the "splashdown" into the Delaware River!

After our city tour by land and by sea, we made a stop at the Liberty Bell...

before continuing on to our scheduled tour of Independence Hall.

Can you believe that this is where both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were signed?  B thought that it was really cool to be standing in the same building where a few of his beloved Presidents once stood long ago!

About a block from Independence Hall, we found Signers Walk, kind of like a "Hollywood Walk of Fame" for the signers of the Declaration of Independence! 

 

By the end of the tour, it was time for lunch and we (I) decided that we just had to make a stop at Pat's King of Steaks to see where the very first "Philly Cheesesteak" was invented (for those of you wondering, yes...I am still a vegetarian).  You see, I get these crazy ideas in my head and can be pretty darn stubborn about it!

Well, it is a l-o-o-o-o-o-n-g walk from the tourist area of downtown Philadelphia to South Philly where 'ole Pat's is located...  We didn't quite make it there for lunch.  Taking the advice of some locals, we set out for a closer cheesesteak shop, Jim's Steaks, but seeing that the line to get in was wrapped around the corner of the building, we opted for a little place across the street and some REALLY BIG slices of pizza... 

After lunch, we did in fact make it to Pat's...

 

where everyone (except 'ole vegetarian me) tasted the famous "Philly Cheesesteak"...

Let's just say that we MORE than walked off all of the lunch that we did eat!

On the walk back, we just happened upon what turned out to be a really FUN surprise!

We saw a sign for the Engine 11 Fire Station.  Well, B really likes fire engines and LOVES the number 11, so we had to take a photo...

We noticed that a sign on the door read that they sold t-shirts.  We went to the door and were greeted by a fire fighter who invited us in and asked the little ones if they wanted to see the fire engine!  Umm...yes, yes, and yes...

Okay, these were some of the nicest fire fighters...ever! 

They let both B and L spray the hose...

and even let B pose with their ax!

I'm sorry...  Liberty Bell, what?  Thomas Jefferson, who?

This was probably the highlight of the day!

After our impromptu fire station tour, we continued on our trek back to the car, stopping at both Washington Square...

and The President's House for a quick look around.

Thank you, S, for joining in our adventure today!  As you can probably guess, my (almost 2-hour) ride back to the hotel was absolutely silent...with the exception of a couple of snores here and there from my 3 little passengers in the backseat!  Headed back home tomorrow...I think that I'll let my mom drive the first "leg" home!

More Spring Break 2012 Fun

Chocolate and Crayons

{Spring Break} Chocolate and Crayons

What a day!  We woke up early and headed over to visit with Grandma L. for a little bit before leaving my mom to visit with her in peace the rest of the day. 

We made our first stop at Hershey's Chocolate World...

We rode the Hershey's Great American Chocolate Tour Ride (twice)...

 

explored some old equipment...

and packaged our own Hershey's Kisses in the "factory"...

After getting all sugared up, we headed East to The Crayola Factory.

The factory (and everything in it) was our canvas as we drew on a car...

the windows...

and the walls...

and then had a serious discussion about how such behavior is only allowed within the walls of The Crayola Factory and nowhere else!!!

We created masterpieces...

and drew on the (inside) sidewalks...

We even got to "paint" with melted wax...

Of course we also got to learn how both crayons and markers are made.

We watched a worker make these two red crayons (still warm) from start to finish...

B thought that it was really neat that all of the Crayola markers start off with a white tip...

It took a good hour until the tip turned completely purple!

We couldn't leave without popping into The Crayola Store to see the world's largest crayon...

Check out the wall when you walk in!

After dinner with Grandma, Aunt B & Uncle K, we headed back over to see Grandma L. one more time before settling back into our room for the night... 

Stay tuned for another adventure tomorrow!!!

More Spring Break 2012 Fun

Philadelphia