On and Off the Vegas Strip, Las Vegas, Nevada

Well I think most people would talk about gambling and clubbing after they visit Vegas. I, on the otherhand, prefer the dining and shows in Vegas, though I think the food may be more expensive in Vegas than New York.

Ann, my tennis partner, and I traveled to Vegas to run the Rock’n Roll 10K. Given neither of us had trained much at all, we were trying our hardest to rest up for the event on Sunday night, but the casinos are so big, we still managed to talk nearly 6 miles a day! And that was with the help of a taxi and the monorail.

Aside from lounging poolside at Bellagio, we ate and went to see Carrot Top. Our first meal of our trip came at lunchtime on Saturday. We stopped at Morels French Steak House and Bistro on our way back from the expo at the convention center where we picked up our race packet.

Morels is located in the Venetian and has a lovely second story patio. We thought it would be a great place for people watching and the menu was appealing. I picked the mussels which came with fantastic fries and Ann opted for a shrimp salad with a side of fries. The portions were enormous and we loaded up since we’d be burning countless calories tomorrow.

After a relaxing, yet somewhat cool afternoon at the Bellagio pool and a stroll through the atrium to admire the Thanksgiving decorations, we dressed up for dinner at Julian Serrano Tapas at the Aria. We were a bit more discerning about dinner, and spent a short time researching restaurants on Yelp. This one got high ratings and Spanish food sounded good to me, so we reserved a table. Little did I know Julian Serrano is an award-winning chef who recently guided a team on the popular Top Chef TV show to victory. Apparently he is going viral…but I wasn’t following the trend. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).