Very Vegan Vegas Vacation

This week we packed up the dog and headed off to Pat's parents' condo in Las Vegas. We got there on Wednesday afternoon, stepped out of the car and our faces almost melted off. It was 111 degrees!

Thank goodness for the condo's air conditioning, the pool and cold beer.

We both took the week off from work, but a big project kept me working every day. So, I didn't have much time to look for places to eat. I was so excited when Pat surprised me on Wednesday night by finding a vegan/vegetarian restaurant in the area. He's such a good sport!

I was overwhelmed by all the choices on the menu, but settled on spring rolls and a delicious tofu and veggie stir fry with some of the best brown rice I've ever tried. I asked how they made it and they said they add red rice, so I'll have to look into that...

I also had good luck at a local bar that we tried out because of their selection of microbrews. When I asked if the veggie burger had cheese, they asked me if i was vegan and recommended the black bean burger! That never happens! Usually in San Diego when I start asking questions about how something is prepared the servers just look at me funny, so that was refreshing. They also had an awesome local beer called Joseph James American Lager that I liked so much, I picked up a six pack to take home.

We ventured out to the strip on Thursday afternoon, which also kept us cool. We started at Mandalay Bay and listened to some live music at House of Blues. Then we wandered around to the adjacent hotels until we ended up in the piano bar at New York New York. That was super fun - I had a blast singing along.

I love how lots of the hotels are connected by walkways and trams - so convenient!

We made it out to the condo pool for a quick dip on Friday. I found a cool floating chair thing with cup holders at CVS, so I was excited to try it out. I had to stay in the water and in the shade or I felt like I was going to burst into flames.

Staying in the condo was nice because we could cook as much as we wanted and keep plenty of snacks in the fridge. I didn't try to stay raw, though I did eat lots of fresh veggies.

We also got to see a different side of Vegas. For the first time, I noticed the beauty of the mountains and sky as I wasn't distracted by all the lights of strip.

We left Saturday so we could have the weekend at home before going back to work. It was a nice getaway, although I don't think I'll go back until it cools off a little. And it's great to know there are vegan options whenever we go back.