An Illuminations Cruise ... For Us???

Sunday, October 10th, Disney's Yacht Club Marina - Sometimes Life Keeps the Lemons and Smacks You Over the Head with a Free Fireworks Cruise Instead.

And now for something completely different ... in which there is no food or booze.

You have been warned.

I had this great, sappy post written about the reasons that Jay and I enjoy spending so much time vacationing at Walt Disney World ... then I re-read it, promptly gagged on my own bile, and hit the delete key faster than you could ask, "Who farted pixie dust?" The truth of the matter is that we visit WDW so often because we have ridiculous fun and are able to spend time with great friends there, all the while drinking like fools and eating like pigs.

Ahem.

But sometimes, when you least expect it, a wee bit of magic creeps into your trip. The most wonderful surprises, some very small and others capable of taking your breath away, can fall into your lap at any given moment ... even the laps of snarky old curmudgeons like us. Which leads me to the the tale of how, while enjoying a leisurely stroll around Crescent Lake one beautiful evening, Jay and I were approached by a cast member who worked at the Yacht Club Marina.

"Hey guys," he said with a smile. "Do you have any plans tonight?"

Well, that certainly got our attention. A number of thoughts zipped through my mind including: "I shouldn't have worn the 'I Don't Bite' t-shirt ... this dude thinks we're swingers!" Luckily Jason was much more calm and rational than me; he shrugged and replied, "We're just out for a stroll to enjoy this amazing weather."

"Would you like to take an Illuminations Cruise?"

Whaaaaaa - ?

For years one of the fondest wishes of my greedy little vacation heart has been to take an Illuminations Cruise, but like so many WDW specialty tours they are expensive; Jay and I usually opt to spend our vacation funds on items of a more chewable and drinkable nature. We looked at each other again while the cast member waited for our answer and then I blurted out, "Sure we'd like to take an Illuminations Cruise, but how much will it cost?"

Crass, yes; but better to know the toll upfront than to find yourself out in the middle of the lake $350 (plus gratuity!) short and with no way to access your ATM.

"No charge; it's free."

This time Jay and I exchanged the raised eyebrow look with each other, the one that means: you're not falling for this, right?

The cast member laughed. "There's no catch, I promise. The family that had the cruise booked for this evening called us and said they were too tired to keep their reservation. Since the boat's ready to go it's yours if you want it."

Jeebus pleezus ... of course we want it!

And just like that, with a whole lot of "wow, thanks!" and "really? we can't thank you enough!" we were boarding a pontoon boat that seats up to ten guests and pulling out of the marina into the middle of Crescent Lake on our way to Epcot. We obviously weren't prepared for picture taking, so the few photographs I have to share aren't the best quality but they do offer a glimpse into what it's like to experience an Illuminations Cruise. I don't know why this cast member honed in on Jay and me when there were so many people wandering around the marina and boardwalk that evening but we will always be grateful for the gift he gave us. Illuminations has always been our favorite fireworks show and having the opportunity to watch it on the lake together like this was amazing - we will never forget this night and the good karma that was visited upon us by the great and glorious vacation gods!

Pinch us!


It's the Boardwalk ...


Following the Friendship into Epcot ...


I think that's the bridge between England & France!


Yep; definitely the bridge. And the other boats left us a parking spot!


You better pinch us once more ...


England ... the lower tier of the Rose & Crown


More England ... sucks to be on land, huh?


This is way cooler than being at home getting ready to go back to work!


The globe ...


The after-effects with all the fireworks fallout in the air.

Serendipity 3; Sleazer's Palace, Las Vegas

You Scream, I Scream, We All Scream for Ice Cream ... Or a Frrrrrrrrozen Variation Thereof.

Like so many Vegas establishments, Serendipity 3 is a Sin City transplant. The original New York eatery has been in business since 1954 and is famous-amos for its Frrrozen Hot Chocolate. I have no idea when they opened a location in Vegas, nor do I know why, but once I had a chance to review their menu it was a foregone conclusion that Jay and I were going to pay our respects.

Serendipity is located in the Caesar's Palace complex, but is not inside the hotel; it's a free-standing building situated on the upper terrace along Las Vegas Boulevard. There are bright pink and orange awnings and banners along the facade, and pink stairs leading up from the strip to the restaurant's main entrance. There is a full service dining room that serves breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert along with a well-stocked bar for the thirsty among us. Serendipity also has a couple of quick service windows where patrons can order their famous desserts to go.

Since Jay and I had just finished a lengthy and very satisfying lunch at Mesa Grill there was no reason for us to go inside; the weather was fantastic so we ordered some frrrozen delights "to go" and enjoyed them on the terrace. I went with the traditional Frrrozen Hot Chocolate which blends 20 different types of chocolate into an unbelievably decadent, icy cocoa drink. Jay opted for the Peanut Butter Frrrozen Hot Chocolate ... same as the original with peanut butter cups thrown in for good measure.

Stop waving and order something!


Can't miss it ... once you know what you're looking for!


It's like an ice cream shrine ...

Original Frrrozen Hot Chocolate to the left; Peanut Butter to the right.

It's not often that a chocolate drink will leave me speechless, but this one did. I have never tasted such an amazing blend of rich chocolate flavor in my life and with the addition of peanut butter it actually approached nirvana. I can't speak to the food they serve at the restaurant, but this dessert totally lived up to the hype and I would recommend it to any of you chocolate lovers out there the next time you're in Vegas or New York.

And if you really feel like splurging when you visit Serendipity, order their $1,000 Opulence Sundae which has been listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's most expensive dessert. It's supposedly served in a crystal goblet and includes five scoops of Tahitian Vanilla ice cream, rare chocolates, and exotic fruits; it is finished off with edible gold leaf. All I ask is that you take lots of pictures and write a review if you decide to dive into this dessert delight!!

Stratta; Wynn, Las Vegas

Stratta: A Casserole? A Quiche? A Bread Pudding? A Pretentious, Overrated Not-So-Goodtime-Fun-Eatery? You be the Judge!!

A last ditch effort for a final cheese plate led me to ask Jay if we could stop here for a drink and a snack one night. We'd had such great success doing this at the now defunct Boulud's that I, for one, just assumed that great food, service, and atmosphere would be waiting for us again.

Welcome to disappointment.

Population: Us.

Stratta is billed as an Italian-style eatery; they are open for lunch and dinner, as well as late night, and maybe that explains why we thought their menu was so boring. The restaurant itself seemed rather small to us and it is open on all sides to the casino and main hallway that leads from the Wynn to the Encore. Their bar struck us as small and cramped - just a bar and nothing more. While there are tables all around the area that might make a person think that's part of Stratta's so-called lounge, we were informed by a rather snooty young lady that those tables were for paying customers.

Oh?

Do patrons at the bar eat and drink for free? 'Cause if they do sign us up and call us regulars!

She had to backtrack rather awkwardly then and explain that those tables were being used for dinner patrons and if we didn't have a reservation our only option was to sit at the bar ... where we unfortunately still had to pay for our food and booze.

View from the casino / lobby


The bartender was over-worked but tried his best - and he did make a pretty good drink. One of us ordered a Capri Cooler: Grey Goose Citron, Limoncello, Ginger Beer, Lemon Juice, and Basil leaves; while the other ordered a Pear Cosmopolitan: Absolut Pear Vodka, St. Germain, White Cranberry juice, and Lime. Both drinks were refreshing while packing a nice punch, but I preferred the Capri Cooler just a bit more because it wasn't quite as sweet as the Pear Cosmo.

Capri Cooler


Pear Cosmopolitan


The menu listed the cheese plate as a selection of artisan cheeses with a seasonal compote and warm cranberry-pistachio bread. We received a cheddar, a pepper cheese, and a blue cheese along with what looked like chunky applesauce and some very pretty, very nutty bread. So much for Eye-Talian inspired cuisine ... there's not a single cheese on that plate that can trace its milk of origin to Italy. This was, without a doubt, the lamest, least inspired cheese plate we tried during the whole trip.

Cheese plate with bread slugs ...


I honestly don't know what else to say. With the exception of Daniel Boulud's restaurant, all of our experiences with restaurant staff at the Wynn were mildly unpleasant to downright infuriating. We were amazed at the difference in staff demeanor between the Wynn and Encore considering that they are "sister" hotels and thanks to that noticeable difference the next time we are in Vegas we will not be frequenting any establishments at the Wynn. They may be under the impression that their shat don't stank, but I'm here to tell 'em different!

Terrace Pointe Cafe; Wynn, Las Vegas

When You're too Lazy to Leave the Hotel and too Cheap to Order Room Service, Terrace Pointe Cafe will Do in a Pinch.

Terrace Pointe Cafe is located pool-side at the Wynn - it offers indoor and outdoor seating overlooking the pool and gardens and serves breakfast and lunch daily. Jay and I stopped in one day after spending the morning at the pool - we were hungry but didn't want anything too extravagant or filling because later in the evening we had plans to dine at The Mansion. The cafe is very bright and welcoming and they must serve some of the best waffles in Vegas because even though it was lunchtime it seemed like someone at every table was chowing down on a monster serving of Belgian's with a can of whipped cream on the side.

We ordered hummus and pita bread to start and then had some cheese sliders and fish tacos, all of which was washed down with a couple of beers. The food was plain old fine - nothing spectacular and nothing awful - and the service was terrific. There's not much else for me to say about this location - it's convenient if you happen to be visiting or staying at the Wynn or Encore, but we wouldn't go out of our way to dine there again. Maybe we would feel differently if one of us had ordered waffles!

Humina, humina, hummus!


Slip sliding awaaaaay ....


Generous serving of fries that neither of us wanted.


Fish tacos, with Mahi to be specific.

The Eiffel Tower Restaurant; Paris Hotel, Las Vegas

A Jazz Brunch without Jazz at the Eiffel Tower not in France - We're Through the Looking Glass Here, People ...

Like so many things on this trip, it all started with Joel Robuchon. In conjunction with Vegas Uncorked he was offering a Sunday Brunch at L'Atelier, and yours truly really wanted to go until they revealed the cost per person to attend. I get it - he's the chef of the century and he's been awarded more Michelin stars than I have teeth - but $175 per person is steep admission for the first meal of the day. For that price he'd better be serving pterodactyl egg omelets and ambrosia imported from Mount Olympus.

As you no doubt have deduced, we didn't book Robuchon's Uncorked event and that is why I suddenly found myself on a quest for brunch when previously the idea had never entered my all too distractible head. I eliminated brunch at the Wynn or the Bellagio immediately because that Sunday was Mother's Day and that meant hordes of hungry people getting between us and our morning alcoholic drinks. Thanks to a handful of reviews on Yelp along with some real-world input, I decided on the Eiffel Tower Restaurant at the Paris Hotel. Their lunch / brunch menu seemed more reasonably priced than their dinner menu and we would still get to experience one of the best Vegas Strip views in the city without the glare of nighttime neon or the squeeeeeee of constant marriage proposals.

This is one of those restaurants where guests have to be escorted from the casino / lobby to the dining room proper. In this case you must wander through the casino until you find yourself at the base of the tower ... just look for the giant indoor erector set! An attendant will ask you to state your business, summon an elevator, whisk you up out of the smoke and noise, and deliver you to an open kitchen where another staff member will escort you to the check-in area. On this morning we were also given a small taste treat as we exited the elevator - trout salad on a wee cracker. I don't know if this is common practice at the Eiffel Tower but it was a nice surprise, if something of a strange choice for a breakfast hoover doover.

Something seems fishy ...


As we checked in with the hostess she tried to offer me a mother's day gift - they had an entire table set up with little flowers in terra cotta pots and were handing them out to all the female guests before seating their parties in the dining room. I'm not a mom ... I will never be a mom ... and handing a live plant over to me is akin to signing a botanical death warrant, so I thanked her and declined by saying, "I don't qualify."

She seemed stunned that I didn't want to take it and maybe it was ungracious of me not to accept, but I felt then and still feel now that it would have been inherently dishonest to do so. Thank gawd my so-called integrity wasn't challenged by an offering of complimentary Mother's Day cheese.

Ahem.

We were led to a fabulous little table for two along a wall of windows overlooking the Vegas strip. All of the window tables were small, triangular shaped two-fers that rested right up against the glass - it made for an intimate meal with a truly spectacular vista. Just look at these two pictures and you'll see what I mean.

O, indeed ...


Bellagio ... I hear you have a fountain of sorts.


In a recent review I mentioned that one of the reasons I adore French restaurants is that they can usually be counted on to offer guests a fabulous array of artisan cheeses with which to satisfy their bacterial cravings. Whenever Jay and I are headed for a particularly Frenchie dining experience I find myself singing that old Beatles standby Please Cheese Me, and such was the case on this lovely morning. But there is a sad flip side and it is this: I also loathe French restaurants because of their incessant use of mushrooms in nearly all facets of their cuisine. This unfortunate culinary trait also tends to trigger more bad singing on my part, "All they wanna do is shrooma shroom shroom shroom and then more shroom."

Which leads me to the most horribly ironic amuse bouche in recent memory: mushroom mousse.

It was cold. It was thick. It was gacky. It was bursting with a pungent shroominess that actually made me throw up a little in my mouth. If this love offering from the kitchen was designed to set the tone for the meal to come then I was ready to leave.

There's nothing amuse about this!


Thank goodness Jay likes mushrooms and the kitchen went back to doing something I could really endorse: bread and cheese! In this case they were baked together into light, airy cheesy poufs. Dear Chef, in the future please hold the fungus gloop, and bring on the yeast and mold, thank you very much.

Cheesy Poufs - eat them up yum!


I think that I must have been nursing some absinthe after-effects from the previous evening's booze on fiyah finale, because I started the morning meal off in strange fashion with shrimp cocktail. For some reason it sounded tasty and fake Paris in Vegas seemed like as good a place as any to indulge, so behold - a platter of beautiful shrimpies with both American and French cocktail sauces. They were big, honking shrimp and they really tasted wonderful - cold and sweet! As for dippage, the French sauce reminded me a little of thousand island dressing, at least in color, but the taste was creamy and smooth with just a hint of cognac. I should also mention at this point that I couldn't order a cheese plate as I'd intended because the restaurant didn't offer one on its brunch menu ... the horror!!!

Thank you sir, may I have another?


Jay ordered the Soup du Jour, a rich, creamy asparagoose bisque with a delicate flavor. After taking a taste, I found myself wishing I'd chosen this as well - it was just that good.

The Jolly Green Giant was here ...


It is, of course, impossible to indulge in Vegas brunch in fake Paris without enjoying an alcoholic beverage. I decided to stretch my wings and try something new: Pims Cup #1.2 which was comprised of Pimms, Heyman's Old Tom, Fresh Cucumber, Lemon-Lime Soda, and Cucumber-Basil Froth. It was more bitter than I expected, but it grew on me as the meal progressed. I still prefer our version of a Pimm's Cup but I'm glad I tried something different. Jay went with the old tried and true: Bloody Marie. I liked this variation of the traditional breakfast drink quite a bit because it wasn't nearly as spicy as most - they actually used Lemon Citron Vodka and I thought that lent it a refreshing lightness that paired well with the tomato juice.

It's a Bloody Pimm!


For my breakfast proper I ordered the Light Omelet Souffle with Brie and Asparagoose. The portion size was much larger than I expected and it was actually a bit bland except for those times when I chomped down on a chunk of brie. It was well cooked - very light - but also quite rich and I wasn't able to finish it.

Not made from pterodactyl eggs ...


Once again Jason made the better choice: Poached Egg Cheese Souffle, Petite Frisee, and Parmesan Cheese. While it didn't sound all that appealing on the menu, one look at his plate and one taste filled me with breakfast envy. While his souffle, like mine, was very rich, it had a great blend of flavor and wonderful, gooey cheesiness.

Next time, I'm ordering this!


During our meal we were fortunate enough to see the Bellagio's fountain show in its entirety more than once. Please enjoy our pictures, which actually turned out quite nicely in this attempt!











Jay and I were so caught up in the water show that we ordered a dessert we didn't really have room for. I don't know the name of this item, but it was incredibly tasty - vanilla ice cream, hot fudge, caramel, whipped cream, and two shots of espresso. It was so good we found ourselves battling over the final spoonfuls of fudge and the last slurps of espresso ... ah, if only every morning could start with this kind of caffeine jolt!

Who's idea was it to share?


And then they brought out a birthday treat for the hubba! A yummy little chocolate mousse to help celebrate his 40th birthday. I had made sure to indicate on the reservation that we were celebrating his special day in the hopes that something like this would happen. Since we vacation so often in October, I have been on the receiving end of some lovely treats over the years and really hoped that the same would happen for Jay. That it did made me a very happy wifey and I almost forgave the chef for the mushroom mousse that began the meal.

Almost.

Birthday mousse!


Overall we were satisfied with our Eiffel Tower meal, although I'm not sure it's worth another visit. The food was good but not spectacular - I really think it's more about the uniqueness of the restaurant's location and the amazing view. While I'm glad we experienced it, and am very grateful for the birthday love they gave the hubba, there are definitely other Vegas establishments we want to try before returning here. Who knows, maybe next time we will try a champagne brunch at the Wynn on Mother's Day; I'll just be sure to bring a flask and tattoo "child free zone" across my gut!