Wolfgang Puck's Spago

Spago, a Wolfgang Puck Restaurant at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, is two great dining options in one, if you know that they both exist, that is.

If you book tickets through Tix 4 Tonight, you can get a dining voucher for a percentage off your meal at Spago, which is what we did. When we made the reservation at Tix 4 Tonight, we looked at the menu for this restaurant and saw it was an Italian restaurant and were looking forward to the seasonal butternut squash ravioli.

When we got to the restaurant, the hostess asked us if we wanted to sit on their patio, which faces into the walkway of the Forum Shops for Caesars, or in the quieter dining room. The four in our party didn’t have a preference, and the hostess sat us in the more formal, quieter, dining room.

However, when we were handed menus, they looked nothing like what we had seen earlier in the day when we made reservations. There wasn’t your typical Italian dishes and the prices were much higher – and no butternut squash ravioli. We shrugged it off and ordered anyway.

After ordering, we saw a waiter deliver sandwiches to a table behind us. We looked at each other, knowing there were no sandwiches on the menu we had ordered from. We asked our waiter what was up.

Here’s the scoop: the patio is more informal dining and has an Italian menu and lower prices. The dining room is a more standard restaurant with steaks, chops, seafood, and higher prices.

You can, however, ask for the patio menu in the dining room and vice versa, if you know there is a difference.

That said, I ordered the pork weinerschnitzel, which was served with potatoes, tomatoes, and marinated cucumbers. The schnitzel was amazing, and a huge portion, but I probably could have eaten the entire plate, it was so good. However, my palate got distracted by the marinated cucumbers, which were to die for, I couldn’t stop eating them.

The table also ordered a filet, which was served with marrow. The diner who order the steak had never had marrow before and was skeptical to try it (and wasn’t going to eat it at all). However, the executive chef came over and gave him a lesson on eating marrow and the steak, which he said was very good and perfectly cooked.

The table also ordered the butternut squash ravioli, which was a nice size portion without being huge, and the sea scallops, which were cooked perfectly and had delicious foam on them.

Overall, our meal was excellent as we'd definitely recommend this restaurant to others.

Name That Tune

Based on the hit, vintage TV show, Name That Tune, at the Imperial Palace, tests the audience’s knowledge of music from classics up through today.

Hosted by Vegas favorites, Zowie Bowie and Marley Taylor, fifty audience members are guaranteed to get called on stage for a chance to win $10,000.

Seating for Name That Tune is general admission and doors open 30 minutes before the show begins. When you get to the show, be sure to sign the waiver and get a nametag so you can be called up on stage to play Name That Tune!

They call 10 audience members for the first five rounds to get their finalists. The first two people in each round to name two songs correctly move on to the next round.

If you are called on stage and don’t move on, don’t worry, there’s still a prize for you! We won two tickets to see Human Nature, a tribute show to Doo Wop music, and two tickets to come back and see Name That Tune again. (Not a bad consolation prize if you ask me.)

The show was a lot of fun, with families and groups that weren’t on stage battling each other to see who could name that tune fastest.

It also plays at 4 p.m. (there are other show times, as well), and runs for approximately 90 minutes, so you can still make reservations for dinnertime and catch a 10 p.m. show (and maybe even a happy hour).

I will mention here, all of the casinos on the strip have free parking, including the Imperial Palace. I would NOT recommend parking at the Imperial Palace. The lot is small, its hard to find a space, the lanes are very tight, and it’s a little confusing to find your way back to your car after the show or dinner. Park at the Flamingo, which is next door, and walk along Las Vegas Blvd. to the Imperial Palace and save yourself the hassle.

Absinthe

We walked into Absinthe, playing at Caesars, not knowing what to expect. When we asked what the show was about at the Tix 4 Tonight counter, the woman told us if we were OK with some nudity with pasties and some crude language, we would enjoy the show.

Absinthe was playing in an outdoor tent in a stone courtyard at Caesars. While the tent had heat and bar service, it did not have bathrooms, a critical component when show-goers are drinking heavily.

Tickets were also general admission, which I am generally all right with. However, because the floor is flat, the front rows are a much better seat if you want to see what is going on on stage. That, or there are bar tables behind the very last row of regular seats that are part of general admission that sit a little higher.

That said, most of the show is aerial, and not much happens on stage.

Absinthe is a cross between variety show and Cirque du Soleil. It features many talented acrobats, intermittent with comedy acts, making it for an enjoyable experience all around.

My personal favorite act (**spoiler alert!**) was the final act by the “body guards.” They were very impressive and stunning.

However, two warnings, the front row is “balls row.” Be prepared to be part of the show if you sit here. And by part of the show, I mean picked on, balls in your face, on stage, making out with a man.

Second, as the woman from Tix 4 Tonight told us, if you are not OK with partial nudity (seriously, its done with pasties and a little side boob) and some very crude language, this show is not for you (try Love by Cirque, instead.)

Pumi

While visiting Las Vegas, seven of us, six adults and one two year old, went out for Chinese at Pumi in Henderson, NV, about a 20 minute drive from the Strip.

When we walked in, the music was very loud. We could barely hear each other speak from one end of the long table to the other. We asked the waitress to turn the music down, and after the waitress asked the bartender twice and we asked again, the music was finally turned down to a level where guests could speak to each other without yelling.

Our waitress took our order quickly, a dynasty dinner for two, as well as four more entrees, soup for six, crispy noodles, white rice – the standard Chinese meal for a family of seven.

Soup was brought out in a timely manner, with the waitress letting us know the kitchen was making fresh wonton soup for those of us that had ordered it.

About 45 minutes after ordering our meals, the waitress brought out two buckets, one with white rice and one with brown rice. Ten minutes after that, we began to ask where our meals were.

The kitchen was handling the influx of take out orders over the meals for the in house diners. After sitting for over an hour at Pumi, our food was not cooked yet and we were told it would be “just a few more minutes.”

No manager was on staff at the restaurant for us to speak to about the issue.

We walked out. Six adults, one toddler, 2 dynasty dinners, 4 entrees – walked out.

That’s Pumi, 239 N Pecos Rd. Henderson, NV, and online at www.pumioriental.net.

Hampton Inn Alexandria

Hotel options are numerous in the Washington, D.C. area, and with that, the value, price range and location varies greatly.  You can spend a lot of money to stay within walking distance of all of the historic sites of DC, which is very valid for a lot of people and spend money parking at those hotels every day.  Or, you can find a great value right outside of DC such as the Hampton Inn of Alexandria, VA on Leesburg Pike.  

For just under $100/night (less than half of what you'd pay in downtown DC), you'll get a clean hotel with very friendly service.  They also offer a great breakfast with your stay each morning.  The one thing that might prevent people from staying here is the fact you'd then have to drive into DC each day, but the commute only takes 10 minutes and finding parking in DC is actually not that difficult as there are free lots by the Thomas Jefferson Memorial and free on-street parking on Sundays.

We'd definitely recommend this hotel to anyone visiting the DC area and we'll definitely be back next time we're in the area.

Ford's Theatre

Think back to your American History classes.  If you think about it for a little bit, the name Ford's Theatre should ring a bell.  This was the location where President Lincoln was shot on April 14, 1865.  Visitors can take a tour of the building, which begins with a large room on the history of President Lincoln, as well as his assassinator, John Wilkes Booth.

On the entry way into the theatre itself, you see on opposite walls what the day was like for both Lincoln and Booth leading up to the actual shooting.  This is done in a very ominous way to help make the visitor feel more immersed in the history.

You'll finally end up in the theatre where you can see the balcony where Lincoln was shot, as seen below.  Unfortunately, you can't go on the balcony itself, but seeing it still gives you a great look into one of the most important spots in American history.

The times that tours are available are always varying, depending on what is going on at the theatre that day.  It is highly recommended before your visit to go to the theatre's site at www.fordstheatre.org and determine if you can visit on your planned day.  In addition, you can pre-purchase your ticket with an assigned timeslot.  If you just show up to the theatre, you may find your self out of luck as they limit how many people can attend each day.

Touring the US Capitol Building

There are two tours in DC you need to schedule, and you definitely need to do. One, the White House, you have to schedule through your Congressman. The other, the US Capitol Building, you can book online or pick up tickets at the Capitol.

The best plan for touring the Capitol is to book in advance online for free and then pick up your tickets at will call. If you wait to get tickets at the Capitol, you might run into a problem that they might run out of tickets or not have tickets until a later time in the day.

Expect to go through some security to get into the Capitol. You also cannot bring food or drink into the building. However, there is a pretty nice food court that serves fresh pastas, sandwiches, wraps, salads and more.

The tour takes visitors through the main arteries of the Capitol, into the rotunda and into the former room for the Senate, called the whisper room.

If you visit the Capitol on the weekends or when Congress isn’t in session, visitors cannot visit the Senate and House floors. However, if you go while Congress is in session, visitors can sit in on debates, votes, and discussions of Congress.