Regrouping in the morning we snagged a quick breakfast just off the casino floor and then did a little more walking and shopping.  This time we were a little more thorough about hitting the Forum Shops and found a great clothing store called Bettie Page, where Heather found a really nice dress.  We struck out on finding a pair of shoes that would go with it, so we’ll have to find another excuse to wear it.

After a bit more shopping we went back to The Cosmopolitan for lunch at José Andrés’s China Poblano.  The fusion of Chinese and Mexican food was interesting and extremely tasty!  We then headed back to get ready for dinner and tonight’s show.  Dinner was at Thomas Keller’s Bouchon, a French bistro.  The food was delicious, the service was perfect, and really, the entire experience was as close to perfect as we could have hoped.  We started out with a charcuterie of salamis and then moved on to the main courses.  Heather had the Gigot d’Agneau, a delicious lamb dish and I had the steamed mussels.  Both were very, very good.  Finally we finished off with some dessert and coffee.  I had a lemon tart and Heather had the profiteroles.

After dinner we went back through the hotel to the Blue Man Theater for tonight’s show.  Thanks to some great advice, I booked the VIP experience when I purchased the tickets.  We got good seats, which were supposed to be outside of the splatter zone (they were not) and a one-on-one meet and greet with one of the Blue Men after the show.  The show was a lot of fun, with great music mixed in with physical comedy and a lot of mess.  As I mentioned earlier, the splatter zone is rather loosely defined.  I managed to wear a bit of banana pudding during one of the acts, but it’s all good.  After the show finished we were escorted to a small room where one of the Blue Men came out to meet us.  He was a lot of fun to talk to, and yes, he did break character.  We got autographs, had some good laughs, and then headed back to get some sleep.

I’ve been teasing Heather about a mystery trip I booked since June.  It’s been kind of fun, but this morning the jig was up and we headed for DFW airport to catch an early flight to Fabulous Las Vegas.

We got in and over to The Venetian, our base of operations for the weekend.  Check-in accomplished and stuff unloaded we proceeded to head out to get some food and then wander around the strip for a while.  It’s changed a lot since the last time I was out here, but was still a lot of fun to hang out and take in the sights.  We grabbed some lunch at I Love Burgers and then nosed around the Grand Canal Shoppes before heading out into the heat.  We took it easy because we had dinner reservations at Jaleo, one of José Andrés’s tapas restaurants and a show booked.  This is about where I slipped the engagement ring I’ve been hanging on to since early July over to Heather.  She said yes, in case you’re wondering.  There were some tears and some laughter, but all in all it was the right place and time.

Jaleo was fantastic!  We started out with an excellent selection of jamóns and some cheese before moving on to scallops and veal cheeks for our main courses.  We got talked in to dessert, which was probably a good thing because it was so incredibly good that missing out would have hurt.  All I can say is “saffron mousse”.

After dinner we headed over to New York New York to catch Cirque du Soleil‘s Zumanity.  It was really good, but definitely on the risque side.  If you’re so inclined, you’ll probably enjoy it.  If not, don’t go.

Back to the hotel after that where I finished off the evening with a tasty IPA from Sin City Beer.