Editor's Note: Last month was pretty busy, so finally found some free time during the holidays to update this blog. Thank you for your patience and readership!
My team at work decided to have an overnight teambuilder since we had a lot of new people join the group and due to the division of labor, we don't all interact with each other on a daily basis. A block of rooms were booked at the
Best Western Amador Inn in Jackson; two people per double-queen bedded room. There were an odd number of women in the group so I lucked out with my own room. (or perhaps no one wanted to be my roommate) I didn't take any pictures of the place as it was pretty standard. (Pictures of the event are courtesy of SanjeevJ)
The team carpooled for Jackson on Thursday afternoon, hauling numerous party trays of Indian food, libations from Costco, a bunch of party games as well as the boss' karaoke machine. I brought along my karaoke discs as well. We rented a "meeting room" for the evening activities, which turned out to be two suites with the connecting door unlocked; the management took out the beds and set up portable long tables and chairs. Since they were suites, that meant that there could be guests staying in the rooms across the hall, which there were. When we were doing karaoke, I heard that one of the guests popped his head out of the room and frowned, saying something to the effect that "this won't do...". I was betting that we would see some bad reviews on TripAdvisor! We tried to keep the noise level down as much as possible. People were playing games in the other room like
beer pong,
Taboo, and
Mafia.
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| tough beer pong with the narrow opening |
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| rocking out on the karaoke |
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| Indian karaoke via the internet |
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| Taboo in the bathroom! |
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Friday morning, after an included continental breakfast at the inn, we packed up and headed to
Moaning Cavern in Vallecito for zip-lining and rappelling as the weather was cooperating (it was raining the night before). As I had already done zip-lining during another overnight
teambuilding event a couple of years ago, I elected to go
rappelling 165 feet down into the cavern with eight other brave folks. I had never rappelled before and did not know what to expect. We were fitted with a hard hat, harnesses, and gloves. There was also the
rappelling rack, which was set up based on your weight. So be truthful to the guide when he or she asks you how much you weigh!
The descent had some tight areas as well as some protruding rock formations to navigate around. Plus, it had been raining, so the rocks were covered with wet reddish-brown mud. I was glad I was wearing black hiking capris and rain jacket. The website didn't say what to wear but suggested that participants bring an extra set of clothes, a hint that it could get dirty.
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| the mud on my legs looks like blood! |
The following video of me entering the cavern is courtesy of JohnT:
There was a portion of the descent where you had to shimmy through a narrow
opening in the dark. I also had to coax the rope through the rack as it felt like I
didn't have enough weight for the rope to move. I tried adjusting the bars but it felt too tight to be moved and I didn't want to get my fingers caught. The part where you enter the cavern was terrifying because there was no wall to put your feet against. I just had to have faith in my harnesses and rope to lean back and enjoy the view. In the end, I got pretty banged up; purple bruises on my shins stayed for weeks. But it was exhilarating and I'd do it again.
The rest of the group did a tour of the cavern and watched us drop in. After all the rappellers landed safe and sound, we climbed the spiral staircase back up to ground level to finish the zip-lining portion. The weather still stayed favorable with no rain in sight!
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| group photo |
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| weeeee! |
I had planned to drive directly from Moaning Cavern to the airport, flying to meet Kaleb for his softball team's annual Las Vegas trip. Thankfully, the event ended early and I had an extra hour to spare to go home and wash the mud off from the day's activities.
On
carrentalsavers.com, I found a Costco code that priced an Alamo midsize car at $11.45/day not including taxes and fees, plus free extra driver. The convenience of having a car for the day for the price of a single taxi cab ride in Vegas! I also got a decent deal through
Southwest Vacations for airfare plus two nights at the
Venetian, including a "free" upgrade to a Venezia Bella Suite. The Bella Suites offered two queen beds, so technically it was an upgrade since two beds cost more, even though I didn't need the extra space. The room was located in the
Venezia Tower, which was far away from the main towers (a major complaint on review websites), but I really liked the location and the decor. It was originally designed to be an exclusive tower with its own entrance and check-in lobby but it didn't work out as envisioned so it became just another category of room that can be booked through the Venetian. I liked that there weren't a lot of people milling about and didn't have to walk through the smoky casino to get to my room. I also liked the spacious and well-lit walkways compared to the main towers. Another complaint on review websites was that the Venezia Tower had outdated decor; it seemed that renovations were recently completed since our room had a similar color palette and decor like our friends' room in the main tower.
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| Venezia Tower |
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| one of the ceilings |
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| Bella Suite with two queen beds |
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| living room and desk |
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| sunken suite |
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| in-room snack bar |
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| separate tub and shower |
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| separate water closet and makeup table |
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Since the other team members were arriving at different times on Friday, Kaleb and I went to get dinner on our own at
SushiSamba in the Palazzo. I saw something unusual offered on the appetizer menu (
sawagani), and when I asked about it, our server told us that they were little crabs that she played with along the riverbank when she was young, so she personally could not eat them. After hearing that, I couldn't eat them either, so I passed on ordering them. We got some libations and other delicious morsels. For dessert, we grabbed some gelato from Cocolini in the Grand Canal Shoppes.
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| beer and lychee caipirinha |
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| seaweed salad |
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| raw oysters, raw clams, cooked jumbo shrimp |
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| nigiri and "Green Envy" roll |
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On Saturday, Kaleb and I wanted to grab breakfast at the
Grand Lux Cafe but the line was super long; we ended up eating at the Venetian food court (not worth photographing), where we met up with Kristi and Brian. Then we gathered with the rest of the group and walked around the casino. The group split up; some visited other hotels and some gambled. While we were at the Mirage, I had a hankering for some frozen yogurt, so we picked some up at
Blizz. The group met back up at
Taqueria Canonita in the Venetian for happy hour, where Kaleb and I ordered some drinks and appetizers.
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| very good fresh fruit selection |
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| queso fundido (super spicy after adding jalapenos!) and handmade tortillas |
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Dinner tonight was going to be at
Craftsteak at the MGM Grand Hotel...yum! We had a huge group, and our friend Leo had a hard time finding reservations at a steakhouse that could seat all of us together and not require a special group menu. Originally, we would have separate tables, thus not requiring a special menu, but when we got there, they were able to get us all at one table and still able to order a-la-carte, which was a nice surprise. Service was excellent, and everyone loved the food, which was good to know because Kaleb and I recommended the restaurant based on our
past experience a couple of years ago. The entree sizes were generous; if you want to have a "normal-sized" meal, split everything. Kaleb and I split a serving of lobster bisque and it was plenty, with a lot of lobster meat within. (a split plate charge was not seen on the bill) We ended up ordering an appetizer and two entrees that we could not finish. Even the side dishes were huge. Next time, we'd split everything and only order one appetizer, one entree, two side dishes, and skip dessert.
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| Leo and Magda |
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| lights shining down do not make good photos |
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| great magnum of cab |
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| delicious hot rolls |
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| half portion of lobster bisque |
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| wagyu tartare, delicious! I got full after eating this, so rich |
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| "24 hour" shortrib, incredibly tender |
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| bison strip loin, very flavorful |
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| mushroom assortment (I liked the baby shittake the best) |
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| tasty Brussels sprouts |
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| delightful butternut squash |
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We were so full! Someone ordered a couple of desserts that were passed around, but I could only eat one bite. After dinner, we headed over to the Monte Carlo to gamble. No one had any luck tonight.
On Sunday, there was only a five minute wait at the Grand Lux Cafe. Kristi and Brian also were eating here, but we were at different tables. The cafe's breakfast buffet was still open for another half hour, but we ended up ordering a-la-carte.
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| bagel and lox |
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| turkey and brie sandwich with a side of fries |
The diehard football fans in the group staked out spots at the Venetian sports book. Kaleb bought a bunch of bets, and in the end, won some of them. He would have won his parlays had Atlanta done better. :(
I had to get another serving of gelato...mmm.
Our flights were leaving in the late evening, so we spent the last few hours in Vegas walking around the Forum Shops at Caesars with Frank, Tanya and Brian, and stopped by the Cheesecake Factory for supper. I love their red velvet cheesecake...not too rich or sweet. I have to blame my friend Maricris for hooking me onto this flavor!
This ends another fun trip to Vegas. Next trip would be two weeks later, to Los Cabos in Mexico. Stay tuned!
