Wednesday July 23rd, 2008

Our alarm goes off at 7:00, and we begin the morning hustle.  I look over to my wife and ask "so, what do you want to do today?"  She throws out the idea of heading to Vegas, and at the moment I'm too tired to come up with a reason against it.  Let's make it happen.

We load up the 80 pound German Shepherd (named Vegas) into the car and drop her off at a kennel as we venture our way to the airport.  Once we arrive, we park in the long term area, and walk our way over to an idle shuttle bus.  We find we're the only ones to talk with the driver and he makes his way to the Southwest terminal in little time.  "Heading to Vegas are ya?"  He seemed to know since I guess that's one of Southwest's more popular flights out of Omaha.  As we're getting off he reminds me "when you strike it rich out there, don't forget about your buddy, ok?"  I reassure him that if I make enough by some odd chance to retire by the time the trip is over, I'll make sure he gets his "cut." 

While we're checking our baggage we hear a familiar voice to our right.  It was Lisa who lived next door to us a few years ago.  The ladies caught up on the chit-chat while I happily hung out.  Lisa works for Southwest and once got us a bottle of champagne and first pick of seats on the plane when we were heading out for our wedding.  She asked us "do you guys want any extra snacks or champagne on your flight?"  Politely we declined, but thanked her for the gracious offer. 

A quick doughnut after the security check was my breakfast this morning.  The flight arrived on time and we lined up to board.  Just as we're walking through the tunnel to get into the plane, sure enough there's Lisa at the end, and hands my wife a huge stuffed bag of airplane snacks, and a bottle of bubbly.  It was unexpected, and appreciated.  I think we're set on snacks for the next month. 

A book about how the mob started in Vegas kept me entertained while we were in the air.  No major events to discuss. 

Anyone want any snacks? Thanks Lisa!	It's a rather short and easy read.

We landed and patiently worked our way off the plane.  I was anticipating meeting our Skyloft driver down in the baggage area.  The first person I see as we come out of the tunnel was a representative (Ann?  Amy?  Grrr...) from the MGM Skylofts holding a sign with our last name.  I didn't even have to walk 5 steps in the Vegas airport without knowing I was already being taken care of.  We all wander towards the baggage claim area all while keeping up with the friendly but often awkward polite conversation between strangers.  (I thought you couldn't get through security without a boarding pass?)

She tells me the Skylofts were able to send over the Maybach I requested.  She had what I'll only describe as the secret service earpiece which she used to keep in constant communication with the rest of the Skyloft team.  All three of our bags immediately popped up through the carousel and we were on our way.  I told myself this must be a sign of good things to come. 

Our driver greeted us and Ann shortly disappeared before I could tip her for carrying our luggage to the car.  The driver welcomed us with a genuine smile and promptly loaded our luggage.  He opened the door to a car worth more than my house and what's the first thing I see as I crawl in?  None other than the bottle of champagne I requested - chilled on ice.  He pops the top, pours our first glasses, and we're on our way.

My wife is looking out the window and I start acting like that obnixous kid in a toy store.  I start snapping pics of as much as I can without being revealing how much of a low rolling guy I really am.  I start pushing buttons, flipping switches and playing with any gadget I can find.  Our driver doesn't bat an eyelash and lets us soak it in.

What better way to start a trip?	Inside the Maybach.	Time, temp, and speed.	Controls for the recliner seat.	Dashboard
Straight out the back window.	Champagne between my reclined seat.	Voss water anyone?	Maybach interior roof.	Front / side of the Maybach.

Our driver pulls into the MGM parking lot and I notice a few looks from various strangers checking out the car.  Nice. 

Our doors are opened and we exit with our half glasses of champagne.  The driver quickly begins unloading our bags, and I have to draw his attention to thank him and tip him for his services.  We're greeted by yet another Skyloft representative who welcomes us and notifies us our loft is ready for our use.  We walk towards the Skyloft elevators, through the private lobby and she gives us a little history and some interesting facts about the property.  She explains we'd need our key to get to the top floors where our room is at.  She also notifies us of the seemingly hidden elevator in the main bay.  If you didn't know it was there, chances are you'd never see the "hidden special" set of elevators.   

We begin our journey down the hallway and the first thing I notice is a lady standing by an open door, arms crossed in front of her, white gloves and all.  Sure enough, this was Christine our butler, and she too greeted us as we walked inside for the first time in our own Skyloft.  Christine stood back while we checked into our room officially (credit card info, etc) and went over the printed agenda regarding everything I had the pre-trip coordinator plan for this trip.  Even though we were only staying one night at the MGM property, the coordinator was more than willing and capable of booking our other reservations. 

About this time the luggage arrives, with the remnants of our bottle of champagne.  It's placed on the table while the head bellman asks "Is there anything else I can assist you with Mr. X?"  Ummmm....nope, thanks fella!  Loft number 19 would be my home for tonight.

While this is all happening I notice Christine untied the monstrous bag of airline snacks and placed that particular bottle of champagne in the fridge.  She then asks us if we'd like a glass of "welcome juice."  My wife at first declines, but I tell her I've heard good things about it.  We both enjoy a glass.  I can't remember the exact fruit combinations in it, but Christine said it's infused with vanilla bean.  I think the name says it all.  It does make you feel comfortable, relaxed, and Skylofts picked right with that beverage selection. 

We then begin the tour.  Christine first tells me the standard alcohol that comes with the loft was taken out due to my request.  I don't recall that, but I might have said something in one of my dozens of emails to the pre-trip coordinator.  She proceeds to show us the fridge stocked with our requested diet coke, waters, and diet 7-up.  She genuinely apologizes as she's looking me in the eye and says "I couldn't find the one last can of diet 7-up, so I placed a diet Sprite in here instead, is that okay Mr. X?"  To mess with her I was going to say "What kind of shit hole are you people running here?  This is total crap, we're outta here!"  But I laughed at her sincerity (that's a word, right?) and we continued. 

The butler proceeds to explain the coffee maker / espresso machine to us in detail.  I was hardly listening as I was too busy trying to check out the "Happy Anniversary" pastry left on the table for us.  Yeah, they know what they're doing. 

All coffee and espresso is complimentary to the guests.  They placed skim milk in our fridge but reassured us they have whole, 2%, half and half, and damn near any other dairy product you put in coffee.  The tour continued as we went over the remote control system.  She showed us how the drapes, lights, TV, and sound system are controlled on one remote.  She continues to explain that all Pay-Per-View movies are free.  If there's a movie you want to watch, they'll track it down from their library and bring you the DVD.  So if you have your heart dead set on watching the Breakfast Club in your loft, they'll make it happen.  If a guests brings their own DVD or CD collections, you have the opportunity to use those as well.

She shows us the business area with free fax and internet access.  If we want a lap top to surf the web, they'll gladly bring one up.  I half considered asking for one just so I could see if I could change the home page to meatspin.com or some sort of Rick Roll but declined.  I have bigger fish to fry. 

We continue up stairs to the bedroom and bathroom.  Those are pretty self explanatory and nothing of notable service there that comes to mind.  While we're standing in the huge walk in closet Christine tells me she'll unpack and repack our suit cases for us if desired, can press up to 5 articles of clothing per day, polish shoes, or handle most other requests.   I settle on having her press two shirts for me, and polishing up my dress shoes for dinner that night.  We also requested an iron for those quick touch up pressings.  I asked if she could possibly find some new shoelaces for me since mine are wearing out.  She offers to look and see what she can do.  Shortly after she's out the door and we're alone. 

Very nice touch. That's cheesecake by the way.	Who needs a peep hole when you have a video camera?	First thing you see when you walk inside.	Decorative statue.	From the landing towards the kitchen / main area.	Art on the left wall.	From the windows.	Welcome juice!
Fresh blueberries and strawberries - restocked nightly.	This is living.	Barware minus the booze.	Fridge. More drinks on the top shelf that I didn't get in the pic.	Okay, which button does what again?	Various coffee / tea selections.	Is that a cow or a pig?	What kind of tunes do you like? They got it.
DVD / CD Player.	Open says me!	From the table towards the windows.	My view.	Yay! Hooters! Pbbbbtttt! Where's my strip view, bitches?	Straight down.	Work alcove off the main common area.

 

At this point I did what any other self respecting male would do on his wedding anniversary with his bride in a new freshly pimped out suite.  I ORDER SOME PORN! 

Yes, I grab my champagne and sit down with the universal remote.  Since the movies are free I figure why not?  According to my pictures, it looks like I settled on "MILF Bonanza 2."  By the title alone, it must mean that the first one was so thought provoking they just had to make a sequel.  I fast forward through the first 10 minutes which has your typical girl on girl scene.  Eh, I'm bored so I wander up stairs.

Why not?	"Now that's class!"

 

As I'm walking up the stairs I hear the boss shout out "Hey honey, check this out!"  I turn the corner only to find that my wife has also landed on an adult selection.  We were both ordering porn on different TVs.  We're classy like that.  Great minds think alike I suppose?  I continue taking a few pictures of the bathroom and bedroom and decide I want to try out the shower / steam room.  The wife takes advantage of the infinity tub.  And just to answer the inevitable question, yes we ordered porn in the bathroom too.  The control system in the bathroom was a little bit more involved, so you have to be more patient.  But we made it work.

Master bed.	TV in the bedroom.	View from the top floor to the common area.	Another angle to the common area.	I got an iron! Eat that Binions!	Infinity tub.	Me checking out how deep the tub is.	Shower controls and 4 jets.
Rain faucet.	Shower / steam bench.	Walk in closet with our luggage neatly put in place.	Another shot of the over sized closet.	Like I want to know how fat I am on vacation...	TV in the bathroom mirror.	Whaaaaa?	Who's he "shhh'ing?"

The shower was perfect.  I cranked up the steamer to about 90 degrees to start while I had the jets and rain faucet pouring on at about the same temp.  As the shower became more steamy I'd crank it up a few degrees here and there.  It's pretty nice, you can choose how hot you want your shower water to be before you turn on the faucet.  The butler did say it typically takes the steamer about 5 minutes to reach the desired temperature. 

I'd walk back and forth between being engulfed in the steam or rinsing in the shower.  I can easily see my wife is enjoying the infinity tub with the champagne bubbles and soothing array of cycling colors giving the water a more relaxing feel.  She opened some sort of bath tea bag and wrapped it around the faucet so it could mix with the water.  All was very relaxing and we took our time.   

The next few hours were spent lounging around the loft.  I had a slight headache coming on and wanted to shake it before dinner.  I tried to doze off, but didn't have much luck.  We settled on watching the blackjack movie "21" which again was free.  The movie certainly tries to make the history of the MIT blackjack team more sexed up and dramatic than I'm sure it was.  It was an okay flick.  Glad I didn't pay for it.

It's time for us to get ready and head down to Joel Robuchon for our 5:30 dinner reservation.  Christine had brought back our clothes and my shined up shoes.  My wife had also requested some sort of hydro therapeutic pillow which was hastily brought up.  The Skylofts have a menu of about 15 different pillow selections you can request depending on what kind of sleeper you are.  I called down to request a buckwheat pillow and my wife had to request the same. 

We head out into the hall and see someone carrying two pillows, and I assume they're the ones we requested.  The staff move to the edge of the wall as the Skyloft guests are passing.  Nice touch.

We stroll into Joel Robuchon's and they note our reservation.  I guess we're about 5 minutes early and they offer to seat us in the bar area.  We accept their offer to get us a glass of champagne while we wait.  I also note the huge cart of various scotch selections.  On the bottom shelf was a huge bottle of Macallan 50.  I don't recall seeing a bottle shaped quite like that before, and now I regret that I didn't get it in my picture. 

I manage to get about two sips of my bubbly before a host comes over and advises our table is ready.  I reach for my glass when she assures me "oh don't worry, we'll have that brought to your table."  Okay, works for me.   When booking dinner reservations through the Skylofts you're granted "preferred" seating.  We were seated in a corner wrap around booth.  The couch was comfortable, and covered in a deep purple.  They pulled the table out for us to easily scoot into place.  We also had accompanying purple pillows as a part of the decour.  After a minute the first thing they do is take away the plates that were already set before us.  Alright, whatever.

I reviewed the wine list, but had no idea what I was doing.  We prefer red wine so I started there.  Bottles ranged from $125 up to $22,500.  And I only went through the first few pages.  It was decided to stick with water and a few cocktails. 

Let's do this....	Mr. Scotch? Paging Mr. Scotch?	The tablescape as you sit down.	They of course put the napkin in your lap.

As this was our "once in a lifetime" meal, and our anniversary we opted for the lavish 16 course tasting menu.  I noticed the bread cart and snapped a picture without the flash.  At first I felt awkward trying to take pictures of everything, but I quickly overcame that.  Then the first course was served.

It was "L'Asperge Blanche" or white asparagus "panna cotta", fresh almonds and lemon grass.  My wife found it refreshing, but I couldn't make up my mind on it.  It was a smooth course and the almonds gave it a touch of texture.  Not a horrible way to start out. 

Then the bread cart made its way to us.  They went over the various wares they offered.  I went with a cheese brioche selection in addition to the bacon and another that escapes my mind.  The boss tried the basil, rosemary and gruyere brioche.  I liked the basil and rosemary the best.  The wife landed on the rosemary as her top pick.  When you make a selection at the bread cart, they wander off for a few seconds and come back after warming it up.  Very nice. 

Bread cart - should have used the flash.	White asparagus panna cotta with fresh almonds and lemon grass.	Bread selections.	Rosemary, gruyere and basil on the top. Cheese brioche, bacon and something else on the bottom.

 

The next course was an interesting one.  It was called "La Tomate" or salad of tomato, olive oil with basil, tomato gelee topped with mozzarella cheese.  You receive a large slice of tomato with the mentioned herbs and spices on top of it.  The gelee with mozzarella cheese on it reminded me of Halloween for some reason.  The chef recommends taking a piece of tomato and trying it with a bite of the gelee at the same time.  This was another refreshing course.  The tomato was perfect, not to soft and not too firm.  The olive oil and basil were a nice combination.  The gelee was flavored as tomato too.  Despite the picture, it was actually clear.  By this time the dirty martini I ordered and the raspberry mojito for the boss made it's way over.

Salad of tomato, olive oil with basil and a tomato gelee topped with mozarella cheese.	Drinks.

I was a little turned off by the size of my martini glass.  The picture really doesn't do it justice.  It was the smallest martini glass I've ever seen in Las Vegas.  I figured it was going to be one of the more expensive too.  Grr...

The next course was the caviar tasting.  It came with three different presentations.  The first was caviar with a smooth cauliflower cream.  In the center is a "delicate gelee of green asparagus" and the end included two thin couscous with Oscetra caviar.  The presentations were almost too pretty to eat.  Almost.  They were good, but I wasn't blown away.  I was surprised to find that the first two had a heavy fish taste to them.  I know what you're saying, it's fish eggs, of course it'll taste like fish.  It was just a little too much.  Lots of salt and the cauliflower and asparagus didn't balance out too well in my mind.

Caviar under a layer of cauliflower cream.	Asparagus cream in the middle, and couscous and caviar on the right.	The whole scene.

 

The following course was an egg yolk in a baby spinach ravioli with morel mushrooms.  I found the ravioli to be okay, but the mushrooms stole that course.  The morels were nice and warm and melted in your mouth.  And the quail egg on the left was just for decoration. 

The mushrooms were the best part.

 

The next course was one of my favorites for the evening.  It was scallops royal with chive emulsion and buckwheat tuile.  When it was explained we were told it was a layer of scallop puree followed by a layer of lobster puree.  If you're a seafood fan, you'd love this combination.

Chef recommends you break the top layer and enjoy all together.

Up next was a sampling of ravioli.  Truffled langoustine ravioli with chopped cabbage, sea urchin, potato puree with a hint of coffee, and lastly coral and ginger perfumed tea.  All were good, but unfortunately none were very memorable.  I couldn't really pick a particular as they were all fine.  They were rich in the offered sauces, but we continued to take our time and progress forward.  Around this time my wife ordered one of their signature cocktails, the pear martini.  Again, insanely little glass, and the picture doesn't do it justice.

Ravioli sampling.	Pear martini. Not bad.

 

The next course was a pea soup.  Light pea veloute with mint on top of a delicate sweet onion custard.  They bring it to your table and pour once your dish is in front of you.  There was some sort of ham or prosciutto at the bottom which offered a nice blended flavor.  Very good.

Pea veloute with mint on top of an onion custard.

 

Following the pea veloute was a nice smoked and seared tuna, cauliflower with nori and green curry.  This was probably my favorite course of the night aside from the desserts.  Each course is only a few bites, but I could have easily had a whole meal with this selection.  Perfect tuna and the curry sauce had the right amount of bite.  Once I was done nearly licking my plate the veal course made its way out.  Sauteed veal chop with natural jus and vegetable taglierinis flavored with pesto.  The chef recommends you take a bite with a little bit of everything at once.  The garlic was all but melted when we tore into it.  The only feedback I have concerning this course was regarding the knife.  Give me something a little sharper next time so I can get through it.  Otherwise it was another great tasting. 

This brought us to our last savory course of the menu.  It was a type of soup made of soy beans cooked risotto style with lemon zests and coriander.  It reminded me of home style comfort food - beef stew.  It again was okay, but nothing mind blowing.

Seared tuna with green curry sauce. Top knotch.	Sauteed veal chop.	Soy beans risotto style.

By now we're both looking at each other and are completely packed.  We're glad we're on our way to finishing up the meal.  But, it's the best part....dessert!

The first was a fresh raspberry and yogurt sorbet.  It was again nearly too pretty to eat.  Everything you see is edible, and it was a nice refreshing dish.  Sweet and tart with the right amount of texture.  Afterwards it was another dessert course, a caramel cremeux infused with arabica, chocolate rise soufflé.  It was a coffee / chocolate combination with puffed rice cereal, caramel and liqueur soaked raisins throughout.  It was devoured with no problem.

Raspberry and yogurt sorbet.	Caramel and chocolate rice souffle.

At this point we're both stuffed.  We're glad to be done and anxiously wait for the check.  The last couple of courses every time they brought out new plates and table ware we were wincing on the inside.  It's a lot of food.  But Joel Robuchon's wouldn't have it.  We see a cart coming our way, and we both give the "oh man" glance to one another.  It was yet another dessert special for our anniversary.  I figured they might do something like that, but I wasn't going to be upset if it didn't happen.

This time it was an airy and fluffy raspberry and citrus type of dessert.  It wasn't a normal cake, but it wasn't cheese cake either.  Maybe some sort of hybrid between the two.  The frosting was light which I was thankful for.  My wife enjoyed an evening coffee to soak it all in.  Then what do we see, but yet another damn cart making its way to our table.  It was a dessert cart, similar to the bread cart early in the evening.  It had something like nineteen thousand little finger desserts that you can pick from.  I tried a lemon cookie, and the boss tried only one fruit-nut bon-bon. 

Once the check was paid the servers brought over a chocolate and banana fruit cake for us to take.  They also included two copies of the menu we ate from.  At the top is the date and your name.  Mine read "Mr X and Guest."  Guess my wife doesn't have a name.  

They cut two slices, and took the rest away. I don't think they're going to reuse the rest???	After dinner coffee.	Dessert cart.	Parting gift.	Indeed.

Early in the evening I made the joke that we're going to be charged $10 for the bottles of water they were using to fill our glasses.  I couldn't tell the brand since they had each bottle in a silver canister which they poured from.  Yeah, I was right on the money.  Three bottles of water at $10 a piece...bingo.  My insanely small martini was $17.  The pear martini was $19. 

The service was top notch.  The whole establishment worked like a well oiled machine.  Servers would come and go, and everyone knew their place.  When my wife asked where the restroom was, she was walked to it (even though it was seriously around the corner - less than 5 feet from our table).   Between each course we always received new silverware.  When being served they'd always start with the lady.  Didn't matter if it was refilling the water glass, getting a new fork, or taking a plate away. 

I'm glad we did it, but I don't know how anxious we are to try it again.  Maybe in a few years and the menu changes a touch.  For the record there were 3 different tasting menu options to select from.  We just went with the larger more opulent one.

When walking out the manager wished us a happy anniversary even though I hadn't seen him all evening.  La-de-da!

The plan now is to head back to the room and wait for Cory and Tiffany to get done with their Mystere show, and also to meet Anthony and Amy (who are also staying at MGM).  We wanted to relax and get everyone together so we could review the day's events and soak in the Skyloft.

The loft had been cleaned up a touch.  We each had a bottle of Voss water on our respective night stands, and some chocolates were placed on the table downstairs.  We also had turn down service in the bedroom.  In short order Cory and Tiffany made their way over, and I brought them to the room.  A few minutes later I made another trip downstairs to get Anthony and Amy in my socks.  Cory and Tiff brought a bottle of rum and I had packed a bottle of vodka for the trip.  We were going to use the mixers in the fridge.  I gave a quick tour and we all settled downstairs in the common area.  I also found myself taking more pictures of random things just because.

Loft hallway.	Bedroom after turn down service.	Another angle.	From the corner.	Another nice touch.
Martini shaker, coasters, cigar cutter.	Gummy bears, peanuts, chocolates, etc.	Reading material.	Booze we brought.

After a quick tour we're all sitting downstairs reviewing the day's events and sharing pictures and stories.  I mention the welcome juice we had in the afternoon.  I decided to call to have the butler bring a few glasses in addition to some ice.  The conversation went something like this:  "Hi, this is Kevin in loft 19, and we were wondering if we could get some more welcome juice?"   The concierge replied with "Oh certainly Mr. X I'm glad you liked it.  How many glasses would you like?"  I just blurted out "um....how about 5?"  It was no problem. 

Within a few minutes we had a butler bring in two pitchers of juice in addition to a ton of ice, and more glassware.  He brought it all to the table and didn't bat an eye.  I totally forgot how to work the coffee maker, so I had him make Anthony and Tiffany a cappuccino before he left. 

As we're talking and having some drinks, we decide to call the butler again and have two deck's of MGM cards delivered.  I was taking a page out of MikeE's book.  But I thought I'd throw a curve ball at them.  I asked for two different colored decks of cards both from the MGM.  The cards did make their appearance, but the concierge who dropped them by apologized, as they only had a single color in stock.  "What kind of shit hole are you running here?!"  No, I didn't say that, but we all had a laugh.

Turns out someone noticed something I had over looked on our itinerary.  It turns out the papers read "Miss Kevin X"  Great.  Now I'm a girl.

I laughed.	Sigh....I guess one color will do.

Lastly I called again to have a rotating fan brought up and put into our room.  The upper level is noticeably warmer than the downstairs.  I want to say the gentleman's name was Jose and he brought a large fan.  When we retired to our room that night it was already pointing towards our bed, plugged in, and turned on. 

Everyone was beat from the time change and the day's events so people started to wander out.  The boss and I got comfortable in the bed and tried to fall asleep.  I want to say this was around 1:00 Vegas time.  She did make a call to the desk around 12:30 that evening and made a reservation for breakfast in the Mansion atrium the next morning.  No problem.

We didn't sleep as comfortably as we liked.  I was tossing and turning and making a few bathroom runs here and there (damn juice).  The bed wasn't uncomfortable by any means.  It was just both of us had a hard time dozing off.  But we eventually made it work. 

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