Wish I Could Have "Stayed in Vegas"

I spent a long weekend in Las Vegas and had such a blast, I wish I could have stayed longer. Granted, I didn't do a lot of the typical partying - I actually spent the most time at the Canyon Ranch spa at the Palazzo where we were staying.

I kind of threw off my schedule the first morning, when I woke up at 6am and couldn't get back to sleep. That set the tone for the rest of the weekend. Since I was falling asleep earlier than everyone else, I woke up earlier and rather than stay in a dark room with three girls sleeping around me, I went to the gym and enjoyed the spa facilities that were included as part of the gym pass.

If I could move into the Canyon Ranch spa, I would. What's not to love about a clean robe waiting for you, showers with delicious smelling toiletries, an endless supply of clean towels of all sizes, rows upon rows of hair styling stations, each with their own hair product selection and sanitized brushes/combs and facial product... Of course, all that is on top of the relaxation room, the jacuzzi, the steam room and sauna, and the "experiential rains" showers that would pelt you with a strange routine of varying water pressures, water temperatures and lights. I could go on and on. It was my home away from home.

A highlight of the trip for me was my private rock-climbing lesson at the Venetian side of the spa (there are branches of the spa at both the Venetian and the Palazzo, connected by a long hallway.) The Venetian side has a two-story rock wall 40' high. I climbed 4 times! By the end, my arms were literally shaking and I couldn't even grip my water bottle when I got down. It was so exhilarating.

The architect did a great job of making the rock wall a decorative element - you can see it when you walk in and are standing at registration - you are almost level with the top, and can look down over a balcony to see the base of the wall on the lower level. This photo shows the view from the balcony level.

It was difficult to take good photos of a lot of the places we saw on the trip due to the dramatic lighting that lent the spaces their wow factor, but unfortunately didn't make it easy to photograph.

One I was able to successfully photograph was the interesting wall of skulls at Dos Caminos in the Palazzo. I guess it's a play on Mexican Day of the Dead decor, and it was a very arresting sight.

Skull wall - view from our table

Skull wall - looking up from the banquette seat

I'll follow up more in the next few days with more Vegas and Vegas-inspired photos.