Travel – Page 3 – Todd and Cindy's Travel Blog

Las Vegas Adventures

It’s been a busy week since we returned from a 4 night stay in Vegas, but here’s the blog (better late than never…). We met up with our friends, Aline and Dave, for a couple of days (a midpoint gathering between our yearly Hawaii get together). Speaking of Hawaii, I even found my Kona Brewing beer here in Vegas.

We stayed at Bellagio – great choice, in the heart of The Strip.

The hotel is definitely 5 Star with all the amenities – large gym (didn’t bring our gym gear), multiple pools (a quiet refuge we took advantage of one day), lots of restaurants (delicious and extensive buffet that was included in our stay), and plenty of onsite gambling (great people watching).

The hotel is massive and includes the casino, restaurants, a mall, and The Conservatory. The Conservatory area is changed seasonally and is absolutely gorgeous.

We had a great view from our room; not the strip, but the mountains outside the city. Sunrise was breathtaking.

Aline, Dave and us toured 3 car places while together. First was Nostalgia Street Rods.

We saw a tiny fraction of the private collection of automobiles acquired by Art Goldstrom.

All his vehicles were stored until a few years ago, when daughter Sheri convinced her parents to display some of their vehicles and allow public tours.

We walked around two buildings loaded with vehicles and then went to one displaying Art’s late wife Shirley’s memorabilia collection.

Our next car place was Count’s Kustoms (TV show from the History Channel).

The only person from the show we saw was Ryan. Todd went to take a pic, but was told he couldn’t take pics (after he got a shot in…).

At the entrance was one of Horny Mike’s vehicles seen on the show.

All the vehicles on display were in one large room.

The artwork on these cars is amazing!

Our final car stop was at Welder Up (another TV show – Vegas Rat Rods).

Here they create “Rat Rods” – vehicles that look like old junkers, but they have lots of horsepower. They do a lot of theme vehicle builds, where they re-purpose old parts from anything theme related and use them in their vehicles as something different (example – an antique brass water pressure gauge was used to display Turbocharger boost pressure)

The four of us went to Ellis Island Brewery for dinner one night. While having a beer at the bar (BTW – good cheap beer…), we asked the server if she could put on the Jays game. Apparently their TV needs a colour correction…

Dave put some money in one of the machines and told me to have fun. Little did I know, Aline was taking pics and videoing me! (And yes, I definitely had fun.)

The one morning, Todd and I walked to the Fashion Mall – I wanted to check out the Kipling purse deals at Macys. Throughout the mall were Lego constructions of some renowned US buildings. I had to walk up and look close to believe these were completely made of Lego.

The Vegas strip is a sensory overload, not necessarily in a bad way…

After Aline and Dave left for home, we wandered down to check out the new T-Mobile Arena.

The arena was built for the new NHL team. This will be the first major league team in Vegas, and now they are trying to get an NFL team too. Rumour has it, the new NHL team may be named the Desert Knights. The official name will be released in November.

Right by the arena is a “happening” place called The Park. The area has restaurants, outdoor seating, and some fun games on the walkway like giant Jenga and 3-in-a-Row games, ping pong and outdoor art and more.

While we were there, it was Oktoberfest in the Park. One of the young women handing out beer samples (in her dirndl) asked us if we had heard of Oktoberfest… They even had a band “ The Dummkopf’s ” playing Oktoberfest music. We felt right at home.

The Beerhaus is one of the open-air restaurants in The Park. We had a great time people watching, interacting with others, and drinking some beers – a fun place to hang out…

For dinner one night, we went to the Harley Davidson Restaurant. It was a “bonus” night – we got free beer glasses because we had ordered draft beers and a bunch of fancy bikes began to congregate outside.

One of the bikes we saw parked at Counts Kustoms a couple days ago was even parked outside of the Harley Davidson restaurant.

We weren’t flying out until midnight, so we took up the offer from Mandarin Oriental for a free night stay (offered because of our trip last year), since checkout was at 11 AM at the Bellagio. Parked in front of the MO, was this really “sweet” looking LFA Lexus. (We checked out the price online – starts at $375,000 USD!).

Our time in Vegas was only a few short days, but it was great to once again meet up with Aline and Dave. We will see them again in about 5 months back in Kona. Meanwhile, our next adventure will be in Havana, Cuba for New Year’s Eve…

Ottawa Adventures Final Post

Saturday morning, Todd went for coffee at the Tim’s on the corner, but it wasn’t open; it doesn’t open until 9 on weekends! Had to settle for Starbucks ! After coffee we started our walk to Rideau Hall. On York, between Byward Market and Sussex, numerous police cars (RCMP and Ottawa police) and yellow tape caught our eye. Apparently someone reported a suspicious vehicle (padlocks on the doors and stripped inside with a bed). Being so close to the US embassy and the day before 9/11, no chances were being taken.

The two guys (punks) whose vehicle it was, were not allowing a search (drugs??). The bomb squad was called in. After a couple of hours, police determined the vehicle was not a threat.

http://ottawa.ctvnews.ca/news/latest-news/streets-re-opened-after-suspicious-vehicle-cleared-in-byward-market-1.3066628

We watched for a bit, then continued to Rideau Hall. It was their Savour Fall event.

We toured a few of the rooms like the tent room and the ballroom.

It was interesting seeing a table setting and menu example for heads of state and dignitaries who visit.

We toured the greenhouse and herb garden.

Numerous stands were set up on the grounds promoting freshly grown local foods with plenty of samples – apple fritters, goat cheese on sable bread, cucumbers, apples, watermelon, butternut squash soup, sausage, sorghum salad, and more….so good!

After leaving Rideau, we walked back to the Byward Market area to locate Lowertown Brewery. We enjoyed some cold ones while cheering on the Jays (yay! – they won!)

For dinner we went to a Greek restaurant fairly close to the hotel. Unfortunately, they didn’t have my favourite – Moussaka (apparently it was yesterday’s special). We both ordered a Souvlaki plate. They were very tasty…yummy potatoes.

Sunday, we drove to the small town of Vankleek (population under 2000), just over an hour from Ottawa. Why Vankleek? Beau’s Brewery! I tried their Lug Tread just over a year ago…It is now my go-to beer; so good!

I had emailed Beau’s back in the spring to ask about their brewery and what IPAs they had for Todd. Email response was quick and I was told to let them know when we were coming. I did. Upon entry when I said I had been in contact… “Oh, are you Cindy and Todd? Welcome!” We were started with some tastings at the bar.

Following a few tastings, we did the brewery tour….so informative. Owner, Tim Beauchesne, once used the building for manufacturing leather clothing, but when the industry took a downturn, he decided to go in a different direction. He toyed with the idea of turning the building into a recycling facility or a paintball arena, but with his son they decided on a craft brewery.

Their signature beer, Lug Tread, was released 10 years ago (2006) on Canada Day.

The Italian bottling machine, originally built for bottling wine, can bottle 75-80 bottles per minute. Currently, Beau’s only produces 600 ml bottles of beer.

We had lunch from their patio (ate inside because of the chilly weather). We each had a Vietnamese Burger (pork and beef patty with ginger-chili glaze, mayo, cilantro and pickled slaw) and a side of Barley Salad (barley, roasted beets, and carrots with feta and a lavender-honey beer vinaigrette). Getting hungry??? It was delicious! And very filling…

We were then treated to a complimentary glass of beer after lunch. Before leaving, I turned in my Beau’s collected points. We were allowed above and beyond the allotted trade – Todd and I each got a shirt and Todd got a hat. Our visit to the brewery was excellent. All the staff treated us fantastic!

Dinner was a bit of a disappointment. We walked a distance for Thai food at a place that receives good reviews. We arrived at Talay Thai at 8:20PM, only to find the doors locked, even though the sign said they were open until 9, lights were on and staff were inside. Todd knocked on the door and we were told they closed early because they weren’t busy. Not happy, we just picked another Thai place on the way back. Food was only average.

On our last full day, we decided to go walking (actually, we have done a lot of walking each day…). We walked over to the Ottawa Locks that connect the Rideau Canal to the Ottawa River. There are eight locks located here.

We were lucky to get there just as 3 boats were waiting to transport through.

The water level has been lowered for transit to the next lock.

The 8 locks are still manually opened, just as they have been since they were built back for the first boat (a steamboat) through in 1831.

We continued our walk along the canal for quite a distance – a nice relaxing stroll away from traffic and crowds.

For lunch we walked to Chinatown. The grand entrance leads to a number of small restaurants and shops.

We ate at Saigon Boy Noodle House. We started with beef cold rolls to share, then Todd had the Beef Pho and I had BBQ Pork Pho. Flavours were great – the broth wasn’t salty like some Pho places and the soups were filled with lots of tasty ingredients.

After a lot of walking today…the Fitbit says 24000 steps, we headed back to the hotel to rest our feet.

Our last night was spent cheering on our BlueJays to another win !

Tomorrow morning the long drive back home and in 2 weeks we go back to Las Vegas to meet up with our friends Aline and Dave for more fun times !

Ottawa Adventures Post 1

Although, we both really like driving our new Leaf electric vehicle, we drove the truck to Ottawa…didn’t have the time to stop for charging along the way…. The drive was smooth, with a couple of stops (Todd made egg salad sandwiches for our lunch).

We are staying at the new ALT hotel in the heart of the city. It is built according to ECO friendly building standards. It is styled very modern and has a fun vibe.

For dinner we walked to El Camino – featured on “You Gotta Eat Here”. The place was packed and we waited about 30 minutes to be seated. Located on the basement level, it was dark, loud, and bustling with activity. I read the restaurant is named after the car of the same name, but no pics of El Caminos were on the walls. The theme was more Mexican revolutionary.

We shared a dish of chips and salsa – Delicious fresh flavours! Then Todd ordered an ox tongue taco and a fish taco. I opted for their el norte (chili) taco and pork taco. The order took a long, long time, so we were given complimentary crispy prawns wrapped in betel leaves…Todd enjoyed them. When the tacos finally came the fish and pork tacos were definite winners in the flavour category and worth the wait.

After dinner, we headed back to the hotel to wind down for the night.

Friday morning after coffee and Todd’s homemade breakfast cookies, we headed to Parliament Hill. We looked for Justin so he could have a selfie with us, but he was nowhere to be found. His loss…we took the selfie without him.

We got our tickets to tour Parliament, then wandered about the grounds until it was time.

Our Parliament is so impressive. The architecture, sculptures, and paintings are extensive.

After security, we got a look at the House of Commons (through the glass doors).

Just before we entered the Library, I got a call on my cell phone….TD Visa Security. Apparently, my credit card got compromised somewhere yesterday (Tim Hortons road stop???). The Library is overwhelming with more than 17 linear kilometres of materials including books, periodicals, government documents, CDs, and videos.

We did get to enter the Senate.

For the finale, we went to the Peace Tower. The day was clear and the views were fantastic.

Dinner was at the newly opened upscale Riviera restaurant. Same owners as El Camino, same car-themed restaurant name…no reference to the car at all though in the restaurant. The location on Sparks St. is in the old CIBC bank building…really high ceilings. We started with chicken liver pate, then Todd had the Black Cod and I had the Short Ribs (with way too many fries). The food was really good and definitely filling.