Vegas: Redeems itself

So after the terrible anniversary night, I was pretty annoyed with Vegas in general and was not happy at all. The day after our anniversary, we decided to walk up and down the entire strip. Roughly ten miles all in all. In hind sight, it was not the best thing to do (seeing as I had blisters the size of my finger on both feet from the aforementioned killer heels), but I wanted to see all the casinos and walk through them.

The day started off well with me winning four dollars on the slot machines (wahoo!) but it's charms quickly wore off (read: I lost all my winnings in other slot machines) as my foot started hurting more and more. I've also had trouble with my left foot having pain when I walk (which I've since found out was a subluxed cuboid bone pressing on nerves and tendons causing sharp pains every time I step on it but recently remedied).

By the end of the day I was pooped and we didn't even make it into Caesar's Palace, Bellagio, Mirage or Treasure Island. We did get to see the Bellagio fountain show (which was incredible), the Mirage volcano show (which we saw from across the street and wasn't as incredible) and the Siren's of TI show (which was interesting, but lame at the same time).

That night, Matt tried to find somewhere to eat that was close and cheapish and after a few minutes of Urban Spoon-ing and Yelp-ing, he found this place called Ricardo's and decided to give it a try. We arrived at the restaurant (which from the outside sort of reminded me of a Chili's in terms of size and shape) and when we were being seated, Matt asked to be away from the kitchen. Now, what Matt meant was he didn't want the odor of cooking shellfish to make him uncomfortable. What the host interpreted was that we wanted something quiet and secluded. He took us to a little booth in the corner where there was no one else around (save for a few police officers who left a few minutes after we sat down).

Our waitress was polite, prompt and very considerate. I always take forever to order and sometimes you can tell that it annoys the server. She, however, did not miss a beat. Matt told her about his allergy which she carefully noted and when our food arrived, even made a little joke about him ordering the shrimp special. She was present, but not hovering, and the food was out pretty quickly. We also ordered guacamole as an appetizer to go with our chips and the three incredibly delicious (and obviously homemade) salsas. I ordered the enchiladas racheras and Matt ordered the chimichangas.

I cannot adequately express to you how delicious my meal was. I am not, in general, a big fan of mexican cuisine. I have to be in the mood for it, or it has to be prepared by Eduardo (our friend from Charlotte). But this enchilada was smothered in a delicious sauce (that wasn't your typical tomato sauce) with cheese and refried beans. As always when a restaurant offers chips or breads before your meal, I filled up on the chips and salsa, so I had a hard time making a dent in the plate, but dang it I tried my very best! It was hearty and cheesy and the beef inside was tender and incredibly flavorful. It was called machaca I think and I have no idea what it means, but I think it roughly translates to "the best tasting shredded beef you'll ever put in your mouth".

And even though there was a small TV right at our table, it wasn't too distracting and Matt and I had a great conversation. I remember saying to Matt at one point that this was the dinner we should have had on our anniversary. The food was great, the service didn't suck and I could actually hear Matt without him shouting at me.

We left happy and full and drove back to the hotel with the windows down, enjoying the warm night air. So, after Ricardo's, I didn't think Vegas was all that bad. Is there such a thing as an anniversary do-over, because that's what happened, even though it wasn't intended. I'm so glad we went.