Vegas: Day 5

By the time I'd been there five days, I think I had Vegas Fatigue.

I've since been told that the first time you go -- and potentially EVERY time you go -- you should limit your stay to about three days ... or four, max.

HINDSIGHT, INTERNET.

Anyway, by this point I was pretty much ready to head to the airport and fly home, but of course Grayson was just getting going. One thing I WAS able to get excited about, however, was going back to Bouchon to try the chicken and waffles I'd missed a few days before.

Brunch on Saturday was much more crowded than it had been during the week, so we had to wait for a table. While we waited for them to text us to let us know our table was ready, we explored the nearby pool terrace.

We actually didn't have to wait for our table for more than five or six minutes, which was great. Once seated, we ordered some of their little beignets filled with homemade jams.

HEAVEN ON A PLATE.

When the chicken and waffles arrived, they were beautiful. 

Keep in mind, this was a dish I'd never eaten until sometime last year, but once I tried it, I really liked it.

I have to tell you, though, that I really preferred the French toast I had earlier in the week ... not that the chicken and waffles weren't good. They were! But that French toast ... I've never had anything else like it. It was SPECTACULAR. (But don't order it if you're not a "sweets" person.)

After we polished off our plates, we walked down The Strip to The Flamingo, where we'd heard there was a bird sanctuary.

Let me just tell you: I don't know what I expected, but it wasn't what we FOUND in there.

Inside that hotel, there is a GORGEOUS bird sanctuary and it doesn't make you feel bad for a single bird or fish IN IT. As a matter of fact, if you think about it long enough, you might get jealous.

Hands down, this was my favorite "free" thing we experienced in Vegas. Better than the people-watching

It's this gorgeous little oasis in the middle of The Strip, and you'd never even know it was there from the outside!

The koi were beautiful and the water was crystal clear.

It's incredibly peaceful in the bird sanctuary, too. You would never know you're smack-dab in the middle of one of the busiest streets in the world when you're tucked away back there.

There are several small waterfalls along the path that winds around outside, and the fish love to congregate right at the bottom of the falls.

The absolute HIGHLIGHT for me, though, was the set of friendly macaws that were there, having their pictures taken with people. OH MY GOODNESS, INTERNET. I'm not even a Bird Person, and LOOK:

Mid-afternoon, we left The Flamingo and walked back to The Venetian because we were meeting a new friend. I can't remember now if she reached out before I got there or once I was already there, but blog reader Leanna lives just outside of Vegas and said, "You're HERE? Can we meet?"

And I was like, "Sure! Why not?" Which I'm sure she now regrets to the core of her very being.

You know how you read about meeting people from the Internet and they're nothing like you thought they'd be and instead they're horribly boring, not at all funny and in general just an enormous waste of time?

Those stories were basically all written about me.

Like I said at the top of this post, I was SO DONE with this trip by this point in the week that I was barely hanging on. I haven't mentioned it to you guys yet, but other than the smokiness of the hotel, the only complaint I have about the property itself was the beds. The mattresses all cratered, and I slept really poorly every night.

I mention that because I was EXHAUSTED when I met Leanna. All we really did was hang out for a couple of hours and chat, but I remember leaning my head up against a wall at one point -- NOT because she wasn't interesting and kind, but because I could barely hold it up on my own anymore. IT WASN'T MY BEST SHOWING. Leanna, I owe you such an apology.

When she finally decided that she'd had enough of me, she offered to drive us down to the MGM Grand, where we were going to visit Television City. It's a research facility of sorts, and I think it's related to Nielson.

Did I hesitate for a moment before getting in the car of a blog reader I'd only known for a couple of hours? NO I DID NOT. Leanna just inspires that sort of confidence.

Grayson and I registered for one of the 60-minute research sessions, and while we were waiting for our time to roll around, we wandered around the shops.

Soon enough, it was time to hurry back and get in line to go into a room outfitted with a flat-screen TV and lots of iPads to view a CBS show and give our detailed feedback on it.

We watched the pilot episode of the new The Odd Couple, starring Matthew Perry and Thomas Lennon -- which I had already seen but was new to Grayson.

After it was over, we answered about 45 questions on the iPads that were provided, and then we were done! It was fun being part of the audience-research process, and I was also selected to perform some follow-up Nielson data collection once I returned home. #dreamsdocometrue

Later that night, we went to see Mystere, the Cirque du Soleil show, which was really good. We've seen four or five Cirque performances, and this one was one of the better ones, I think.

Okay, if I can manage it, I'll try to cover our last day in Vegas before this week is out. Hang in there!