Las Vegas May 2024: Part 1

May 31, 2024

Las Vegas May 2024: Part 1

I was slated to attend a conference in Las Vegas this week. Decided to travel with Abhay and Aai.

I have probably mentioned in earlier posts how my attitude towards Vegas has transformed over the years. In my twenties and thirties there was great attraction for the buzz that Las Vegas is famous for…the casinos, the shows, food and shopping. Slowly this began to fade away. Mostly there remained the excitement only for some favorite buffets. The pandemic wiped that away as well.

The hotel where this conference is held is right on The Strip ( Las Vegas Boulevard). Hence driving on the strip to get to the hotel was inevitable. But for the 3 days we stayed at the hotel I did not return to the strip except at time of leaving the hotel. Did not see any of the glitter and pomp of the strip during the night nor step even once into a casino, not even the casino in the hotel we stayed. And not once did the feeling come that something is missing.

Instead quite accidentally stumbled upon an interesting part of the city that I had not known or seen before! The Art District! I was actually searching for places to go out for dinner and found this Mexican restaurant with excellent reviews. It was a 13 minute drive from the hotel so I picked it. Tracing the directions brought us to the Art District. The Frank Sinatra Drive runs parallel to The Strip on the back side of the prominent hotels like Mirage and Bellagio, yet it is very much in contrast to The Strip. It is quiet, no pedestrian crossings, much fewer traffic lights and felt like a “ normal” no nonsense road to drive on. Onward to Sammy Jr road to Wyoming street and then Main Street! That’s it! We were in the Arts District!

The street was lined with murals on walls and many many good restaurants, antique stores and other interesting shops. The Casa Don Juan Mexican Restaurant is located on Main Street and has free parking for customers on its back side. The restaurant theme is based on the famous artist Frida Kahlo. The hostess was dressed in Frida’s attire and numerous Frida portraits hung on the colorful walls of the restaurant. Indeed for the short time we were there it felt like we were in Mexico City and not in Vegas. Their menu had ample choices for vegetarians, meat eaters as well as pescatarians. The shrimp fajita and fish a la Diablo we ordered were flavorful and satisfying. The guacamole and the special order habanero salsa made the chips more fun to munch on. And of course a Mexican meal cannot be complete without a margarita. Our server recommended the tamarind margarita over the mango one and truly it was one of the best I’ve had thus far. The dinner was beautifully rounded up with an excellent flan that the three of us shared.

It was getting dark by the time we walked out of the restaurant. Couldn’t walk around much that evening so decided we would come back the next day for dinner a bit early. And we did exactly that. This time I picked a place called The Art District Kitchen. It served mostly American food and housed a local brewery. Their menu had a section devoted to an exotic variety of fries. Tikka masala fries was tempting but decided to go for regular fries and that did not disappoint. Abhay and Aai shared a crispy cauliflower rice bowl and I digged into a fish( Swati) taco. The berry infused apple cider was intriguing. Abhay loved his beer too. After a long time I saw Abhay finish his beer two days in a row. He was really enjoying the evening outings. This time we did stroll around a bit admiring the murals and peaceful surroundings.

The day we had arrived in the city we drove to Henderson in search of Thai food. That place proved to be an excellent choice too. Nuc, the hostess, was sweet and helpful. Each dish we ordered was delicious and portions plentiful.

After my long days away at the conference Abhay and Aai seemed happy with these outings. It turned out to be a memorable trip to Vegas without the typical fanfare.