Once upon a time there were two sisters. They grew up to become best friends. They each had a daughter, born only 13 days apart, who grew up as best friends. Thus they were dubbed by the family as the "cousintwins". Cousintwins grew and had many wonderful adventures together, too numerous, hilarious and priceless to describe. And then as cousintwins grew into adulthood, the shared summers ended and the adventures became fewer and further between.
Enough third person. My cousin and I, best friends since childhood, are still very close. We don't see each other very often and truthfully, have very little in common any more. But still, when we are together it's always wonderful, we talk and share as only best friends can and feel as close as ever. As kids, we spent every summer together. She lived with me for the month of June, I lived with her for the month of July. We spent Christmas vacations, spring breaks and family trips together and even managed a combined mother-daughter getaway every few years. Once we graduated high school, we no longer shared our summers but still escape for the occasional adventure.
So as cousintwin and I approached a significant milestone, our 30th birthdays, we decided we must celebrate and scheduled another mother-daughter getaway adventure. Dreams began big with thoughts of a luxurious cruise or an exotic beach somewhere. But with limited budgets, we reigned ourselves in and continued looking. I stumbled upon an idea and found exactly what we needed: The Tahiti Village Resort. Soon the hotel was booked, plans were made and the countdown began.
First I must clarify, you must be thinking, "Tahiti? How is that 'reigned in'?" The Tahiti Village Resort is in Las Vegas. But we figured we have good imaginations and we're pretty easy to please so for us, it was close enough.
This much, much needed vacation began on Wednesday evening. My mom came to pick me up (stopping to see our new almost ready house before we left), we handed off the girls to their Daddy and headed south. We drove for a few hours, talking leisurely, indulging in favorite road trip snacks and stopping as needed to stretch our legs (we even joked about how normally we drive strictly to the girls' schedule, driving as much as we can if they're content, only stopping when they really need it). After a few hours, we arrived at our "layover", which was my aunt's house to spend the night. Cousintwin met us there and we lounged around the house, talking with her sibling and crashing for the night. The next morning, we roused, finished packing, loaded up and went to breakfast. With the four of us together, our vacation had official begun. We did a little shopping, got pedicures (french tips for me, so classy and pretty!) and then headed out again, driving two more hours to our final destination of Tahiti. (in Vegas. but the "in Vegas" is silent.)
We arrived at our hotel, somewhat reservedly after having read very mixed reviews but immediately fell in love with the place. The resort is about ten minutes from the strip but one would never know it. There is no casino, none of the overbearing noise and crowds, but instead has a feeling of remoteness, relaxation and pure bliss. With much giggling and joking, we checked in, got our parking pass and settled into our room (a one bedroom suite), my mom and aunt taking the bedroom and cousintwin and I claiming the living room with the pull out bed. We immediately made our way to the lazy river and was amazed and thoroughly pleased with how nice it was. The river meandered gently, the area was lush with palm trees and other tropical plants, the cabanas invited us in and occasion tiki statues decorated the area. It really was quite convincing to make us believe we had just entered into a tropical paradise. After our brief visit there, we went to Tahiti Joe's, the on site restaurant. It was still early and fairly quiet in the restaurant (despite the dj's attempts to recruit people for karoke). We ordered virgin margaritas and one of the best burgers I've ever had before retiring to our room for chick flicks and desserts.
It probably doesn't sound very exciting. But it's exactly what I wanted and needed. Lazy afternoons by the river, floating, reading, sleeping and getting some sun. Evenings spent staying up late to watch silly, feel good chick flicks (which I rarely watch anymore) with my favorite indulgent treats. Delectable food at restaurants meant to relax and pamper it's guests. (and a few short shopping trips for the deep discounts at outlet stores and bargain shops to help decorate my new house and spoil my cute kids.)
Some highlights:
We tried out some restaurants we found using gift cards from restaurant.com. The first was Capo's Italian Restaurant. Upon our arrival, the place looked like a dive. It was dingy and run down, the paint was peeling and a simple, barely noticeable sign was all the marked the entrance. We stepped into an alcove, dimly lit with a door and doorbell on one wall, a pay phone on another and little else to suggest this was the place so highly recommended. I pushed the doorbell and waited expectantly. A voice boomed from one side, deep, harsh, with a thick Italian accent, "what do you want?" I gave our reservation information and he shot back "yeah I'll check with the boss", still with that thick accent. Suddenly the wall to our left, with the pay phone, swung open. I'm sure we stood gaping for a moment in surprise before we stepped inside to an honest-to-goodness speakeasy. The dark hallway gave away to a gorgeous banquet room. There were red leather booths, huge chandeliers dripping with crystal, black tablecloths and fine silverware set formal dining. The Italian mafia host led us to our table and the evening continued in wonderful, luxurious bliss. The food was amazing and the music was outstanding as a gentleman wandered around, singing to the accompaniment, songs and rhythms that fit the ambiance. Our server was good but our busboy was thoroughly charming as we joked about earning his family name. We finished off dinner with the best cannelloni I've ever had.
We also had breakfast at the Omelet House, a previously discovered favorite, never to be missed with it's generous portions and fantastic food.
Another restaurant.com card led us to the Crossroads House of Blues, within the Mandalay Bay. It looks and feels like a nicer, more classy Hard Rock Cafe but with much better food. I loved my swordfish, Aunt's ribs were melt-in-your-mouth tender and Cousintwin, despite our teasing, ordered the lobster mac and cheese which might have been the tastiest dish on the table. Plus we sampled their key lime cheesecake (my favorite) and the bread pudding (everyone else's favorite) before we wandered over to the Bellagio to admire their gardens and watch the fountains (always my favorite feature of the strip).
My mom and I attended an early morning temple session. It was a wonderful experience and breath-takingly beautiful.
We spent every afternoon at the pool. Without kids to chase, we alternated lounging poolside and drifting lazily down the river on the hotel provided tubes, narrowly avoiding the frequent waterfalls and thoroughly enjoying the ambiance. I took a book with me everyday and finished three novels before the weekend was over.
We made friends with a neighboring family. I brought cookie dough, mixed, balled and ready to bake but much to my dismay, our suite didn't have an oven. Our next door neighbors let us borrow their and we shared generously (much to their children's delight) and then enjoyed their waves and adoring "hellos" throughout the weekend.
I got to make a short visit to a long time friend from college and spent a few minutes touring his new business (a 3D family fun center, can't wait to take my kids) and catching up.
And on our last night, we attended the resort's Tahitian Luau. We went in hoping for decent food and a good show (having been spoiled with many, many Tongan luaus in my childhood) but the evening was more amazing that we expected. The food was great and plentiful and the dancers were genuinely impressive.
Monday morning came too soon, we grudgingly packed and loaded and bid farewell to my new favorite Vegas getaway. We made our way home, dropping off my aunt and cousintwin, and finally arriving home to a quiet house, eager to see my family and hear about their own weekend adventure to visit cousins.
