Awesome time on our anniversary!!

              
                 SO we just got back from a two night stay at Harrahs Southern California Resort in Valley Center. We have been to Vegas like 4 times the past year and decided we were kinda over that whole scene and the long drive. This is only 30 minutes away if that and we had more fun here then we have at Vegas! The crowd is better. Older crowd. Calmer. 

Checking in

                 We got there around 4 and checked in. Check in was at 4 so it was perfect timing. The line wasn't very long and as soon as we got into the building it felt like we were at some nice resort far away from home. Very clean. Very quiet. After checking in we went up to our room which was in their Dive Tower. Which has been redone :) We overlooked the pool. She asked if we wanted a pool view and we jumped on it. We actually thought that the dive tower automatically came with a pool view.

The view from our room:

The Buffet

               The first night we ate at the buffet. Now on a side note I will say that our lifestyle of eating fruits and veggies went out the window during this trip. Only because we ended up having two things to celebrate which I will get into the other one later. ;) Anyways back to the buffet! It was quite pricey. 25$ a person. But once we got in we saw why! It had everything you could ever want in a buffet. Better then the Vegas ones. Usually I am disappointed with the buffets a lot of the time only because they make it look big then when you actually get down to it its just split in half and its the same on either side. This wasn't! It had everything you could ever ask for. Even a full salad bar and fruit bar. Crab legs up the wazoo! Sushi and shrimp too. Each section was divided by the type of food. Mexican, Italian, Asian, etc. So here come some of the food pictures. I didnt take a picture of my main dish only because I felt so bad that I was eating Prime Rib.... Yes they had prime rib there too.

Also the room had a shower and separate tub and the tub was huge!! The first night we grabbed a bottle of wine and had a glass while chillin in the nice hot bath!

Casino

              So now comes the Casino. While I am not a big gambler, my hubby loves to gamble. That first night we pretty much lost everything trying to find the right machine. Hubby loves wheel of fortune. And of course they only had one machine and there was always someone on it. We finally got on it but it was 1.25 a spin so it took our money like it was nothing. The next morning however we were able to find the right machine. The guy next to us put 20 bucks in and won 300 bucks. And at 30 cents a spin and it played all lines we were good to go for a long time on 20 bucks since it would actually give back. So all in all we liked the casino.

The pool

                Ok so here comes my favorite part!!! The poool!!! After the renovation at the hotel people have been raving about the pool. So if you know anything about me, as long as there is a pool I am happy :) There is actually 3 different pools. All 21+. The lazy river is awesome! Only down fall is since they keep the kids in this section it can be not so lazy. But since we went during the week there was hardly any and the ones that were there we very respectful. The tubes are provided. They have 2 waterfalls, 2 rapids, 1 cave, and some fountains in the lazy river. And the water in all the pools was so refreshing. Not warm but not cold. The two pools we stayed at were the one with the swim up bar (of course!) and the one behind it that had a waterfall which was actually a hot tub but the water was just a tiny bit on the warm side so it felt more like pool. To the right of us there was another adult pool and we didn't even go over to cause we got there at like 1pm and there was no one there so we were able to get a little couch thing right by the bar pool. Now if you know me well enough you know I am not a huge drinker and on occasion I will have a glass of wine or a cocktail. But here I had about 3 different drinks which for me, was a lot. I had a Mai Tai of course! A margarita on the rocks, and a creation they made up they called gods blood. Which was sierra mist, blood orange mixer, and a shot of some alcohol which I don't remember. The bartenders were awesome. They got a great tip from me. Bobby was awesome! Shout out to you! Ok pictures of the pool! 

So I wanted to thank the awesome people from Vista for lending my hubby a cigar cause he totally forgot about his Cubans from the Bahamas. They were super nice!

                 Everyone we met was super nice and welcoming. Even the staff was super nice. And like I said the bartenders were awesome! And of course gave us all the free waters we wanted :) 

                 All this relaxing and drinking was making us hungry. All we had that morning was my chai latte and his coffee and a little danish from Starbucks. (of course they had a Starbucks there) Attached to the pool was a little Mexican restaurant called Ritas Cantina that we got some tacos from and hubby had a burrito. Very good! You can also order from the bar which we found out after going into Rita's but its right there, so no biggy.

Room Service

                 That night we were so tired from all the relaxing we did. lol jk. But we did stay all day at the pool. So I think the sun took it out of us. We had planned on eating at Fiore. The nice steakhouse there but by the time we got up to the room we were spent. So...room service it was! And it was good!!! I was surprised at the portions. I ordered a quesadilla...I know...horrible... the cheese... ick. Then hubby ordered steak and eggs. A side order of fries (bare with me) and a chocolate fudge cake! (I know we were sooo bad!!) The cake was ridiculous in size!! So we ate everything but the cake. We were so full that we couldn't even touch it. So we brought it home. The next morning we just checked out on the tv in our room after playing some more slots at the casino.

The Cafe

                 Our final morning we ate breakfast at The Cafe. Just small little restaurant they have there that was decently priced. We were able to eat for 24 bucks. :) Nothing too great to talk about. It was kinda like a Ihop.


                  Well thats pretty much our vacation in a nutshell. Highly recommend this resort to everyone in the Southern California area for a quick getaway. It was nice meeting all the locals. People from Vista, Oceanside, and even some from Redondo beach.

Thanks for reading!!!