I'll be dammed

For some reason, I was determined to see the Hoover Dam before we left Las Vegas. It's been blisteringly hot all week, but since that didn't seem likely to change (and we leave tomorrow), we got up early this morning to hit the desert before shit got really hot. It was a short drive from Vegas out to the dam, and we drove across it (mostly so we could say we did, since it'll be closed to traffic once they finish the new bypass). I went to Arizona! I've never been before. It seemed pretty similar to Nevada, and we drove back across to park in the garage. I took a ton of photos, and thoroughly enjoyed myself. Except for all the sweating and the breathlessness from the heat. Aside from that, good times.

We came back to the hotel, and I pretty much passed out for an afternoon siesta. And then, J.R. took me to dinner at Craftsteak (due in part, at least, to his serious man-crush on Tom Colicchio). I've been to Craft in New York and it was fabulous, so I was prepared for a similar experience. And I was not let down. Shaved fennel salad, roasted chicken, potatoes au gratin, some kind of Brentwood corn dish that was so crazy good I wanted to cry. (Apparently, they can only get the corn two months out of the year. So far, the only reason I would come back to Vegas in July.) At one point, when I realized J.R. and I had been silent for quite some time (focused on our food), I said, "Don't distract me with your meaningless words." And then once I'd eaten until I was near death, I topped it all off with monkey bread with a brown sugar and banana ice cream. J.R. got the ice cream/sorbet sampler, and I tasted his maple bacon ice cream (it tasted like bacon) and the pineapple chili sorbet (had a little kick). Oh, man, it was all so good, I need bigger pants.