Since the beginning of it’s run on the Food Network, Susie and I have always been fans of the show Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives.  About 10 years ago, we enjoyed an episode where Guy featured the World Famous Coffee Cup Cafe in Boulder City, Nevada, a family run locals place, featuring great food and warm friendly surroundings.  Of particular interest was their Pork Chili Verde which was featured on the show.  Susie and I made note of the place, and on our visit to Vegas the next year, we made our first visit to the Coffee Cup.  Since then it has been a staple of our Vegas visits, and we have gone for breakfast every year.

Tuesday morning, we checked out of the Rio, and drove the half hour or so to Boulder City and the World Famous Coffee Cup!  The drive takes a lot less time these days than it did on our first visit 9 years ago, because more of both the 215 and the 515 Interstates have been completed.  The Coffee Cup and Old Town Boulder City, however, look exactly the same!  As per our usual routine, Susie ordered the Huevos Rancheros, and I had the Papa Con Chili Verde.  As usual, they were very good, but Susie thinks the portions may have shrunk just a tad, which is fine, as they were still huge!  

An added bonus this year….there was some kind of film crew wrapping up their shoot at the restaurant as we sat down, and Susie asked our waitress what was up.  We thought it was a kind of Kismet when she said that the crew was there to film an episode of Guy’s Show, Triple D Nation, where they go back and take a look at some of the restaurants that have been featured on the program over the years!  No Guy this time, but we are looking forward to seeing this episode on the TV in the future!  If you’d like to take a look at the place and their menu, here’s their web site.      http://www.worldfamouscoffeecup.com

After a great breakfast, we used Boulder City to do some tasks we needed to do.  First, we stopped at the Wells Fargo bank to get some funds, then we stopped at the Post Office to mail some boxes home.   A brief stop at the self service car wash was next to wash off some of the bugs on the windshield that had given their life during our trip to Las Vegas, and finally a couple of minutes at CVS to pick up a couple of things Susie needed.  Jobs done, it was time to move on to our next stop of the day, Red Rock Canyon!

The first time we ever came to Las Vegas was in 1999 to celebrate our 20th Anniversary.  We came in August, and I’ll always remember the flight attendant’s announcement as we landed, “Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to Las Vegas’ McCarran International Airport where the local time is 6:23 PM and the temperature is 106 degrees”.  WOW…what was it like at noon, I wondered!?   Well, we found out as we did a lot of exploring that first year, not content just to spend every hour in a casino, and one of the places we visited was Red Rock Canyon!  We were so taken with Red Rock, that every time we’ve come to Las Vegas (including when we’ve come multiple times a year), we drive the 13 mile scenic loop in the Canyon, and this year was no different.  One difference this year was that usually it is HOT at Red Rock…even if we’ve come in the fall.  This year, there were clouds, and the temperature was hovering in the high 60s.  Quite the change for us.

Susie also reminded me that Red Rock Canyon is indirectly responsible for our living in Ocean City.  It was many years ago, sitting on a wall at the Red Rock Visitor Center in the dry heat, looking out at the canyon, that I said to her, “I could retire here.”  Those words, started a chain of events that led to us buying a house in Las Vegas to get into the expanding real estate market.  After picking out the lot, and the house style, and having it built, we spent 3 nights in it, and then rented it out for the next 18+ months.  Towards the end of those 18+ months, our focus changed to owning something in Ocean City, and it was the substantial profit we made on selling the Las Vegas house, that provided the downpayment for 854 Pennlyn in Ocean City. So ultimately, no Red Rock Canyon, no retirement in Ocean City.  You really never know where life will lead you, do you?

After finishing our drive around the scenic loop, we went down the road to the Red Rock Resort and Casino, where we had a reservation for a comped room for the next two nights.  This resort, a the Station Casino, has only been open a few years, and it has always been someplace we’ve liked to go to eat and gamble.  Last year we stayed here one night, and this year we’d hoped to spend 3 nights, but they were booked Monday night, and we ended up at the Rio.  The rooms are very nice, and the view of the mountains and Red Rock Canyon are incredible.  See for your self.

We had a great dinner at the Noodle Bar (sorry…can only provide pics of already eaten food) and a couple of Lychee Martinis (yum), and then gambled a bit.  

We were a little disappointed because the machines didn’t seem as nice to us as they had been in past years.  Perhaps they are joining some of the Strip Casinos in making it harder to win.  We hope not, as we do love this casino, but who knows.  I’m sure we’ll try them again the next time we are here and see what happens.  We’ve always said that it’s not just the slot machine, but a combination of the person and the slot machine that have to be on the same wavelength.  Perhaps it was us this year!

Still dragging our asses, we headed to bed and made it another early night!