The Vegas Experience

We have spent the time since our Grand Canyon visit trying to get in shape for a trip to Las Vegas. I have been concerned about Diane as she's been losing weight and getting weaker since our trip started. We've worked the last few weeks to get her strong enough to continue. A trip to Vegas was both an incentive and a test of how well she's doing. She came through OK but we realize that we have a tighter set of boundaries to work within than we had first anticipated. With that said, mostly as an explanation of our lack of a posting, here's how Vegas went.

We left on Sunday morning and got to Vegas about 3:30, just after it had stopped raining. We had reserved a Select Room at the Stratosphere for two nights.

This hotel/casino is located in the North Strip area about midway between the Fremont Street area (the old downtown) and the more modern strip with all of the bigger casinos. That tower has a revolving restaurant and an observation deck at the top. It also has a ride that hangs you out over the edge and a Sky-Jump where you can jump off the edge and land over 800 feet below.

Here's a look at the ride peeking over the edge on the left and the platform you can jump from on the right. Here's a guy in mid-leap:

Funny, I didn't have any urge to follow him.

The casino has several restaurants ranging from a McDonalds up to the "Top of the World" upscale one in the tower. We had an excellent dinner at the Italian themed one on the casino floor, Fellini's. They even had creme brulee, our favorite dessert.

I wasn't sure how we would get around town but we wound up taking the bus. The RTC bus system has stops located close to the hotel and a 24 hour pass was $7 each. We rode the double-decker buses called "The Deuce".

I like watching "Pawn Stars" on TV and since it is set in Las Vegas, I looked up the address of the shop itself. It turned out to be on the same street as the hotel, Las Vegas Boulevard, about a mile up the road. So, on Monday morning, I left the hotel early and walked up to see it. While the pawn shop function is open 24 hours a day, the showroom is only open from 9 to 9 so I didn't get a chance to see the inside.

The shop is set in a district of storefronts advertising bail bonds, title loans and tattoos. Las Vegas is a town best viewed late in the day when the bright lights and glitter enhance the fantasy that is the town's main business. In the cold light of morning the scene is stark and gritty, filled with discarded come-on cards and the homeless  sleeping in the alleys and on the park benches. I returned to the hotel to clean up and get ready for the day.

We took the bus down to the middle of the strip and got off at the famed Bellagio, hoping to see the iconic fountain in operation. Unfortunately, this was as close as we got:

Maybe it was being there in the daytime, but many of the attractions were being worked on while we were there.

Just to the North of the Bellagio lies Caesar's Palace, so we wandered in there to see if it lived up to its' reputation. Well, here's the lobby in front of the registration desk.

The place is huge and complex, with a great many restaurants, hallways and gaming rooms, and with a huge parking garage out back. They have the top entertainment, including Elton John and Celine Dion (at up to $250 a ticket). Of course, if you'd like to pick up a little something, there are the Shops at the Forum.

They feature the likes of Armani. Tiffany, Prada and a host of others. Here's a look at the inside:

They also had an Apple store, a SONY store, Swarovski and Baccarat crystal, Breitling watches and other brands that I hadn't even heard of. I never saw so many  leather purses. But I never did find anything very attractive, even if I had that kind of money. The mall runs along the North side of the casino and then wraps all across the back and I'm sure it's over a mile long. And when you get to the end, they want you to retrace your steps all the way back to the front. We found an exit and ducked out of the crowds only to find ourselves lost in the parking garage and had to return to the casino and wander around until we found the front door again. After that exhausting trip we returned to our hotel to clean up and rest for the evenings excursion.

The alternative to the strip proper with its enormous casinos and stunning performances is what is called Downtown, or The Fremont Experience, in what was the old center of the casino district to the North of the strip.

In this area they have taken the last three blocks of Fremont Street and closed them to traffic. There are several of the old casinos here including the Golden Nugget. The last two blocks of the street have been roofed over with a mesh dome.

After dark, the mesh is used as a screen upon which are projected images that correspond to the loud music being played through the speakers which also line the  dome. The effect is dazzling and people just stand and stare. It's really very neat.

Heading from East to West into the mouth of the dome is a zip line. A long line of people were waiting after having paid their $20 for a few seconds of thrill.

Now, that I could do!

We had dinner at Binions, another casino that's popular with the cowboys when the pro-rodeo is in town. It was good but not as good as Sunday's dinner. Then we wandered the area picking out some souvenirs. I was getting tired of walking so we stopped at an Irish pub, Henningers, so I could rest with a tall glass of Guinness. Directly across the street from the pub is the Heart Attack Grill. This place has made a name for itself by claiming to offer the burger with the highest caloric content in America. They also have milkshakes with the highest butterfat content. They have an ambulance parked outside to rush heart attack victims to the hospital and the waitresses are dressed as naughty nurses. They advertise that anyone over 350lbs eats free. They get a lot of reactions, including quite a bit of outrage.

Then we took a last turn around the block only to find that one of the stages inside had come to life with a cover band call Rock Candy. They were very good. Four guys and four gals really giving a good show.

Then it was time to board the bus one last time and make the trip back to our room. We had a really good time, saw some neat stuff and ate some good food.

Now we'll hunker down for a while. We're house sitting for the month of August while our hosts attend a family reunion back East. I'm going to play rancher for a while, feeding three horses, three dogs, four cats and a tank of eleven goldfish that sits outside. Let's see, if I feed the fish to the cats and the cats to the dogs... naw, that wouldn't sit very well. Besides, it'll be fun.