Las Vegas in three days.

They say the only way to really experience Las Vegas is to put on your most comfortable shoes and hit the Strip. Thats exactly what we did
for three days despite the extremely hot weather. Our typical day started out around 9am with breakfast either at Circus Circus or one of the many inexpensive eateries nearby. Then a leisurely walk checking out the hotels and casinos, generally a late lunch (if at all) then dinner at a casino buffet, followed by another stroll taking in the night sights and lights. On Wednesday we took a break from the casinos and purchased a 24 hour bus pass for $5 which allowed us to get on and off at any one of about 30 stops. We chose to go to the newest factory outlet "city" known as Las Vegas Factory Outlets on the outskirts of Vegas. Very very interesting with fabulous bargains. The Strip has changed considerably since our last visit 11 years ago and in fact will continue to change as older hotels are torn down and bigger, better and more palatial hotels take their place. As an example, in 1995 we stayed at The Hacienda on the southern end of the Strip, which at that time was about 10!
years old. Today there is no sign of it - the opulent and sprawling Mandalay Bay stands on that site. Caesars Palace, an institution in Vegas has been upgraded and expanded to the extent that it now occupies an entire block and the blocks in Vegas are huge. The Sands, the former playground of Sinatra and the Rat Pack is currently no more than a massive construction site, with unbelievable steelwork covering the entire block, presumably a new "Sands" under construction. However, our favourite was without doubt the exquisite "Wynn", a simple ultra modern curved amber glass high rise dominating the skyline with its simplicity. No gaudy neons flashing, just very very impressive, both inside and out. The owner, a single guy named Steve Wynn originally worked for the Stardust hotel/casino. He subsequently bought it, sold it, then built and sold Treasure Island resort hotel, followed by the construction and sale of "The Mirrage", then the "Bellagio". Each subsequent resort hotel!
/casino being bigger and better than the previous one. His ultimate, i
n which he has incorporated all the best features in a tastefull manner gained from experience along the way is the "Wynn". Interestingly his prices for drinks and food are quite inexpensive, compared to most of the other so called "top notch" resorts.
Wedneday night we went to a live show, "Le Follies Bergere" which was fantastic. Thursday night we went into Fremont Street in downtown Vegas to the light spectacular show where they project video clips and a fantastic light show onto the concave roof which extends for a complete block over Fremont street mall.
As I write this we are in flight, bound for Boston on the east coast. The 4-1/2 hour flight loks like being extremely interesting and eductional for us as we are seated next to an American 8 year old girl, Shelby, who is traveling alone and has adopted Gail already. The conversations between the two of them are hillarious. Shelby is certainly an outgoing chatterbox with big blue eyes and is constantly correcting Gail on the US/English language. eg. Trash - not rubbish. Her parents are "parted" not seperated. She is not on a holiday - she's on vacation, and on and on it goes. I never thought I would see Gail learning the intricicies of Gameboy, especially when she had planned to catch up on some reading or sleep. We purchased an inflight Fun Pack containing chocolates and other fun things to share betwen the three of us, she is now in control of that and we are getting the odd hand-out of Twinkies from OUR box. We're now constantly readjusting her reading light and air flow -!
oh well, nice to be appreciated. Bye for now, Shelby has just jamed her earplugs into our ears.... stop laughing, it could happen to you one day.
Kevin & Gail.
www.asdlaska-2006.blogspot.com

------------------------------
Sent via PocketMail
Email Anywhere
www.pocketmail.com