November 22, 2005

November 22, 2005

Las Vegas, Nevada

YEAR 2 DAY 158

 

Today was sunny and very warm. But, hey ... this is Vegas. Who cares ? Inside these huge casino hotel complexes, there is no sense of time of day, day or night. No clocks on the walls, no windows. Just keep pulling that handle, Bubba.

While walking The Strip last night, hawkers kept handing me coloured photo "business cards" advertising ( AHEM ) "private dancers". For only $69, they'll come right to your hotel room, and dance their little hearts out. Hey ... this is Vegas, remember ? For the special price of only $129, you can get 2 of them. I'll bet 2 at a time can really dance up quite a storm.

While looking through some tourist info booklets, I discovered some interesting facts about The Fountains of Bellagio. They are set in a lake of 8.5 acres. There are 1200 synchronized, choreographed, dancing fountains spanning over 1000 feet, shooting water 460 feet high.

WHEW ... we have just returned from walking The Strip, and sightseeing, for about 7 hours. Our feet ache and we're very tired.

This morning we walked down to the Main Street Station Hotel about a block away. It's their RV park that we're in. We went inside and wandered around. It's a very elegant old hotel, that was obviously the Las Vegas train station a long time ago. From Main Street Station we walked a few blocks down Main Street to Freemont Street, to wander around "The Freemont Experience" pedestrian mall. Freemont Street is now closed to vehicle traffic. The Main Street and Freemont Street areas are "old" Las Vegas. While everything is maintained well, and updated to today's glitziness, it's obvious that this was the Las Vegas of more than 50 years ago. We walked the length of The Freemont Experience pedestrian mall, perhaps about 10 blocks. We stopped for a Krispy Kreme donut, then headed back to our RV park.

We had intended to see a show today, but last night and this morning Joanne studied the tourist information we had picked up, and decided that there was too much she wanted to sightsee to allow us to attend a show. She had an itinerary and route planned. We had lunch in the trailer, then headed for The Strip. We drove to MGM Grand, and once again parked in their parkade.

We walked across the street, diagonally, which is a lot more effort and walking than it sounds like, to The Excalibur. We walked around The Excalibur's casinoand public areas until we found The Medieval Village stage we were looking for. An odd thing about all the casinos and hotels, is no point A to point B is a straight line. One has to navigate through slot machines, and gaming tables, and retails shops, to get to anywhere from anywhere. The entertainment that was supposed to be at The Medieval Village Stage wasn't there. Zero for one !

We found our way from The Excalibur back to The MGM Grand, and from there to the nearby Ethel M Chocolate Factory. What was supposed to be The Ethel M Chocolate factory was just a very small retail storefront. They happily provided driving instructions to their factory, perhaps 15 or 20 minutes away. Geeez ... it would take longer than that to walk back to The MGM Grand's parkade, and probably about that long again to drive out of the parkade. Zero for two !

We walked down The Strip to The Aladdin. There we found the retail shops area called Desert Passage. It was a significant sized shopping mall within the hotel. We walked around Desert Passage until we came to The Rainstorm. In the middle of the mall is a pond. Once per hour, there is a rainstorm. Clouds roll in, there's thunder and lightning, and it rains on the pond. I kid you not !

You have to give credit where it's due. The amount of imagination and creativity exhibited in Las Vegas architecture, landscaping, and fantasies, is astounding.

We continued walking down the Strip until we came to The Boardwalk. There we found an outdoor shopping area called Hawaiian Marketplace. The name explains the fantasy theme. I was already getting tired of walking, so I sat down and rested while Joanne shopped.

From there we walked over to The Bellagio. We timed our arrival so that we could watch another exhibition of The Fountains at Bellagio. Then we went inside. OMIGOD ! More grandeur than a 90 degree thinker like me could ever have imagined. We were going into The Bellagio specifically to see The Conservatory. It's an indoor horticultural conservatory that is impressive beyond description. Once every quarter, they change the seasonal theme of The Conservatory. It takes 100 people a week to do each changeover. The Conservatory is plants, trees, shrubs, and vegetables, turned into art. As we walked by The Bellagio's front desk, the wildly imaginative horticulture was evident again in the massive garden area behind the front registration counter. Behind the counter, not in front of it, so guests view it while registering. Joanne commented that if she ever got to the point of having unlimited funds, The Bellagio would be where she would choose to live. Without a doubt, it was the most impressive architecture, landscaping, and interior design we've ever seen. We timed our exit from The Bellagio to once again watch the hourly display of The Fountains. Water, lights, and music, choreographed and synchronized. I found it impossible to not have my mouth hanging open while watching this, even for the third time.

Whew ... the day was getting long and tiring by now. We walked over to The Flamingo, to walk around their inner courtyard Wildlife Habitat. A created jungle, with birds and fish. Very nice, but becoming difficult to appreciate at this level of fatigue. We needed to have supper already. We went inside The Flamingo, and checked out their menu restaurants and buffet restaurant. There were lengthy line ups, so I convinced Joanne we should go on to our next stop, The Mirage, for dinner.

We trudged over to The Mirage. We checked out their menu restaurants, and buffet restaurant. No line ups, but too pricey. We decided to walk back to The Flamingo < sigh >. We would return to The Mirage after dinner to see the attraction that brought us there.

On the way back to The Flamingo we decided to go into Harrah's and consider having dinner there. We chose their buffet restaurant. Relatively short line up, and somewhat reasonable price. Well, reasonable for Las Vegas. I expected meal prices to be low in Las Vegas. After visiting Chuckchansi Gold Casino & Resort in Coarsegold, California, I thought all casinos had cheap buffets to entice customers. Not so in Las Vegas. We had a nice dinner. Not great. Not cheap. We couldn't help but notice, a couple of tables over, an elderly gentleman and 2 hookers. They entered the restaurant through the VIP "comp" entrance. I wonder how much money an old man has to lose at the casino for the hotel to spring for dinner and a couple of hookers ? Immediately after dinner, Joanne began to feel ill. I don't know if dinner was the cause, or something else. She continued to become more ill as the evening wore on.

We trudged back over to the Mirage. We lined up on the street to watch their "volcano" explode. Very creative. Very well done. But ... it ain't The Fountains at Bellagio !

We dragged ourselves over to the nearest monorail station and indulged ourselves in a monorail ride back to The MGM Grand. We were a couple of miles down The Strip from The MGM Grand, and could not walk back. We searched the parkade until we finally found the truck. The parkade layout sure looks different at night, especially if you approach it from the monorail station instead of from inside the hotel. It wasn't embarrassing to be wandering around inside the parkade looking for the truck. The parkade is filled with people wandering around looking lost, looking for their vehicles. Looks like a scene from some cheap horror film spoof.

We drove back to Main Street Station's RV park, where Bo was desperate to be walked, and Teddy was desperate to be fed. After we took care of both of those, Joanne went to bed feeling quite ill, and I did today's accounting and journal entry.

Good night !

DSK