Las Vegas: In Review
In June I had a chance to go to Las Vegas for the first time. I wasn't really sure what to expect as I had never been so far west before. The first thing I noticed getting off the plane was how hot it was there. It was 105 degrees when I arrived. I have since learned to enjoy the dry heat of that part of the country.
The first day was spent mostly inside the hotel as I was adjusting poorly to the heat. At night however it was time to wander the strip. I saw the Sirens of Treasure Island show that night. It was very interesting to watch the skit. It involved a lost pirate who found himself in the company of some very beautiful women who had a fight to pick with his pirate crew. There was a little bit of acrobatics but nothing too intricate, still I recommend seeing it once.
The next day we went out to see the Hoover Dam. We rented a 2012 Mustang convertible to drive there. I must tell you that I really want to purchase a Mustang now that I have driven one around. The car drives so smoothly it was incredible. The dam itself was more massive than I would have thought. We saw a short movie describing the construction of the dam. Interestingly enough the dam is 770 feet tall and 600 feet wide at the bottom. We then wandered around and looked at all of the exhibits. We had gotten the last tickets of the day for the tour of the inner workings of the dam, sadly the elevator broke down and we were not able to complete that part of the tour. The temperature was 112 outside (quite toasty).
In the evening we had dinner at a restaurant/casino called Ellis Island. If anyone is going to Vegas soon I highly suggest eating there. It is located almost two blocks directly behind the Paris hotel. Their is a dinner that doesn't appear on the menu called the steak special. The special is a steak, potato, vegetable, and a pint of a beer of your choice (they brew the beer onsite). I ended up choosing a dark lager to drink with my meal.
On Tuesday it was time for a day trip (14 hours) to the Grand Canyon. The method of transportation was a coach bus complete with an awesome driver. On the way down we watched educational videos about the canyon and the area. The canyon by the way is up to one mile deep in places, quite a ways to fall don't you think? I was impressed by the scale of the canyon, pictures do not give it justice. It is one thing to see the pictures; it is completely a different thing to stand there with the canyon stretching out in all directions from you (including down). I didn't really get as close to the edge as I wanted to with the fence in the way. I ended up finding a place on the South rim close to Bright Angel Point to climb the fence and climb down to a lower shelf and get some amazing pictures. I will not forget looking over the edge of the cliff and see a shear drop off all the way down to the bottom of the canyon. Thankfully I didn't fall over the edge and I even managed to stay sunburn free! By the time we returned to the strip I was too exhausted to go out and enjoy the nightlife.
Wednesday was the major strip wandering day. We ended walking up and down the strip from the morning to the evening. There were lots of interesting shops that sold mostly the same old souvenirs to tourists. However I was able to find some really cheap shot glasses at a walgreens for a dollar. That evening we went to see a Cirque Du Soleil show in the MGM Grand. The show was KA and I had not seen a show like that before. We were told the stage was constructed, then the seating was placed. The show was really entertaining I would like to see a few of the other shows they put on.
Thursday was a pretty relaxed day. Mostly a day for wandering the strip buying souvenirs and playing blackjack. We also went to see the show Legends in Concert. It was a concert with impersonators for Tom Jones, Michael Jackson, Lady Gaga, The Blues Brothers, and Elvis. The acts were all entertaining and it was good music. I had to laugh when Lady Gaga had her skit, as the audience was mostly comprised of elderly folk who I could tell had no idea what to think of her outfits/music. After the show we hit up Fremont Street which is essentially old Vegas. When I go back to Las Vegas I am going to do all of my gambling on Fremont street, there were $3 blackjack tables there, plus there were go-go dancers everywhere and I mean EVERYWHERE. Anyways I ended up in a casino called Fitzgeralds and had some martini's and played blackjack for the night. Oh and the entirety of Fremont is covered with a giant LCD screen which plays light shows to music every half and hour or so, not to mention a zipline going from one side to the other (Who thinks of an idea like that) which was pretty fun to watch.
Friday was the day I had to return to reality, sadly. The trip was amazing though and I wanted to be back the moment I returned to Wisconsin. If you want to see any pictures you can see them here. I will be booking a return trip sometime in the future.
The first day was spent mostly inside the hotel as I was adjusting poorly to the heat. At night however it was time to wander the strip. I saw the Sirens of Treasure Island show that night. It was very interesting to watch the skit. It involved a lost pirate who found himself in the company of some very beautiful women who had a fight to pick with his pirate crew. There was a little bit of acrobatics but nothing too intricate, still I recommend seeing it once.
The next day we went out to see the Hoover Dam. We rented a 2012 Mustang convertible to drive there. I must tell you that I really want to purchase a Mustang now that I have driven one around. The car drives so smoothly it was incredible. The dam itself was more massive than I would have thought. We saw a short movie describing the construction of the dam. Interestingly enough the dam is 770 feet tall and 600 feet wide at the bottom. We then wandered around and looked at all of the exhibits. We had gotten the last tickets of the day for the tour of the inner workings of the dam, sadly the elevator broke down and we were not able to complete that part of the tour. The temperature was 112 outside (quite toasty).
In the evening we had dinner at a restaurant/casino called Ellis Island. If anyone is going to Vegas soon I highly suggest eating there. It is located almost two blocks directly behind the Paris hotel. Their is a dinner that doesn't appear on the menu called the steak special. The special is a steak, potato, vegetable, and a pint of a beer of your choice (they brew the beer onsite). I ended up choosing a dark lager to drink with my meal.
On Tuesday it was time for a day trip (14 hours) to the Grand Canyon. The method of transportation was a coach bus complete with an awesome driver. On the way down we watched educational videos about the canyon and the area. The canyon by the way is up to one mile deep in places, quite a ways to fall don't you think? I was impressed by the scale of the canyon, pictures do not give it justice. It is one thing to see the pictures; it is completely a different thing to stand there with the canyon stretching out in all directions from you (including down). I didn't really get as close to the edge as I wanted to with the fence in the way. I ended up finding a place on the South rim close to Bright Angel Point to climb the fence and climb down to a lower shelf and get some amazing pictures. I will not forget looking over the edge of the cliff and see a shear drop off all the way down to the bottom of the canyon. Thankfully I didn't fall over the edge and I even managed to stay sunburn free! By the time we returned to the strip I was too exhausted to go out and enjoy the nightlife.
Wednesday was the major strip wandering day. We ended walking up and down the strip from the morning to the evening. There were lots of interesting shops that sold mostly the same old souvenirs to tourists. However I was able to find some really cheap shot glasses at a walgreens for a dollar. That evening we went to see a Cirque Du Soleil show in the MGM Grand. The show was KA and I had not seen a show like that before. We were told the stage was constructed, then the seating was placed. The show was really entertaining I would like to see a few of the other shows they put on.
Thursday was a pretty relaxed day. Mostly a day for wandering the strip buying souvenirs and playing blackjack. We also went to see the show Legends in Concert. It was a concert with impersonators for Tom Jones, Michael Jackson, Lady Gaga, The Blues Brothers, and Elvis. The acts were all entertaining and it was good music. I had to laugh when Lady Gaga had her skit, as the audience was mostly comprised of elderly folk who I could tell had no idea what to think of her outfits/music. After the show we hit up Fremont Street which is essentially old Vegas. When I go back to Las Vegas I am going to do all of my gambling on Fremont street, there were $3 blackjack tables there, plus there were go-go dancers everywhere and I mean EVERYWHERE. Anyways I ended up in a casino called Fitzgeralds and had some martini's and played blackjack for the night. Oh and the entirety of Fremont is covered with a giant LCD screen which plays light shows to music every half and hour or so, not to mention a zipline going from one side to the other (Who thinks of an idea like that) which was pretty fun to watch.
Friday was the day I had to return to reality, sadly. The trip was amazing though and I wanted to be back the moment I returned to Wisconsin. If you want to see any pictures you can see them here. I will be booking a return trip sometime in the future.
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