Vegas revisited

Now it wasn't all doom & gloom in Vegas.

Liz got a lot of shopping done at an outlet mall near some place called Whisky Pete's. We actually dropped her there then drove on into Vegas and checked into Circus Circus. Later Liz caught a coach into Vegas and met us at the Bellagio for the buffet dinner. Then we walked The Strip and ended up riding the Monorail north to the end of the line where we turned around and rode it all the way back south. It was pretty late but we got to see all of the lights of the city from the Monorail, so that was cool. We also watched the Bellagio's water & lights show in the artificial lake which fronts their hotel.

Saturday we rode the bus down The Strip for $5 each for a 24 hour pass. JE was free so that was a bonus. We stopped at some mall near Treasure Island, then jumped back on board the bus and rode it down to Mandalay Bay where we toured the Shark Reef. They have handheld units not unlike chunky old cell phones that you can listen to as you walk around the aquarium. The sad thing was the almost constant reminder to turn in your "wand" as Mandalay Bay called them. It would seem as though Vegas is not Sin City but Souvenir City. The wake up call was when we got up Saturday morning and the Do Not Disturb sign was missing from our hotel door. Actually prior to that was the conspicuously absent TV Remote Control. Then again, a previous occupant of the hotel we stayed at in San Diego had stolen the batteries from the TV Remote Control...but at least they left us the remote.

Saturday afternoon we wound up in a mall near Aladdin. It was an amazing mall. The ceiling was painted to resemble the sky, with fluffy white clouds, and as you walked along looking at the stores your eyes tried to tell you that the clouds themselves were moving. It was very realistic. One part of that mall was made out to look like an Italian village complete with a fountain, and every half-hour on Friday, Saturday & Sunday there is a rainstorm in that section of the mall complete with thunder and flashes of light(ning). For the next five minutes the "rain" pours from sprinklers in the ceiling into the fountain accompanied by real rain sounds. Very cool.

Afterwards we rode the bus back up to our hotel where we caught the 9pm Circus performance. I was a bit disappointed that it was nothing more than a 5-min solo trapeze artist/aerial dance act. I would have thought there would be more of a show, at least something for 15 minutes or so. We grabbed a late dinner from the McDonalds located inside the Hotel and took it back to our room where we watched a movie then fell asleep.

Sunday was a lazy buffet breakfast, then a mad dash to get the hell out of Vegas before the traffic. Well you can't beat the traffic (unless you leave the day before) because a lot of people have the same idea and leave early on Sunday, but obviously the later you leave the longer it will take you to get back home. We made it back to L.A. in around 3 hours or so. A respectable time.

We'll go back one day, when the kids are older...maybe when they're old enough to look after themselves for a day or two ;)