Wow, what a place!! We weren't sure how long to stay here as we weren't going to be gambling and didn't think the rest would take too long. BUT ...two and a half days was just right.
Las Vegas was developed and grew in the early 1930s to provide entertainment (casinos and showgirls) for the men who were building the Hoover Dam. When the dam was finished in 1935, and the men left, the new facilities were then used to attract tourists.
Freemont Street, now dilapidated, was at the centre of the original development and was the first paved street in Vegas, and the first to have traffic lights.
THE STRIP:
Las Vegas Boulevard is 'The Strip' where the wackiest, and tackiest, casinos and hotels are. Even today, the Strip is not 'incorporated', i.e. the businesses there pay no tax.
Walking the Strip takes longer than you think but is well worth the effort to get a real feel of the place.
Caesar's Palace:
Outside:
Inside:
We ate at the 'Trevi Fountain'.....................................
Believe it or not, all these pictures of the Venetian were taken indoors in what is a vast up-scale shopping mall inside the hotel/casino complex.
This is a 'canal' you're looking at.....
The Paris:
Treasure Island:
The Mirage:
.....but not the botanical hot-house.
Stratosphere:
You can be dull and boring and just go to the top to eat OR you can opt to swing from the top on a chain on the outside of the building. We actually saw people dangling!
After building this, Donald Trump was refused a licence to open a casino in it.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-19652918
Friday Evening:
We went to see the Bellagio Fountains.
Steve bravely agreed to head to north Vegas to Walmart. On the way, and in the shop, we saw a side of Vegas not apparent from merely staying in or near the Strip.
Fans of the Stephanie Plum novels by Janet Evanovitch will recognise this.
We were amazed by the number of pawn shops there are and the sizeof the queues we saw outside them.
Freemont St was obviously still touting for wedding business.
Saturday Evening:
We spent a lovely evening with Mary and John Harren., who also brought along their friend John who lives permanently in Vegas.
Mary is Sue's Uncle Tom's eldest daughter, and left Shrygarrow, Co. Longford for the US over 50 years ago. (Mary recalled meeting Sue as a child in Ireland). John, her husband, is a New Yorker whose parents were Irish. They live in San Bernadino but have a duplex just outside Vegas, where they spend the winter, and they had made a special 4 hour drive to meet us in Vegas.
We met at McCormick's and Schmick's just opposite Tuscany Suites.
Although we had never met before as adults, we had loads to talk about and the time just flew. Hopefully we will see each other again later on our trip when we will be near San Bernadino.
Everyone had told us we should try to catch a show while we were in Vegas, and as luck would have it Rod Stewart was on at the Colosseum in Caesar's Palace.
As we took our seats we'd been given dire warnings about no pictures or videos but we , like just about everyone else there, braved the officious attendants and snapped away. (After all, Rod had told us we'd paid so could do what we liked to enjoy ourselves...as long as we didn't strip.)
AND FINALLY......
How could anyone have thought it a good idea to name these shops?
Las Vegas has a weird approach to sex. Vans trawl the streets offering 'Girls Direct within 20 minutes' yet removing any clothes by the pool has to take it to the extreme and be closed off...at a price, of course.
What on earth is 'BEER PONG'?? Any suggestions? Please send them to us.
1 comment:
Surreal! Did you get me the pink gorrilla costume??? I bet it would look good on Dad!
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