This is part two of my Vegas trip post. Click onward for the details.
[singlepic id=366 w=320 h=240 float=right]We had purchased tickets for the “CSI Experience” at the MGM Grand which was on the other side of the strip so on day 2, we walked down to that hotel and were ready to become crime scene investigators. It took what seemed like FOREVER to get to the exhibit. Let me tell you, we went in one door and after 20 mins of walking we made it there. VERY annoyed having to walk SO far to get to it. But, we got there, got our clipboards and picked out our crime scene and went in.
It started with a little video from the creator of CSI and then an “intro” from Grissom. We then proceeded on to our crime scene where it all began. Ours was a car that had crashed into a house with a man dead behind the wheel. We followed along as we were told to and did the things we were supposed to but really, it was kind of lame. There was a LOT of stuff around about the show and real CSI’s, plus a ton of video of various cast members “talking” to you about things to look for. That stuff was kind of cool but the actual case itself was a little lame and too easy to solve. Kind of understandable since it has to be for everyone but it was mostly reading and following computer prompts to solve the case. Still though, it was nice to try. Glad it wasn’t TOO expensive. One highlight was getting to see a recreation of Grissom’s office from the show.
From there I had wanted to go see the famous “Las Vegas” sign. This is a sign just outside the strip that is very well known and many people get their photos taken there. I knew by my research that it wasn’t too far from the Mandalay Bay hotel. We got a shuttle tram to that hotel and then we originally thought about walking but then decided to cab it. Our cabbie was nice enough to come out and snap a few photos for us and then he took us back to the Mandalay Bay.
Tamara had wanted to see the Shark Reef Aquarium that was at this hotel. It was the only real thing there that we were interested in so we went in and followed the signs. We walked, and walked, and walked some more, then some more, then by a bunch of hands/asses/boobs in the wall, and then walked some more, then finally made it there. By the time I got there I was SO mad at how far we had to walk that I wasn’t too keen on going at all. Then we found out it was $17 a person and Tamara had thought it was free. We didn’t want to walk all the way back through the hotel so we went out the exit by there and found ourselves wandering through some back parking lot until we got back to the strip and started walking back towards our next destination: The Luxor.
[singlepic id=337 w=320 h=240 float=left]You may or may not know this, but I have been fascinated by Egyptian “stuff” since I was in the 6th grade. The only reason I wanted to go to this hotel was because it was a giant pyramid and was Egyptian themed. We took a pile of photos and even had lunch in there. The food was not very good but the casino/hotel/stuff was very cool. Nice recreation of many of the themes from Egypt including the Sphinx and the eye of Ra. Tamara got some real nice photos of me, her, and other stuff around there. There had been an episode of Fear Factor where contestants had to slid down the side of the hotel. I really wish that was actually available for people because man it would have been real awesome to slide down the side of a pyramid. Another point to note is that at night, the top of the hotel shoots a VERY bright beam of light out the top of the pyramid. This light can be seen all around the strip. VERY cool.
[singlepic id=334 w=320 h=240 float=left]From there we got a little detoured in trying to take the tram back to the Excaliber where we had got on in the first place. Regardless, we got back there, snapped a few pictures of the area, then went across the street to the New York New York hotel. Now, the outside looked pretty cool as it has recreated many of the iconic buildings of Manhattan. Inside it was really just another casino with some shopping. We did however go there because I wanted to find out about the roller coaster that was there. I decided that I didn’t want to pay the money they were asking for the ride and seeing as we’ll likely go to a real coaster park in the future, we could skip this one. No worries, we did a bit of shopping and picked up some VERY special gifts for our moms as a thank you for taking care of the kids. They’ll get those on Christmas.
[singlepic id=340 w=320 h=240 float=right]We figured we would walk back down the strip towards our hotel making some stops along the way. There were plenty of little stores and other things to check out. We popped into the M&M store which was four floors of nothing but M&M stuff. There was a LOT of stuff. T-shirts, keychains, bags, candy, luggage, pillows, blankets, towels, and you name it, they had it. Tamara bought some measuring cups and some chocolate while I just browsed. We then hit up the Coke store which was next door and I got a vintage Coke sign for my office. Haven’t hung it up yet but I think it will look nice.
It being the second day, our feet were getting a little sore and we were getting a little tired so we decided to head back to the hotel and get a little rest. I knew that I wanted us to hit the Fremont Street Experience that evening so it seemed logical to get some rest before heading downtown. We relaxed in the hotel for a little while, then got a cab ride to our next destination.
We arrived at the OGC and spent an hour there before heading to Fremont. It was $100 VERY well spent and that’s all I’m going to say 🙂
[singlepic id=373 w=320 h=240 float=left]If you’ve never heard of Fremont Street in Vegas, it doesn’t surprise me. Most stuff you see for Vegas is all about the strip but this was one place I knew I wanted to visit. It’s basically a 5-6 block stretch of street that is covered by a giant TV screen which displays a laser/show of sorts every 30 minutes. The one we sat and watched was all about aliens invading earth and being fought off by the military. It’s all animated with music and you can see it from everywhere on the street. All the business lights turn off and it is just part of the street show.
There are a TON of little shops, casinos, and even a strip club or two that can be seen along this stretch of road. We walked around and had some food at one of the casinos where once again I had shitty service for my food. Bad enough that we left no tip. 25 minutes waiting for a steak. I was not a happy man. But it filled the void and we managed to stick around to see a few things. Among those things, some woman dressed up in some sort of cocktail/dancer outfit, a magician, a Halloween themed band (which did a great cover of Thriller), and one of the acts from America’s Got Talent. Me and Tamara remembered seeing them on the TV show because the guy juggled three running, REAL chainsaws. Very cool act but seeing them live showed WHY they didn’t win or go much further. They had a DVD which was supposed to be their intro and it kept failing, the music kept repeating itself, the MC had no idea what he was doing. It was quite embarrassing actually. We left because it was getting so lame.
After spending some time there, we decided to catch the “Deuce” (which I then renamed to the Douche because it was SO lame) to get us back to our hotel. It’s basically a bus that runs up and down the strip and to downtown so people have an easy ride to and from but the problem was that it was SLOW. We gave ourselves over an hour to get from downtown to the hotel. We HAD to be there for 10pm because we had show tickets for 10:30. By 9:30ish, we still hadn’t even got a quarter of the way there so we bailed on the bus and got a cab who got us to our hotel in plenty of time. For future reference, cabs in Vegas are CHEAP and worth it.
Our evening ended with an attendance to Cirque du Soleil’s “O” show. This was the whole reason why I got this trip for Tamara; so she could see Cirque du Soleil. We had front row tickets, literally. We were in the very first row at pretty much the center of the stage. We could have tripped the performers as they ran by us at several points. Since it was a water based show, we even got splashed a little bit. But it was all worth it.
Let me tell you this, of things I paid a lot of money for in Vegas, the hotel was #1, and this show was #2, and the show did not disappoint and I would gladly pay it again without question. It was UNBELIEVABLE! These guys are amazing. The acrobats, dives, and dancing they did was just phenomenal. It was also funny at times which I did not expect. It was somewhat interactive with the crowd too. So much so that Tamara actually caught something one of the performers through out into the audience and we’ll be bringing it to the cottage to hang on one of the bedroom walls. We picked up a program for it so we have some nice pictures to keep the memories fresh. If you have the chance, GO SEE O!
When that was done, we changed, and gambled. Didn’t lose much either. When all was said and done, we went to bed and were ready for our last day.
