Greetings from Las Vegas!

[vraiblonde]

Bright light city gonna set my soul, gonna set my soul on fire....



I am SO glad to be at an RV park that has clean bath houses and nice amenities! We're also right across the parking lot from Sam's Town casino and entertainment what have you. I don't gamble, so the casino itself is...who cares...but there is a movie theater, bowling, lounge acts, and an event venue (we're getting tickets for Friday's boxing event).

I have a list of stuff to do a mile long, and every time I talk to someone they give me more suggestions. Our RV park has a shuttle that takes us to three locations on the strip and downtown. Driving wasn't the nightmare I expected, it was pretty easy to get here, but that drive up 95 from Lake Havasu....talk about desolate. There was a bunch of traffic, otherwise you'd feel like you were on another planet. It's hard to picture dinosaurs stomping through Maryland, but you can definitely picture it out west.

Tonight after we set up we went over to the casino the scope the sitch and had deli sandwiches at one of the little restaurants, then we went for a swim. Tomorrow we'll jump on the shuttle and go see something.

I'm going to like it here!

 

[NextJen]

Make sure you take plenty of pics if you end up at the Elvis Chapel!

 

[b23hqb]

Is the Stratosphere still there? If so, ride the Big Shot. Best ride anywhere, especially at night. It will get your heart beating.

 

[vraiblonde]

Is the Stratosphere still there? If so, ride the Big Shot. Best ride anywhere, especially at night. It will get your heart beating.

Yes, and it is on the list!

 

[vraiblonde]

Today we went to Fremont Street - what a show. Not as many weirdos as I thought there would be, but the weirdos that were there were weird indeed. Not so much weird as just plain gross. Big fat barely clothed 70-something woman in a wheelchair - give her a couple of bucks and you can sit in her lap and get your picture made. (Monello wouldn't do it even though I said I'd buy)

Fremont Experience is what they call the section. It's covered so people can wander and gamble and sit on fat old lady laps without roasting to death. All the restaurants in that area and guess where Monello wanted to have lunch? WHITE CASTLE! He's paying for it now but it was really good at the time.

Our RV park has a shuttle but we decided to drive it and do the windshield tour, and traffic was surprisingly light. We found parking right away. It's also Monday afternoon, which is probably why it wasn't crazy crowded.

We did the Mob Museum, which was enormous and fascinating. I'm going to do a politics post about it here in a minute because it was quite enlightening, perhaps without meaning to be considering Las Vegas is a blue city in a blue state.

It's hot here, but breezy so it's not obnoxious.

 

[luvmygdaughters]

Yes, and it is on the list!

Hubby did that ride, by his self. No way in hell was I getting on that thing!!

 

[b23hqb]

Hubby did that ride, by his self. No way in hell was I getting on that thing!!

You ain't been to Vegas until you ride the Big Shot. What a hoot, and keep it on your list, unless you have heart problems. That's always a good cop out.

 

[luvmygdaughters]

You ain't been to Vegas until you ride the Big Shot. What a hoot, and keep it on your list, unless you have heart problems. That's always a good cop out.

unless you have heart problems; Funny, he didn't than, but he does now...hmm...any correlation... I wonder...

 

[b23hqb]

unless you have heart problems; Funny, he didn't than, but he does now...hmm...any correlation... I wonder...

I had no heart problems the last time I rode it, but would seriously contemplate riding it again, even with my current heart issues. Some things are just too fun to pass over.

 

[vraiblonde]

Today we went to the Strip where the big casinos/hotels and ritzy stuff is. It was surprisingly easy to get around by car and on foot - we parked right away (it's free to park at the hotels).

We had fun, but I have to say....I think Vegas is overrated. You should go once just to say you did it, but unless you're into gambling it's just another big city with big city prices. The hotels are super luxe on the outside with terrific architecture; on the inside they look like airport shopping/eating malls with a casino section. But we only went to a couple of them on the north end of the Strip, so next time we go we'll hit Paris and Circus Circus and might have a different experience. We drove past the Bellagio and it is IMMENSE! We saw a bit of the fountain show on the way past; next time I'd like to catch the whole show.

Vegas is surprisingly easy to get around, even in the tourist areas. In NYC, for example, you don't want to drive in midtown Manhattan - it's a mess of humanity and super congested, plus there is nowhere to park. You take a cab or the subway. In Vegas you can easily drive it no problem, and there is plenty of parking. There are also wide sidewalks so you can wander and stop at whatever store or bar catches your interest. Crossing the street is EZPZ but they also have pedestrian bridges as well (perfect vantage point for pics).

We had lunch at Hash House A Go Go, per @kalmd 's suggestion in the other thread, and I had the chicken and waffles she recommended:

It was enormous. Two breasts with wing attached, Nashville hot style, on top of perhaps the best bacon waffles I've ever had, and that stuff on top is crispy fried leeks (that the dish didn't need). Then you drizzle it with the lovely maple syrup. I ate some of it, Monello had a couple of bites, and I have probably 2/3 of it leftover.

Pics to follow:

 

[vraiblonde]

Inside Fremont Street, which is a sort of indoor mall type of deal:

Inside the Venetian (that sky is fake and pretty cool, and they have gondola rides on the canal):

The Strip - to the left is Las Vegas Blvd:

 

[vraiblonde]

You can see how wide the streets and sidewalks are:

There's a lot going on but it was surprisingly manageable:

 

[vraiblonde]

Yay! We doubled our money in Vegas!

Spent $6 on the video blackjack at the bar and cashed out with $14! I can quit now!

Honestly, I don't understand the attraction to gambling. If there's some skill involved, okay, but games of pure chance are for suckers and I don't get why people will sit there for hours feeding money into a machine. It's not even entertaining. Buy a credit, hit a button, game over. That's not fun. At least when playing video games there's a quest and something to achieve, and you get better at it as you play.

 

[Monello]

They even have slot machines in the grocery store. We go to the local Albertsons. First time we went there a few people were feeding the machines. Yesterday the room was empty. When I aasked the attendant where all the gamblers were at, she said that it always drops off at the end of the month. Around the 2nd of the month business will pick back up. This is because the Albertson gamblers are waiting for their monthly government checks, so they have money to gamble.

By government checks she means social security and welfare. Yep, welfare folks are taking their money and putting it all on red. Nothing wrong with trying your luck but it you are on public assistance and gambling, then do you really need a government check to make ends meet?

Just like the gift cards people got after hurricane Katrina hit NOLA. People were cashing those at casinos, liquor stores, tattoo parlors and someone even used theirs on a cruise ship.

 

[luvmygdaughters]

Yay! We doubled our money in Vegas!

Spent $6 on the video blackjack at the bar and cashed out with $14! I can quit now!

Honestly, I don't understand the attraction to gambling. If there's some skill involved, okay, but games of pure chance are for suckers and I don't get why people will sit there for hours feeding money into a machine. It's not even entertaining. Buy a credit, hit a button, game over. That's not fun. At least when playing video games there's a quest and something to achieve, and you get better at it as you play.

I love playing the blackjack machines at the bar. Put 10 bucks in, hit the button every 10 minutes or so and the bartenders wont charge you for the drinks!!

 

[jazz lady]

Yay! We doubled our money in Vegas!

Spent $6 on the video blackjack at the bar and cashed out with $14! I can quit now!

Honestly, I don't understand the attraction to gambling. If there's some skill involved, okay, but games of pure chance are for suckers and I don't get why people will sit there for hours feeding money into a machine. It's not even entertaining. Buy a credit, hit a button, game over. That's not fun. At least when playing video games there's a quest and something to achieve, and you get better at it as you play.

Went Sunday night to Ocean Downs outside of Ocean City to see her horse race and stopped into their casino, which is mainly slot machines. Lots and lots and LOTS of slot machines. We played for about 15 minutes and quit when both of us were ahead - me by about $12 and she had just won $99.

I don't get the attraction either of staring endlessly at a slot machine, either. A few minutes of it will last me for awhile.

 

[vraiblonde]

 

[vraiblonde]

Last night we went to the fights at Sam's Town. Nobody you've ever heard of but they put on a heck of a show. I'd rather do this than go to some megaevent at a major venue because the crowd is a lot smaller and the fighters work harder because they're trying to make a name for themselves.

Vegas is expensive, no lie, but you can find alcohol and entertainment on the cheap if you look. I mean, those $1.99 margaritas and 99-cent shrimp cocktails probably aren't a good idea, but there are plenty of places where you can get reasonably priced food and drink, and lots of free or low priced entertainment.

For example, a single ride on the monorail is $5. Once you get off, you have to pay to get back on, and they have pricing tiers depending on how many times you want to get on/off in a given period. But for $5 you can get on that monorail and ride it all over Vegas to see the sights, ending up at the station where you got on. Why you'd want to do this is because A) it's fun; and B) you can scope the sitch and make note of areas that look interesting to see them on the ground.

Another cheapo tip: Do not buy cigarettes at the casinos. At the Walgreens up the street from our KOA, they are $8 or so; here is what they cost in the casino:

Aspirin and other things of that nature, same - they are ridiculously expensive at the casino shop so bring them with you.

Today we're going to Hoover Dam!

 

[Monello]

Vegas is expensive, but it's a dry expensive.

 

[vraiblonde]

Another cheapo tip: parking at most casinos is FREE. And abundant. For some reason people choose to park at the pay garages, and I'm guessing those are the same folks who cash their paychecks at a casino, or shove their money into a slot machine, or buy cigarettes at the casino shop. Some casinos (Binion's on Fremont, for example) want you to validate or pay, in which case you simply get a drink or snack at the casino in question. But on the Strip you just go on in and park, no questions asked.