LISA & BOB:
Luxor, Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon Travelogue
Sunday, Oct 10
We weren't really ready to leave the hotel around noon, at which point we tucked our bags in with the hotel desk and decided to take a last walk around the strip. Our flight that night was a red eye, leaving at 11:30pm for Boston.
We went over into the Excalibur, with its stained glass and gold-rimmed lighting. We then went through New York, with its bright lights and loud music, and then crossed to the MGM Grand, glowing green as always.
We saw the lion lounging on its glass tube, people peering at it from below. This is a very bright casino, and loud. The sports book was exceptionally loud, with Sunday games getting into action. Right across from there we found a great restaurant, Ichiban, which I've reviewed. One of the treats there was the floating boats at the sushi bar, and the amaebi shrimp heads.
| We took the monorail from the MGM Grand over to Bally's, with its neat circle-tube entrance. We then crossed the street to the Bellagio, and began our new-casino exploring. |
This has a "Beauty and the Beast" feel to it - softly lit French kinds of awnings, in glowing soft gold and yellows. Very pretty. A glass-roofed shopping area was laid back and gentle.
Next, Caesar's Palace which was HUGE. The outside had statuary and elegant gardens - their pools in the back are legendary. Everything was quite and huge inside - black, gold, very elegant. They have a HUGE sports book and many statues inside. The second section became a bit more colorful, with pictures along the walls, but even so it was quite elegant.
We finally got out of the palace and entered the Mirage, with its white tigers and rainforest motif. This isn't to say it was all green - it was instead off white with pale leave everywhere. The ceiling was very low. This is where Spenser stayed in Small Vices and we got to see the wooden bridge that Hawk stood on, and the restaurant in the leaves.
Next, our final destination - Treasure Island which is still at the Mirage. This was the last main casino we hadn't seen, and it had the pirate show out front. The decor here was dark - dark woods, black iron, amber jewels set into the doors. We played some slots here, and Bob explained how the sports book worked. We played some video poker which was embedded into the bar counter. Very strange.
We somehow managed to miss the 4:00 pirate show, so now had to kill time until the 5:30 show. We went over and explored the Mirage a bit more, and although I wanted to see the "Secret Garden" with its panthers and such, Bob thought $10 each was a bit high. We did see some sparrows with pale stripes through their eyes. An emperor and empress doll were pretty to one side.
We did see the HUGE saltwater aquarium behind the Mirage's main counter, with yellow tang and tons of clown fish, even some sharks. We returned to the pirate cove and huge crowds gathered even 20 minutes before the show.
There was one ship to the left, the "bad pirates". When the show started up, they were laughing about having stolen gold. Suddenly, a huge British ship sailed in front of the town and challenged them. They had a war back and forth, with flames and cannon fire, and people falling into the ocean. Eventually the British ship was sunk, and everyone cheered. I thought this a bit bizarre!
Pirate Ship
We swung into the Rosewood, which used to be on the Wine spectator list - they had 23 lb lobsters there and numbered wine bottles in a stack. French black-tuxed guys were serving people; we decided to move on.
We moved over to the Mirage, and sat waiting for dark to fall and for the volcano to erupt. We sat there until 6:30, when it was dark but still no volcano. Across the street, the Venitian had gondolas floating out front, and the gorgeous curved bridge to the entryway. The Mirage had waterfalls, pools with dolphin statues, and a pair of mallard ducks. Hungry and running out of time, we gave up and moved back along.
We walked back in front of Caesar's Palace, the Bellagio. In here we saw the warped-glass plates that were the flowers in the main hall's ceiling - something a wife had told us we MUST see. Hmmm. We passed some run down stores, New York New York, and finally back to the Excalibur. This section had gold trim and lots of stained glass.
We hit there around 7pm and decided to eat at the Italian restaurant there. The waiter didn't know the wine list very well at all, but we ordered a bottle of Chianti that was light and fruity. The meal was delicious, and a pair of guitar players serenaded us.
We'd been told at the Mirage that my elusive "wine tower" I'd been hunting for was at Mandalay Bay, so we went through the Luxor and asked at the Mandalay Bay if this was true. Yes indeed! We admired the idnented ceilings and elegance here, with black, gold, white, and yellow decorations in a semi-tropical environment. There were elegant Faberge egg designs. We went past the House of Blues again on the way to the restaurant.
We walked into the restaurant and POOF there it was, the huge wine tower, that we stood at the top of. The restaurant was below us, and to get to it we had to walk around and around the tower. Tons of acrylic cubbyholes lined this tower, all holding various wines. Repelling ropes hung on each face of the tower, for the Wine Angel to use in acquiring the wines.
At the bottom, we waited patiently until someone ordered a wine. Sure enough, the Wine Angel entered the tower and climbed up!
| In this photo we're down at the bar, taking the picture up towards the top of the tower. You can see someone walking around along the outside stairway, and all the bottles lining it. It's pretty dark in there, so it's hard to get a good shot of it. |
We then went back, grabbed our bags, and headed to the airport. The lines were HUGE!! They stretched completely out of the airport. Everyone wanted to leave tonight. We finally got through the line and I slept at the gate while Bob found something to drink. THEN they claimed the weather in Boston was bad so they needed to lighten the plane's load. Even though the plane was overbooked, they forced over half of the passengers to stay behind.
They had to jump-start an engine (NEVER fly America West) and then we were off. One of the stewardesses was completely rude to a passenger while we were flying, helping keep us awake, and eventually we got into Boston the next morning around 8am, to hardly any weather at all. They had trouble getting the door open to let us off, and then took a huge amount of time getting our luggage to us.
What a trip!! I loved the Grand Canyon and all the exploration. I'd have worn my hiking boots all the time if I realized how much walking we'd do on the strip, but it was great seeing all the casinos. Next time (if there is one) I'd like to really try a few of the good restaurants and see what they're like!
Day 1 - Tuesday