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hkellickSo, now that I have some extra time, let's talk about what we did on Monday.
After sleeping late and a breakfast at IHOP, K and I drove onto the strip a little after noon on Monday. Looking at all the things we wanted to do, I decided that parking at the Bellagio made some sort of sense. It was more or less centrally located and I REALLY wanted to see the fountains in action.
So we find the self-park area and park and go in. We then proceed to each blow $20 on machines. I want to say first and foremost that K is a dangerous gambler, a regular high roller ;) I'm busy playing penny slots and winning a couple, losing a bunch and K had already run out of most of her $20 way before me. But... that's OK. :) We didn't expect to win, just to play. :)
Having each blown $20, we walked over to Ceasars Palace, via the shops next to the Bellagio. Along the way was our first encounter with the "Girls Direct To You" advertisement. I'm not certain PRECISELY what they were offering, but... along the road were a bunch of trucks going by with a big billboard that said "Girls Direct To You" and a phone number. At first, I was amused... At first...
Anyways, so we get to Ceasars Palace, wander through and go to find the Forum Shops and catch the free 'Fall of Atlantis' show. We got there, and K started crashing badly, so we hotfooted out of there, grabbed food at a REALLY expensive food court sort of thing and then hottailed it back to Fall of Atlantis.. which was... cute, but not great.
From there, we headed through the Forum Shops a bit and wandered out to the Mirage, which was one of my two favorite casinos. I loved the theming. We went looking for the Volcano Show and the Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat. But the volcano didn't open yet.. and before we got to the Secret Garden, we got into.. a little bit of trouble.
A year ago or so, the wife and I went off to Walt Disney World for our honeymoon and there we saw La Nouba, one of the many Cirque Du Soleil Shows and we LOVED it. Absolutely LOVED it. Now... when we went to Vegas, we tried to tell ourselves we could survive the weekend without seeing another Cirque Show, even though there are BUNCHES..
.. but we are WEAK!
Once K had suggested that MAYBE we could go see a Cirque Show, the decision was made. The question was.. which one? Well.. K said she didn't have a preference.. but I did. :D I REALLY wanted to see "Love" because, honestly... I wanted to see how Cirque would work with Beatles tunes (Yes, I am an unabashed Beatles fan. I don't love them as much as OTHER bands, but I like them quite a bit.)... so.. we got tickets for the 9:30 showing that day...
... then K got in trouble. She felt, if she was off to see a new show, she needed something to dress up in... and that dress in the window of the shop in the Mirage was JUST the thing. It WAS a nice dress, honestly and looked good on her. While she tried on the dress, I got into trouble of my own, preemptively buying the Love Soundtrack (I knew I'd want it. I was right.) and a Video Tour of Vegas on DVD, which I haven't actually watched in it's entirety yet...
From there, we agree it's time to keep moving and seeing things. So the plan was to walk over to New York New York and go ride The Coaster... that was the PLAN.
Now, as you may or may not be aware, there's some big construction going on on the strip. There's a new casino going up next to the Bellagio, more or less just in front of the Hard Rock Cafe Casino going up next to the MGM-Grand. In front of the new Casino next to the Bellagio, was a passage put together with what looked like particle board and road barriers. This... was terrible. It was littered with cards from the "Girls Direct To You" hawkers who were EVERYWHERE snapping their cards at us, practically shoving them in our faces. Suddenly, the advertisement was no longer funny, no longer amusing. It made both of us seriously annoyed that these people with their cards were EVERYWHERE. The passage, as I said, was littered with them and it was HOT in there.. god awful hot..
Long story short.. we ended up stopping at the Monte Carlo along the way, just to get out of the heat. Again, we broke out the cash and hit the machines.
Once we were refreshed enough, we headed over to New York New York, which I ALSO loved.. the theming was great, inside AND out.. I loved the fake city inside and I loved the buildings outside. Unfortunately, the heat and the exhaustion was taking it's hold on me and when we finally found the Coaster, saw what it cost, knew that K wouldn't love it cause it went upside down and knew we'd have to put cash down to cover a locker instead for our backpack.. we said screw it.
From there, we went to the MGM-Grand. We really were only going in to see the Lion Exhibit. There were two Lionnesses inside. The handlers said the lion habitat was temperature controlled, soundproof and a bit of a vacation for the 20-some lions at a nearby ranch who, at one time or another, hung out inside. They proceeded to have the handlers go inside and play with the lions. The most amusing part was one of the lioness being prodded gently with a toy.. step, I guess.. and then grabbing it and holding it in exactly the same way Smokey and Cleo do to their favorite Catnip Banana. K got a few pictures and I got my first shirt at the nearby shop. :D
From there, back outside.. off to 'The M&M Experience' right next door, which is a four story shop full of M&M paraphernalia... shirts, posters, toys, collectible M&M stuff and lots and lots of candies, of course. We HAD to get something and ended up getting some 'fancy' mint chocolate M&Ms.
Meanwhile, inside the store, the bottom fell out for me.. which I fully realized as we got outside. Maybe it was heat exhaustion, maybe low blood sugar.. but once we got outside.. I just.. was in a bad place. Luckily, K was smart.. she led me over to a Hard Rock Cafe shop, thinking it was an entrance to a Hard Rock Cafe.. instead, it was the only thing there for what WILL be the Hard Rock Cafe Casino on the strip.. but we didn't know that til later. What they told us is that there's a shuttle nearby that will take us to the local Hard Rock Cafe, so K led me over there (did I mention I was in a bad place?) and we waited...
As I said above, I'd never eaten at a Hard Rock Cafe. K thought it was time to fix that. The food was pretty good. The atmosphere was excellent. I, of course, had to look around at all the collected rock paraphernalia; the guitar signed by The Eagles, the Drum head signed by Fleetwood Mac, the actual costumes of KISS up front. It was a good choice, and getting out of the heat and getting food and water did seem to make all the difference for me. I was definitely better after that. K did well with that choice..
We arrived back on the strip without alot of time to spare. Especially if we were going to catch the Volcano show at the mirage before the show. So we hustled a good long distance, through the drunken idiots and people hawking "Direct Girls To You" and other slow idiots, catching the show of the Bellagio Fountains (Watching the fountains do Elton John's "Your Song" was.. gorgeous.) and then running into the Mirage.. to see the line for "Love" was already huge.
So we skipped the Volcano Show, but we did see Love.
I liked Love. I agree with the wife that .. it wasn't as good as La Nouba. She called it Cirque Light and perhaps it was... there were times it felt like they were struggling to fit the Beatles tunes, and times they did it really well. But we both agreed we LIKED the show. Dunno if we'd do it again, but we liked it...
From there, we just went home, exhausted but happy. And that was Vegas, Baby!
We need to go back. To see the rest, to catch more, to see another Cirques Show. Dunno when, but we need to go back.
After sleeping late and a breakfast at IHOP, K and I drove onto the strip a little after noon on Monday. Looking at all the things we wanted to do, I decided that parking at the Bellagio made some sort of sense. It was more or less centrally located and I REALLY wanted to see the fountains in action.
So we find the self-park area and park and go in. We then proceed to each blow $20 on machines. I want to say first and foremost that K is a dangerous gambler, a regular high roller ;) I'm busy playing penny slots and winning a couple, losing a bunch and K had already run out of most of her $20 way before me. But... that's OK. :) We didn't expect to win, just to play. :)
Having each blown $20, we walked over to Ceasars Palace, via the shops next to the Bellagio. Along the way was our first encounter with the "Girls Direct To You" advertisement. I'm not certain PRECISELY what they were offering, but... along the road were a bunch of trucks going by with a big billboard that said "Girls Direct To You" and a phone number. At first, I was amused... At first...
Anyways, so we get to Ceasars Palace, wander through and go to find the Forum Shops and catch the free 'Fall of Atlantis' show. We got there, and K started crashing badly, so we hotfooted out of there, grabbed food at a REALLY expensive food court sort of thing and then hottailed it back to Fall of Atlantis.. which was... cute, but not great.
From there, we headed through the Forum Shops a bit and wandered out to the Mirage, which was one of my two favorite casinos. I loved the theming. We went looking for the Volcano Show and the Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat. But the volcano didn't open yet.. and before we got to the Secret Garden, we got into.. a little bit of trouble.
A year ago or so, the wife and I went off to Walt Disney World for our honeymoon and there we saw La Nouba, one of the many Cirque Du Soleil Shows and we LOVED it. Absolutely LOVED it. Now... when we went to Vegas, we tried to tell ourselves we could survive the weekend without seeing another Cirque Show, even though there are BUNCHES..
.. but we are WEAK!
Once K had suggested that MAYBE we could go see a Cirque Show, the decision was made. The question was.. which one? Well.. K said she didn't have a preference.. but I did. :D I REALLY wanted to see "Love" because, honestly... I wanted to see how Cirque would work with Beatles tunes (Yes, I am an unabashed Beatles fan. I don't love them as much as OTHER bands, but I like them quite a bit.)... so.. we got tickets for the 9:30 showing that day...
... then K got in trouble. She felt, if she was off to see a new show, she needed something to dress up in... and that dress in the window of the shop in the Mirage was JUST the thing. It WAS a nice dress, honestly and looked good on her. While she tried on the dress, I got into trouble of my own, preemptively buying the Love Soundtrack (I knew I'd want it. I was right.) and a Video Tour of Vegas on DVD, which I haven't actually watched in it's entirety yet...
From there, we agree it's time to keep moving and seeing things. So the plan was to walk over to New York New York and go ride The Coaster... that was the PLAN.
Now, as you may or may not be aware, there's some big construction going on on the strip. There's a new casino going up next to the Bellagio, more or less just in front of the Hard Rock Cafe Casino going up next to the MGM-Grand. In front of the new Casino next to the Bellagio, was a passage put together with what looked like particle board and road barriers. This... was terrible. It was littered with cards from the "Girls Direct To You" hawkers who were EVERYWHERE snapping their cards at us, practically shoving them in our faces. Suddenly, the advertisement was no longer funny, no longer amusing. It made both of us seriously annoyed that these people with their cards were EVERYWHERE. The passage, as I said, was littered with them and it was HOT in there.. god awful hot..
Long story short.. we ended up stopping at the Monte Carlo along the way, just to get out of the heat. Again, we broke out the cash and hit the machines.
Once we were refreshed enough, we headed over to New York New York, which I ALSO loved.. the theming was great, inside AND out.. I loved the fake city inside and I loved the buildings outside. Unfortunately, the heat and the exhaustion was taking it's hold on me and when we finally found the Coaster, saw what it cost, knew that K wouldn't love it cause it went upside down and knew we'd have to put cash down to cover a locker instead for our backpack.. we said screw it.
From there, we went to the MGM-Grand. We really were only going in to see the Lion Exhibit. There were two Lionnesses inside. The handlers said the lion habitat was temperature controlled, soundproof and a bit of a vacation for the 20-some lions at a nearby ranch who, at one time or another, hung out inside. They proceeded to have the handlers go inside and play with the lions. The most amusing part was one of the lioness being prodded gently with a toy.. step, I guess.. and then grabbing it and holding it in exactly the same way Smokey and Cleo do to their favorite Catnip Banana. K got a few pictures and I got my first shirt at the nearby shop. :D
From there, back outside.. off to 'The M&M Experience' right next door, which is a four story shop full of M&M paraphernalia... shirts, posters, toys, collectible M&M stuff and lots and lots of candies, of course. We HAD to get something and ended up getting some 'fancy' mint chocolate M&Ms.
Meanwhile, inside the store, the bottom fell out for me.. which I fully realized as we got outside. Maybe it was heat exhaustion, maybe low blood sugar.. but once we got outside.. I just.. was in a bad place. Luckily, K was smart.. she led me over to a Hard Rock Cafe shop, thinking it was an entrance to a Hard Rock Cafe.. instead, it was the only thing there for what WILL be the Hard Rock Cafe Casino on the strip.. but we didn't know that til later. What they told us is that there's a shuttle nearby that will take us to the local Hard Rock Cafe, so K led me over there (did I mention I was in a bad place?) and we waited...
As I said above, I'd never eaten at a Hard Rock Cafe. K thought it was time to fix that. The food was pretty good. The atmosphere was excellent. I, of course, had to look around at all the collected rock paraphernalia; the guitar signed by The Eagles, the Drum head signed by Fleetwood Mac, the actual costumes of KISS up front. It was a good choice, and getting out of the heat and getting food and water did seem to make all the difference for me. I was definitely better after that. K did well with that choice..
We arrived back on the strip without alot of time to spare. Especially if we were going to catch the Volcano show at the mirage before the show. So we hustled a good long distance, through the drunken idiots and people hawking "Direct Girls To You" and other slow idiots, catching the show of the Bellagio Fountains (Watching the fountains do Elton John's "Your Song" was.. gorgeous.) and then running into the Mirage.. to see the line for "Love" was already huge.
So we skipped the Volcano Show, but we did see Love.
I liked Love. I agree with the wife that .. it wasn't as good as La Nouba. She called it Cirque Light and perhaps it was... there were times it felt like they were struggling to fit the Beatles tunes, and times they did it really well. But we both agreed we LIKED the show. Dunno if we'd do it again, but we liked it...
From there, we just went home, exhausted but happy. And that was Vegas, Baby!
We need to go back. To see the rest, to catch more, to see another Cirques Show. Dunno when, but we need to go back.
