Friday 16 January 2015 Las Vegas

Last day today. Another late start to a quiet morning. We only got the oatmeal at McDonald’s this morning, and then went for a cannoli crepe at NY NY. The cheese filling had a hint of orange flavour. I liked it a lot, but Celeste wasn't a big fan. She does not care much for unmelted chocolate chips.

On the way to our bus stop we ran into this character that Celeste has been looking for.

We rode the bus to the Miracle Mile so we could use our 2 for 1 coupon (Yes, another one.) at Sin City Craft Brewing and then returned to our place with minutes to spare before our bus passes expired. We made a short shopping trip to Mandalay Bay on the internal tram and then returned to our room to unload and rest up.

We both had short naps and then set out for a little more exploring. On our first day we had gone to check out the pool, but it was closed due to the cool rainy weather. So today we decided to check it out for future reference. There are four pools and a couple of hot tubs. There is also a small water slide. 

We grabbed a burrito from the nearby Mexican fast food kiosk and then headed out to take some pictures of mundane things that we had not covered yet. We then went for more 2 for 1 draft beer and some sweet potato fries at the Luxor before returning to our room to start getting ready for an early morning departure tomorrow. We were thinking we might go out later to one of the two Irish pubs with live bands that are within walking distance, but, when the time came, our get up and go had got up and went.

Some observations over the last week:

There are numerous trucks with advertising billboards on them that run up and down the strip all day and evening. Here are some examples.

Most places are landscaped with xeriscaping or with fake grass.

Here is the tram that runs between the Excalibur, Luxor, and Mandalay Bay.

Our hotel, the Excalibur, has a Camelot theme in appearance, in naming of features, and its primary show – the Tournament of Kings medieval feast and combat show.

We have a good view of the busy airport. It is almost like an airshow with lots of tourism helicopter traffic to Hoover Dam, the Grand Canyon and other sites in the area.

Our bus passes provided access to two different bus routes. One, the Deuce, was a double-decker that runs from downtown to the South Outlet Mall. The other, SDX (Strip-Downtown Express) runs from the South Outlet Mall, past downtown to the North Outlet Mall and makes many fewer stops. It is a diesel-electric hybrid.

I am not sure what these two were up to, but they were hanging around on the Fremont St. Mall the other day.

Thursday 16 January 2015 Las Vegas

Late breakfast at McDonald’s again. The breakfast there has lots of protein, but it is also a bit high on fat and carbs. The fruit in Celeste's oatmeal is pretty minimal, so today we decided to balance our meal a little better with an apple and banana from the drug store down the street. Then we hopped the bus to Circus Circus. They have free circus acts there throughout the day beginning at noon. We watched a trapeze artist, then toured around and came back to watch a juggler. We tried to check out the AdventureDome (the kids amusement park), but it is closed Thursdays.

Next stop was at the Miracle Mile because we had a coupon (Sound familiar?) for a free beer with the purchase of a lobster roll at LobsterMe. I have had lobster rolls before – cold lobster with mayonnaise in a stale hot dog bun – and I have always been disappointed. I didn't know it was possible to make lobster plain. But this was chunks of lobster dipped in butter and served between two layers of delicious toasted bread. It came with really nice coleslaw and handmade potato chips. Delicious! The picture cannot do it justice. We topped it off with 2 for 1 pretzels. (There are pretzel shops everywhere here.)

On the way back to our place we stopped at Hershey’s Chocolate World for one of the brownies that have been taunting me all week. It was too big for the two of us in one sitting, so we took it back to our room and ate half.

After a short rest, managing some pictures, and blogging, we grabbed our jackets and headed out for the evening. First we explored Caesar’s Palace for a while. Nearby, Celeste ran into Mario and Luigi and her old pal Chewy. (Inside joke.) 

We arrived early at the Bellagio for our show and caught another version of their water ballet.

Then we made our way to the theatre for “O” and found ourselves seated beside another couple from Calgary.

We were here several years ago and I really wanted to see this show because it was so highly rated, but we didn't go. Maybe we couldn't get tickets or maybe we were just too cheap – probably the latter – but I am sure glad we saw it now. I had very high expectations and they were met and exceeded. It may have been the best show we have ever seen. There are spectacular acrobatics, gymnastics, diving, synchronized swimming and more all wrapped up in unsurpassed artistry and staging. I can’t even begin to grasp how someone could conceive all the artistic and technical details of such a huge production. Sometimes there was so much going on you did not know where to look. We bought the “cheap” seats in the balcony. We might have missed some details, but we had a super view of some other elements, such as what was going on under water.

We had some New York pizza by the slice to finish off the night.

Wednesday 14 January 2015 Las Vegas

Breakfast at McDonald’s again today: oatmeal with raisins and apples for Celeste; scrambled eggs, sausage slice, hash browns and a biscuit for Glenn, with sharing back and forth. Then we used another coupon for breakfast dessert at Cinnabon.

We gave our bus passes a good workout today. Celeste has been trying to find 36x36 cargo pants for me in stores at home and online, but without success. She was determined to find them for me here. We caught the bus to the South Outlet Mall where we unsuccessfully checked out half a dozen or more stores. They also had Disney and Carter’s stores that attracted Celeste’s attention. From there we rode the bus to the North Outlet Mall. We did not play close attention to the time, but we must have been on the bus for over an hour. We got quite a tour of the town, even though it was an express bus, and saw some of the less glitzy parts of town. We found pretty much the same stores in the North mall, so we just did a quick walk around.

On our way back to the strip we stopped on Fremont Street – old Las Vegas – which was updated several years ago into a covered mall. Having seen two of the world’s top magicians in the last few days, I have picked up a few pointers, so I levitated this guy we found on the mall.

Our next stop was at the Fashion Show Mall on the strip, but, again, the stores were all pretty much the same, so we did not stay long. From there we went back to our room for a short rest and to get our jackets for the evening.

The weather has been great since the rain on our first full day. Daytime highs are about 60 F or 15 C. It is pretty comfortable with long sleeves, but a bit cool with short sleeves, especially in the shade or if it is breezy. We definitely want our jackets in the evening. One seller outdoors in the North mall asked "Are you from Canada?" I figured it must have been the short sleeves because everyone else was wearing jackets. A couple of sellers recognized my 'Rider hat on the first day before I bought a new Las Vegas hat. And I have seen a few people around wearing 'Rider gear. 

For supper we went to MGM Grand and used our 2 for 1 Häagen-Dazs coupon. Hey, we are not at a health resort! From there we caught the bus to the Bellagio where we took in their water fountain show. 

Our intention was to then go to the volcano attraction at the Mirage and the pirate battle show at Treasure Island, but the volcano was down for maintenance and the TI security guard told us that the pirate show was cancelled years ago. I guess that is why we could not find it in any of the guides.

We decided to stop in at the Venetian to check out the gondolas. We wandered around for quite a while, asked for directions a couple of times and, after some more wandering, found the area. We wandered around there for a while and found their mock-up of St. Mark’s Square. I am usually pretty good at knowing my directions but, by this time, we had no clue where the exit was. We wandered some more, asked for directions another couple of times and finally found our way out of the maze. On the plus side, Celeste had an encounter with Johnny Depp.

We hopped back on the bus to our place and split a burger before bed. I guess we should have had a more substantial supper.

Tuesday 13 January 2015 Las Vegas

There was a fire alarm this morning at 6 am. There was an announcement to stay where you were until they had determined the cause. A few minutes later they gave us an “All clear.”

We had a fairly good breakfast at McDonald’s again this morning (Really! I mean it.), but it was all downhill after that. We first crossed over to New York NewYork where we bumped into one of the twins’ favourite personalities.

We then stopped at the Hershey store for some pretzels dipped in chocolate and caramel, 

and then we wandered on to the Miracle Mile Mall again. Celeste noticed that they offered a coupon book for AAA/CAA cardholders. Armed with the coupon book, we bought some decadent cookies at the Nestle store and a bag of Chicago mix popcorn at Garrett’s popcorn shop. Chicago mix is a blend of caramel corn and with a sharp cheese flavoured corn. Since we had just eaten our cookies we did not open the bag until we got back to our room. We wondered, “Why so many napkins and wet wipes?” We soon found out. It was so buttery and cheesy you needed the cleanup material after every handful. It was deeeelicious, a big step up from the stuff at Costco, but probably not as healthy as fruit and vegetables.

We decided to buy three day bus passes, so we rode the bus home. Our feet said “Thank you!” as we rested up for a while. We headed out again across the street to investigate David Copperfield tickets. Having seen Criss Angel and heard some other opinions, we want to decide for ourselves who has the better show. We got tickets for tonight at 7 pm.

On the way into the hotel to get our Copperfield tickets someone handed us ticket-like pieces of paper. When we read them we learned that they were invitations to critique existing or pilot TV shows. It sounded like it could be fun so we gave it a shot. We watched the pilot of the new Odd Couple show with Matthew Perry. We each had to continuously adjust a knob between zero and 100 depending on how we were feeling about the show at any particular moment. At the end we had to fill out an on-screen questionnaire regarding our feelings about the show we had just seen, our other viewing habits, and some generic personal information. It was actually all quite interesting. Our reward was a package of coupons, one of which was for 2 for 1 Nathan’s famous New York hot dogs. We tried them out, but weren't real impressed. We would prefer Harvest any time.

From there we went back to the Excalibur to catch the free tram that runs between there and the Luxor and Mandalay Bay. We dropped in at the Luxor with our 2 for 1 Dos Equis beer coupon. Sensing a theme here? From there we went back to our room to relax for a bit before this evening’s show.

Having already seen one magic show, we bought the cheap seats for this one. Then, just before the show, one of the ushers came and guided several of us from the back row about half way down to fill some seats closer to the stage. Cool. The illusions were as good as or better than Criss Angel and we thought the show was presented in a more entertaining manner, although I thought one portion was a bit corny and sentimental.

After the show we went to New York New York for a Rueben sandwich that we had been craving since we saw the place on the first day. 

We got there right at closing at 9 pm and got their last little bit of meat, but it was very good. While we were sitting outside the store, but still in the main building there was another fire alarm. Are these things following us around? Same result as this morning.

Monday 12 January 2015 Las Vegas

The weather report on the TV said that yesterday was a record rainfall with one half to one inch of rain in the area and a high number of vehicle accidents. At home we make fun of people in other places who can’t drive in snow, but here they can’t even drive in rain!

We went to McDonalds in the food court and got a not bad breakfast for under $4 USD. There we again ran into Celeste’s seat mate from our flight down here.

We set out to explore the strip and find some discount show tickets. The weather was so pleasant that we turned around to take our jackets back. 

Our first stop was across the street at New York New York. 

There we found Hershey’s Chocolate World. I could have spent all day there, but, having just finished breakfast, we decided to move on and come back another time. 

Soon after that we stumbled upon a Ben & Jerry’s store. This time we could not resist and shared a cup of three different flavours of ice cream. 

We pressed on down the strip and scouted out the Wallgreen’s drug store which Shaela had recommended as a good source of many lower cost food items. We then briefly toured the Miracle Mile shopping mall and picked up a few souvenirs for the folks back home.

Shaela had recommended Tickets 4 Less for discounted tickets. We came across several other discounters, but not the one we were looking for. We finally decided to check out the one we were nearest to at the time. They only had tickets for today and tomorrow, which, I suspect, is pretty standard. So we ordered up tickets for tonight for the Tournament of Kings, i.e. the medieval feast and jousting show at our own hotel. We also learned from them and another guy we talked to on the street that you have to buy your tickets for “O” three weeks ahead of time, and that is the show I wanted to see most of all. We decided to head directly to their theatre at the Bellagio and see what we could do. It turns out that, although it is mostly sold out, there are still tickets available. We got tickets in the balcony for Thursday and better seats were also available if we were willing to pay the premium.

We were a long way from home and it turned out that what we bought from the discounter for tonight was just a voucher that had to be exchanged at the hotel for actual tickets. And, the longer it took for us to make the exchange, the worse the tickets. So, we made our way back to our hotel. We were pretty tired anyway and were glad to get back to our room for a rest. It is not exactly like running a marathon, but walking and shuffling for three or four hours is pretty tiring. Celeste had a nap and I uploaded pictures to my laptop and did some blog writing.

At the medieval combat show we sat beside a couple from Calgary that were there for the first time. I warned them that it was a bit corny, but also entertaining, and I was proven correct on both counts. The crowd was divided up among the contestants who continuously played to the crowd while telling a story concocted for the event. You cheered "Huzzah!" and banged on your table for your guy and then in the battle between all our good guys and the bad guys. If you buy in and play along it is a lot of fun. I didn't even have a drink and still left a little bit hoarse.

After the show we went across the street to explore the MGM Grand, specifically to find the monorail station. We are thinking of getting a three-day pass on it, but we are also considering a couple of bus pass options. We made it another early night.

Sunday 11 January 2015 Las Vegas

We slept fairly late and awoke to overcast skies and wet pavement visible from our window. We wandered down for breakfast and bumped into the fellow Celeste had sat beside on the flight here. He is from Watson, SK. 

After breakfast, we went exploring the other two hotels that are attached to ours by overhead walkways, the Luxor and the Mandalay Bay. Our plan had been to get out today, find a discount show ticket place, and buy our show tickets for the week. However, by the time we finished breakfast, it was raining steadily and we decided to stay inside. At the Luxor we ran into Bob Herauf sitting at a gaming machine. He told us that he and Helen drive down annually for about a month.

Our coupon book from the hotel had a coupon for 40% off the Criss Angel magic show at the Luxor, which was on our list of possibilities, and tonight is the only night his show is on while we are here, so we bought our tickets at the show box office. We carried on to the Mandalay Bay and took in the Shark Reef. The main attraction is a large tank full of sharks which you walk through in a plexiglass tunnel on the bottom, but there were also other displays of other aquatic life. 

We wandered back to our hotel and had huge steak and shrimp burritos for lunch. That finished us off for a while, so we went back to our room. Celeste had a nap and I watched some NFL playoff football. We took in the early Criss Angel show. The illusions were pretty impressive, but, for me, there was something missing in the presentation.

We grabbed a Krispy Kreme donut on the way back to our room. Not to my taste. It was more like cake dough than donut dough and super sweet. We again wrapped things up early, but I will use the excuse that it is two hours later on Regina time.