I just got home from Las Vegas. This page will eventually hold observations from the trip and a link to pictures when I get around to unbreaking my photo album.
I went for five days to Las Vegas, Nevada, to see friends of mine get married (to each other). In short, Vegas is very strange, the wedding was lovely, I had a great time, and no I did not lose lots of money gambling.
Wednesday - arrival, Luxor, Rumjungle, slots
Thursday - jacuzzi, sharks, Mirage, dolphins, shopping, Bellagio, fountains, more slots
Friday - roller coaster, NY NY, wedding!, Cirque, China Grill, yet more slots
Saturday - exploring, even more slots, spa, room service, Tsunami
Sunday - Americans, departure
Arrival. A friend borrowed my car for the duration and gave me a ride to the airport. Flights in were pretty uneventful. The St. Louis airport is not my friend; they were hiding the California Pizza Kitchen in a terminal I couldn't get at. Airport shuttle guy was from my hometown (Worcester, MA).
The Luxor. Stayed at a hotel/casino (what else is there in Las Vegas, really) called the Luxor. It has a giant black pyramid which at night casts a huge beam of light into the sky. Nice room, with a jacuzzi. The hotel left bottles of water in each room, which would cost you $4 if you drank... we went down the street to the AM/PM (gas station/mini mart, which had slot machines in it) and got water and soda instead.
Rumjungle. Happy couple and other friends met at a bar called Rumjungle, near the Luxor somewhere. I was disoriented about Vegas geography for most of the trip, so I couldn't tell you where exactly it was, but I think we walked. Techno sort of music and waitresses in hot pants. Not bad. [addendum: friends tell me this is in Mandalay Bay.]
Slots. Went with a friend to play nickel slots at the Luxor. We each cashed a $5 bill in for nickels, and played the old fashioned way - put a coin in, pull a lever. If I want to press a button and have money disappear, I'll order from Powells, thanks. We spent several hours there, chatting, getting free drinks, and playing slots. I broke even, she lost her $5, but who cares, we had fun.
Jacuzzi. While others were at breakfast, I lounged in the room's jacuzzi. I'd never been in one before. Very good :)
Sharks. We walked to Mandalay Bay, another hotel/casino thing (probably anything I mention is either a hotel and casino or is part of a mall inside one). There we went to a shark reef sort of museum/aquarium thing. Neat! The jellyfish were my favorite part, though the actual sharks were pretty impressive too.
Mirage. We had won free buffet tickets on wagerworks.com so we had lunch at the Mirage. Not bad.
Dolphins. Another wagerworks winning, we got admission to the Dolphin Habitat. Not a show where the Dolphins are expected to do tricks or anything, more of an aquarium and research facility. The dolphins were lovely to watch, though. They did come up and do tricks quite on their own. Secret Garden admission was supposed to come with it, but it was closed while we were there.
Shopping. Wandered through the shopping areas with a friend, looking for something she might bring home for her niece. We saw a man proposing to his girlfriend at the Krispy Kreme! She was there in Krispy Kreme uniform, apparently on break, and he had a rose and a ring, and was down on bended knee. She seemed pleased. I bought a Hello Kitty style mini-backpack with Nyago on it (I don't know who Nyago is exactly but it's awfully cute) and my companion bought a sparkly purple tiara and wand for the bride-to-be.
Bellagio. More wagerworks winnings: buffet dinner at the Bellagio. Very nice! Large! Best if you like seafood, but there were options for folks who did not eat seafood.
Fountains. The Bellagio has a large pool area out front which at night has fountains that are choreographed to music. We watched what I think was the last show of the night. Chilly. Pretty fountains, though.
More slots. Threw another $5 into nickel slots and lost it all promptly. Oh well. Was still fun though to hang out with friends. That's the idea, in my book.
Roller coaster. Overslept a bit on Friday, so we had to hustle to get to the roller coaster at the New York, New York hotel/casino. Friend had warned me in advance that she thought it was worse than the Superman coaster at Six Flags in New England, so I was a bit intimidated! Later we discovered that she meant another Six Flags coaster entirely... anyway, it was fantastic. I remembered why I like coasters so much.
New York, New York After the coaster, we ate lunch at an Italian place at the casino, and then wandered around a bit. They have aquamassage tables, where you go under a waterproof sheet and get downpoured upon in a little device that looks sort of like a modified tanning bed. Weird. Outside, people have draped shirts from various fire departments and others (police, military, etc) as a Sept. 11 memorial.
Wedding! At 5 or so we went to the Venetian for the wedding! They were married in their huge hotel suite, which had been decorated for the occasion. They read from the Velveteen Rabbit and from The Prophet, both lovely choices, and exchanged rings and vows. It was very moving... I am so happy to see this couple together. They seem so right for each other. Afterwards, cake and champagne and a few photo ops. Very cool.
Cirque du Soleil. Instead of a traditional reception - food, dancing, bouquet tossing, music, all that - the couple brought all their guests to see Cirque du Soleil at the Bellagio. We saw the show called "O" which apparently (I'd never been to a Cirque show before) involves a lot more water and swimming than other Cirque performances. It was FANTASTIC. I don't think I have a way to say it without understating how wonderful it was. Go see Cirque du Soleil if you have not already. I'll write more about this later.
China Grill. After Cirque, we all went to the China Grill restaurant near/in the Luxor. It was not veggie friendly, particularly, but the portions were enormous (and expensive). A good place to split dishes, which is what most of us did. The food I did try there was pretty good. [addendum: friends tell me this too is in Mandalay Bay.]
Yet more slots. A couple of us joined our newlywed friends at their hotel's casino. We lost a couple bucks apiece pretty quickly, but I think the newlyweds came close to breaking even, though I'm not sure I remember. We were playing Monopoly nickel slots, which don't have a handle, but do have bonus rounds. Nickel slots are a misnomer if you are playing 9 coins at a time.
Exploring. I ventured out on my own in the morning, and wandered up the strip taking pictures. The weather was great - room temperature, as it was for most of the trip except for occasional cool nights. I stopped by Gameworks, but didn't play, and M&M World, but didn't buy. I got as far as the Bellagio before I turned around. Took a combination of walking and various trams to get back to the Luxor.
Even more slots. While I was out exploring, I stopped by one of the casinos - I don't even remember which, somewhere out by Paris - and asked for a dollar in nickels to play slots. The woman informed me that their nickels came in $2 rolls, and I fell for it - got a roll. Was wise to the trick by the time I walked away from the change booth, but spent the two dollars anyway. I won more than a dollar back, set aside a dollar in nickels, and played again from my winnings. Afterwards I made sure to "cash out" my dollar in nickels through the same cashier. Like she cares. I was pleased, though. More on gambling psychology later.
Spa. Included with the Luxor rooms was a free pass to the hotel's spa. I stopped by and relaxed in the whirlpools for a while, tried out the sauna (not my thing) and the steam room (eh... but this has potential), went back to the whirlpools, showered and changed, lounged for a bit sipping complimentary tea and juice (did I mention that Vegas is dry?), and applied some lotion to my dry skin (did I mention that... oh, I just did).
Room service. I couldn't have brought myself to spend that much for a cheese plate, but a friend could, and lo, there were snacks. The Luxor brought us a fairly impressive cheese plate and a less impressive fruit plate (grapes and strawberries... yes, that's all). If I ran a hotel, I decided, I'd have two levels of room service: one with linens/silverware/china/etc on a fancy tray, and one like pizza delivery where it comes cheap.
Tsunami. Having discovered that the sushi place we were planning to go to had been booked solid days if not weeks in advance, we wound up at the Tsunami, which was distantly connected to the Venetian. Got to view the disturbing fake blue skies - indoors - of the Venetian shopping mall. The food was pretty tasty, and the waitress was cute and friendly. I'd go back there, even if it was just to see if I could get a date with the waitress.
Travel I - Americans My first flight towards home was actually away from home: I went west to San Jose before flying back east to Boston. The San Jose flight was also providing continuing service to Japan somewhere, and so all the flight announcements were done twice - once in English, again in Japanese. One particular announcement was taking quite long, and a woman across the aisle and a row back from me complained. "We're all Americans here, why don't they just speak English??" I didn't kill her, and fortunately she didn't say anything further that I could hear for the rest of the flight. I did wonder: if she thinks American Airlines carries only Americans, what does she think of Virgin Atlantic. Mostly I just really wished I knew enough Japanese to apologize to any Japanese-speaking passengers within earshot of us.
Travel II - What time is it?? 10:00 flight means 8:00 to the airport, 7:30-7:45 leaving the hotel, up too darn early after many late nights. Arriving 9:30 thanks to time changes working against me as I fly east, and wham, the whole day is just gone. Which is why I'm up past 2 writing all this. Flight home fairly uneventful - lines were long but quick in Las Vegas, screaming child was quiet by takeoff, luggage actually made it back home.
I'd never seen Cirque before.
That may well have been the best show I have ever seen of any kind. I keep trying to think of past shows I've seen, and I don't think I've seen anything that even rivals it.
I've been struggling to communicate just how much this show moved me. I think I could start by saying that I have spent much time since the show rethinking my career path as a result. I haven't come to any conclusions yet, but a couple important things about what I want to do in my life got clarified for me there.
More to come about wealth, the psychology of Vegas, weddings, Cirque, buffets, flying, I dunno what. Actually, I'll probably write more in my diary-x journal instead: bouncingleaf.diary-x.com
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This page last revised Mon Feb 25 02:19:46 EST 2002 by leaf