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DAY 2 Sunday 29th July 2001
EXPLORING LAS VEGAS
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| Too Early | Wrong-diddly-wrong-wrong!!
2am - body decided that it was really 9am and I had been a sloth and had had a lie-in. Dozed fitfully for another 4 hours and gave up at around 6am. Mary was awake also, so found the bottled water we had bought with us from Manchester and we sat and watched Cable TV w-a-y over yonder on the other wall - the TV remote was a full size laser as plain old infrared just didn't reach! At 7am the weather man told us it would be 108°F again today - note the AGAIN? This means of course (and the logically minded will already have spotted this) that yesterday, our 24 hour marathon was undertaken in a very hot 108°F. Also . . . the time and temperature in the bottom left of the TV screen was showing 7:05 and 89°F. Its going to be another really good day for site-seeing innit?
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| A Morning Dip | As there was no sound at all from the girls, Mary and I went down to the pool at 8am when it opened. On the way we passed a gallery of shops which weren't quite open and the inevitable slots which were available and, sadly, some were actually in use.
The pool is a good size (not quite "Olympic Size" as described in the brochure) but definitely 30 metres or so and 12ft deep at the deep end. Lifeguards in attendance, surrounded by sun-loungers (several hundred) and even at that time the lady from the snack bar (not the pool-side café) was touting for business. We both swam aerobically for 20 minutes or so then got out to dry in the sun - approx 9am and over 90°F. Mary made me go and sit by the Jacuzzi while she went in. Now imagine that hot tubs at the hotels you have been to. OK then - how about 25ft across with a big sign stating no Lifeguards so no Solo Bathing, next to the one stating no more than 50 bathers at a time.
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| Breakfast Calls |
As we were now getting hot we went back to the rooms to wake up the girls and organise breakfast. They had already gone down to swim - we had obviously missed them. So we got ourselves organised and set off to catch them at the pool to have breakfast - missed them again so rang their room, told them where we were having breakfast (Stage Deli near the pool) "3 eggs how you want them, bacon, hash browns, tea or coffee, toast $4.99". Girls joined us and had similar, then back to room to plan where to go, in which order and what type of show to try and see.
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| Into The Heat | Eventually decided to see the Blue Men Band at the Luxor. As the Luxor was on our itinerary, we decided to book at the Luxor Box Office.
So our journey began (in 108°F heat). Walk out behind Ballys, pass the pool, to the monorail which runs to the back of MGM Grand. Into said MGM Grand, thru a little thoroughfare with the by now familiar shops - Everything Magnets, Houdini Magic Shop, Ice Cream Parlour etc.
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| Scale Becomes an Issue | Up the stairs into the main foyer of MGM. OH - MY - GOD! Is this place huge or what? Think of the Trafford Centre and add another for the Casino part!! We tramped through the foyer gradually moving towards our destination, round the edge of the casino, past the Lions Den (real lions - recorded roars). Past the MGM Theatre (but still in the casino) up an escalator next to the Jungle Restaurant and finally reached the doors to the walkway over the Strip towards New York New York. Heat hits you like a wall. There was a breeze on the walkway, but it just pressed the heat harder against your skin. No wonder fan ovens are so efficient.
NYNY has an authentic NY skyline including a Statue of Liberty in a lake with 2 fireboats (which squirt water on the ˝ hour) - did I mention the funfair up on the 4th/5th floors with a Big Dipper ride that ran around the outside edge of the building?
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| Gawping | At this point we could see Excalibur with all its Camelot-type towers, MGM Grand Lion, The Eiffel Tower at Paris (which is attached to Ballys), Luxor was partially hidden by Excalibur, but we could see Mandalay Bay in the distance. We hurried into the cool of NYNY and followed the curve of the corridor to the left and out onto the walkway towards Excalibur. We were now on the other side of the Strip and heading in the right direction.
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| Inadequate Directions? | On the 1st tower of Excalibur was a sign for the tram to Mandalay Bay and Luxor. Hey lets take that. OK so there are obviously 2 separate trams, one of which goes to Luxor . . . .
We didn't really like the look of Mandalay Bay - bit phoney and contrived - and believe me, compared to the rest that we visited, that is indeed a pithy statement. So eventually we found our way back to the tram and went to Luxor - just as we had intended before.
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| Egypt Again | Huge Obelisks with hieroglyphs. Sphinxy-looking thing outside and the rest was a huge Pyramid. Inside - entrance with pools, 2 lines of Sphinxes a la Karnak and of course a huge Casino and Theatre etc etc blasé blasé. We were thirsty and wanted a drink. Ask the little man who said up to the next level where the "features" were. OK, found an Inclinator (looked a lot like an Escalator - served the same function too!) and went up a level.
There was an Imax Cinema, an interactive Imax-type adventure ride, another Obelisk and some stone lions, Karnak Gift Shop (yes really) Tutenkhamen Museum, but - and this is best of all - apparently Ancient Egyptians invented Macdonalds. So, big cold drinks all round. Actually we had various flavours of Smoothies from the Ice cream Parlour next door. Thus satisfied we paid to go on the Imax-style adventure ride. It was all very slow and a bit silly until the ride at the end where we were strapped in and thrown about as our Gravity Sled (yes, that's what I said) was thrown around inside a Temple being chased by and chasing Baddies in their Gravity Sleds. Very effective. Exit that via door on right, down the corridor and yep - thru the gift shop - oldest trick in the book. Straight back to the booking office and booked ourselves for the 10pm showing of the Blue Men Band, which we are told has received rave reviews.
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| Retracing Our Steps | Now to wend our way back to the shops. Found the front door - not always that easy - but this time we went down our Inclinator, successfully retracing our steps. Onboard the next tram to end up at Excalibur. Down the tower, over the walkway and back into NYNY. Pausing only to wonder at the water massage beds (you lie face down on a bed with a fan on your face, they lower the top half of what looks like and Iron Lung onto your back, but the bottom part is a rubber film. Inside the "lung" the jets of water pulse and spray up and down your body on the other side of the rubber film. Hence - water massage and no wetness. People were queuing to pay their $10 for 7 mins - or was that the other way round) and the recliner beds that performed gentle massage to back and legs if you put coins in the slot, we went back over the walkway towards MGM.
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| Sidewalks in the Sun | This time however, we didn't go in but used the incli-escalators to the pavement and made our way by foot, outside, towards the arcades/malls the ladies wanted to visit (did I mention 108°F?).
1st stop Showcase - didn't like the look of that so moved on to M&M Tower - 3 storeys of M&M Marketing Rubbish - next to the similar Coca Cola products and relics. Now obviously the heat was beginning to tell here, because I really couldn't see the point of it all. However . . . we marched to Aladdin and its Desert Passage Mall. Here there was an entertaining diversion in the shape of a troupe of Tumblers - and Mary getting a nose-bleed (I was nowhere around when that started either - I was sitting on a bench in the cool). All (partly) cooled down again, so off we troop into the oven, past the Eiffel Tower (yes it straddled part of the building, Arc de Triomphe and Ballys, over Flamingo Road, past Flamingo, thru Harrah's Casino (at the open door there was a tremendous downblast of cold air to act as a door to the heat of outside. We stood there ages deciding on something or other - forget what - but at least my head cooled down), out the other side shunning Casino Royale till we reached the Venetian with its Grand Canal Shoppes.
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| We Reach Venice | No - surely not - but yes there it was on the 2nd or 3rd floor. Grand Canal, Gondolas, Singing Gondoliers, St Mark's Square, painted blue skies with wispy clouds - the lot. By this time we were all hot and tired (and amazed), so we watched the "Italian" Light Opera singers in full costume sing and dance. That was funny actually because an Italian tourist went over to the Jester and jabbered away in Italian to him - the Jester looked quizzical (and a little embarrassed) then indicated he knew no Italian - pressed his fingers to his lips and said "Sshh - tell no-one".
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| Heat, Sidewalks, Ballys | From there we retraced our steps towards the cooling sanctuary of Ballys - again stopping in the doorway of Harrah's Casino. At Ballys we went straight to the Stage Deli and had some long cold drinks before returning to our lovely cool rooms. The girls decided to go for a swim to cool off properly - I was trashed and VERY tired, so I just crashed out with the aircon turned up. When I woke up I was freezing - actually shivering - what a town eh? This is about 6:30 to 7pm by now (our trip in 108°F lasting to well after 4:30pm) so think about getting ready to go out about 8ish. This will give us plenty of time to reach the Luxor and get something to eat on the way.
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| Our Evening Out |
So 8:30pm and we are off - rear of Ballys, monorail, MGM (getting good in MGM - didn't get lost once - is that a small cloud forming by the ceiling in reception) across to NYNY then down onto the pavement (sorry sidewalk) and skirt round Excalibur to get to Luxor - this was an executive decision by me - as I didn't fancy a detour via the Road to Manadalay. Found the Luxor - it's the huge black Pyramid with a Laser Light out of the top that can be seen from space (according to our taxi driver from the airport yesterday) - then we found the entrance. Plenty of time. Up the inclinator to the features level - Macdonalds for tea - plenty of time (ish). Downstairs - follow the signs to the Theatre - find it 10mins walking later (and we didn't go round in circles). Inside, tickets checked and into the Auditorium of the theatre - guess what - HUGE. And aircon - and comfy seats that recline slightly.
Wont go into the details of the show in case you ever get the chance to see the Blue Men Ban. BUT . . . as a funny sound and vision spectacular it was . . . spectacular. WE all thoroughly enjoyed it - after getting used to the fact that Americans actually whoop with delight as well as (and sometimes instead of) clapping.
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| A Small Detour | Wont bore you with the journey back to Ballys - you know the way by now. EXCEPT . . . . we foolishly followed signs to Excalibur and ended up, up a level deep in the heart of the Casino. What to do? - keep heading what the little picture in my head told me was East(ish) until you reach an exit - to quote Dr Pepper "What's the Worst That Can Happen?" Made it to the side road between but behind Excalibur and NYNY. Back towards the front - spot the tower where the walkway starts - head towards it - can't get to it. Have to go into the main lobby of Excalibur, down a flight of stairs, double back and go under the parking lot onto the walkway to the tower. Rest was easy - monorail doesn't close till 1am so we joined the gamblers with their pots of coins.
Home at last - what a full day.
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| A Postscript | Forgot to mention another variation of the water massage/electric massage chair as seen in Excalibur on our way back. This one was really high-tech - masseur sits you in a chair and massages feet and calves to relieve the stress - not a neon light in sight!!
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Words and pictures © Steve Andrews 2001 - 2012