The only time I have ever been to Vegas was as a pit stop on a variety of road trips between Provo, Utah and San Diego, California. All of those brief visits were made around midnight after at least 5 hours of driving. The last one was over 15 years ago. David went to Vegas for a three day trip with his brother over 17 years ago. The town has changed a little:)
We really spent most of our time in three main activities: 1) checking out the free attractions at all the different casinos (thanks for the list Mike and Jennifer!) 2) eating ourselves silly 3) seeing three fantastic and very different shows.
THE ATTRACTIONS
~On our first night we saw the free show outside our hotel which is called The Sirens of TI. David saw this show 17 years ago when it was a pirate battle (there is a lagoon in front of the hotel with two pirate ships where the action takes place). Apparently they recently changed the show to be about these "Sirens" that seduce the sailors of the other pirate ship and sink the ship with their song. When it was over David said, "that stunk! It used to be really cool, but now it is just a bunch of girls on a ship shaking their moneymaker!"
We saw it again at the end of our stay and he decided it wasn't all that bad:)
~We went to the MGM and saw the Lions.
The sign said that Lions can sleep 18-20 hours out of the day. That is exactly what they were doing. Pretty, but not too exciting.
The most exciting thing about the MGM was we couldn't find our way out. We wanted to go down the street to M&M world, and I was sure you could walk through the casino. I swear we were in the labyrinth of their stores etc. for at least an hour.
The sign said that Lions can sleep 18-20 hours out of the day. That is exactly what they were doing. Pretty, but not too exciting.
The most exciting thing about the MGM was we couldn't find our way out. We wanted to go down the street to M&M world, and I was sure you could walk through the casino. I swear we were in the labyrinth of their stores etc. for at least an hour.~M&M world is really just a store, but it has a free 3D movie starring the M&M's, and four stories of M&M merchandise. Who can pass that up while on vacation?
It was a very happy place-I think the large amount of chocolate gives off a happy vibe. We bought all our souvenir gifts here.
It was a very happy place-I think the large amount of chocolate gives off a happy vibe. We bought all our souvenir gifts here.
~That night we walked over to the Mirage and saw the volcano, and walked around the inside of the Mirage. They have a glass dome with kind of a jungle growing inside the lobby.
It was really pretty, and hid the casino from view when you walked in.
It was really pretty, and hid the casino from view when you walked in.~My favorite free attraction was the fountains at the Bellagio. 
The are all choreographed to the music. I could watch that for hours. I also really liked the lobby of the Bellagio. They have a ceiling made of blown glass flowers by the artist Chihuly.
They have a conservatory area with animals made of flowers,
an aviary with parakeets, fountains, and giant glass poppies. It was really pretty.
I also liked the Bellagio because I won $5o! We did all our gambling while waiting for the other person to come out of the bathroom. So I had put in two dollars on a slot machine and won 5o!
The are all choreographed to the music. I could watch that for hours. I also really liked the lobby of the Bellagio. They have a ceiling made of blown glass flowers by the artist Chihuly.
They have a conservatory area with animals made of flowers,
an aviary with parakeets, fountains, and giant glass poppies. It was really pretty.
I also liked the Bellagio because I won $5o! We did all our gambling while waiting for the other person to come out of the bathroom. So I had put in two dollars on a slot machine and won 5o!~We walked around the Wynn. They had some very pretty waterfalls, sculptures, and indoor gardens.
~At the shops at the Venetian it feels like you are inside a different world. I told David it feels like a movie set. We took a gondola ride on the canal and listened to our "driver" sing.
There was a little show with a juggler etc. in the piazza.
There was a little show with a juggler etc. in the piazza.
~The New York New York wins the prize for cheapest casino food. We wandered the "streets" and got a big hot dog from a little hot dog stand. This place also feels like a movie set-I was sure I would come upon the sharks and the jets any minute.
~On our last night, after our show we caught the moving statues at Caesar's Forum shops. 
David said, "wow, that was a lot more impressive 17 years ago". It is amazing how much Las Vegas has grown and changed over the last two decades. There is really so much to see.
David said, "wow, that was a lot more impressive 17 years ago". It is amazing how much Las Vegas has grown and changed over the last two decades. There is really so much to see.~I told David that most of all I wanted to relax. So we spent one morning at the pool baking in the 110 degree weather. We dipped in the pool, got out and read. Dip, read, dip read. It was great.
~One day we were eating at In n Out and feeling a like getting away from the strip. I was people watching while waiting for David and the food. This girl around 11 or 12 was carrying a chair and brought it to her little brother that was maybe 6. She smiled and said, "I brought this chair for you from all the way across town." It was cute, and made me watch the family a little more. After a few minutes I decided they were Mormon. When David sat down I said, "I'm going to go ask those people for directions to the temple, and we could go there for our drive." So I did! They were really nice, and gave us great directions.
~Our very favorite free thing in Vegas was the free valet parking. We would have died in the heat without it. We drove from one place to another and just dropped the car off with those nice boys, and they brought it back to us when we were done. We never had to wait too long. It really makes you feel pampered. This is me waiting for the car on our bench at our hotel.
THE BUFFETS
- We went to three different Buffets and stuffed ourselves silly. We decided that the lunch and breakfast buffets were not that much more expensive than other places, and you could get just about anything you wanted:)
- We started at the Mirage for a brunch. The best part about this buffet was the shrimp. They had huge cold, peeled prawns with cocktail sauce. I could have eaten them all day, and I just about did!
- On our second day we went to the breakfast buffet at our hotel. It was cheaper than eating in the coffee shop, and a lot better. The made to order omelets were delicious, besides how fun it was to watch the guy cooking six at one time and flipping them in the air. Okay, I admit the tiny baby donuts weren't bad:)
- We went to the dinner buffet at the Rio, and it was delicious. The gelato and the desserts were awesome.
- After all that eating we felt overloaded. We opted for a simple In n Out burger after that - which was also great - double double animal style - so goooood.
- We used our GPS to find the nearest Sonic because I am addicted to Diet Coke with Lime from Sonic. But, they do things differently in Vegas and it just didn't taste the same.
- When David first suggested a trip to Las Vegas, I said, OK, if we get to go to Cirque de Soleil. We went to the Mystere show. It was amazing. There were so many different things to look at all at the same time. People did things I did not think were possible. I would love to go back and see another one.
- On our second night we went to a hypnotist show that was very funny. It was a small setting, and the hypnotist got the people to do some very funny things. He told this one guy that the guy on his t-shirt standing on a mountain was going to jump and he had to talk him out of it. It was amazing to see how much the guy believed it.
- On our third night we got half price tickets to see Terry Fator. He won America's Got Talent a couple of years ago. He is a ventriloquist that does singing impressions. Besides being phenomenally talented, and very funny, he seemed like a genuinely nice guy. I think David would agree with me in saying that this was our favorite show of all.
So that is the long summary of our trip to Vegas. On our way out of the hotel to go to the airport David wanted to put down $10 on the roulette wheel. We spread it out, and hit on the 17! So that is our new lucky number:)
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