Back from Las Vegas - - and we still hold title to our house! Why did we go here on our Spring Break? We have been to all of the major amusement parks in Florida, and the new Harry Potter area at Universal has yet to open. There was a vote for warm weather (Vegas is typically in the mid-70’s at the end of April, but I brought my bad weather magic along, and it was in the 60’s for the days we were out west). And I had heard that it was a fun place to go with enough activities to keep the kids occupied.
We left from Midway Monday afternoon. This gave me the chance to go into work Monday morning to get rid of a couple of cases, since I hate abandoning them to someone else. We left about 30 minutes late, around 6 PM, and had an uneventful flight into Nevada. The airport is just minutes away from the four mile strip of hotel/casinos on Las Vegas Boulevard. Cindy had arranged our stay at the Mirage (http://www.mirage.com/ ), which is right in the middle of the Strip. We got in fairly late, around 8:30 PM local, but 10:30 PM in Chicago, since Nevada just crosses over into Pacific Time. We stared at the giant aquarium just behind the reception desk while checking in. Cindy got the kids unpacked, while Jasper and I walked around at the bottom of the hotel, looking for food options, and then to watch the hourly eruption of the volcano. This is a fake rock structure in a small lagoon right in front of the hotel. At night, red-orange-pink lights play on the top of the structure, while water fountains out, looking like an eruption. Balls of fire are also produced, helping the illusion. Certainly, if you were inebriated and squinting, you could imagine that you were in Hawaii, watching the eruption of pahoehoe lava, as Nicola informed me the next evening.
The volcano at the Mirage
The next morning we ate at the buffet breakfast at the hotel, and then walked south down the strip. The hotels are all just enormous, and each has a theme.
The next morning we ate at the buffet breakfast at the hotel, and then walked south down the strip. The hotels are all just enormous, and each has a theme.
Outside Caesars palace.
Just next to the Mirage is Caesars Palace. This hotel is just gigantic. It must cover three city blocks. It is associated with about 150 high-end retail stores in ‘Caesars Forum’. There is also an enclosed mini-coliseum where Cher performs. The hotel goes on and on, with five different towers and over 3000 rooms. The Romans would have loved this temple of commerce.
Detail of roof of Harrah's, across the street from the Mirage.
Detail of roof of Harrah's, across the street from the Mirage.
We continued along, passing the Bellagio on one side, and Paris (with the ½ sized Eiffel tower) on the opposite side of the street.
Then we went to New York New York. This hotel has a theme featuring (duh) New York City. The hotel façade is built to recapitulate famous buildings of the Manhattan skyline, with the Empire State building and the Chrysler building. There is also a miniature Statue of Liberty and Brooklyn Bridge. Best of all is a roller coaster built on the roof. To get to the entrance you must pass through a large Coney Island Arcade area. The two boys went for a ride, while the rest of us looked for funny stuff at the gift shop.
We continued going South, passing the fake castle of Excalibur, and then into 
Luxor, the fake Egyptian casino. It is built as a pyramid, and the elevators are inclined to 39 degrees to accommodate the slope of the walls. There is also a replica of Cleopatra’s needle and the Sphinx. We crossed the strip and walked north along the other side of the street. We wandered into the MGM Grand to look at the baby lions, then moved on to Gameworks and its next door shop, M&M world. At the latter, you can buy M&Ms in about forty different colors. You can also get unusual flavors such as coconut, almond and mint. They also had some strange candy bars, like a Three Musketeers bar with caramel only (no nougat). The kids looked at the games at Gameworks—Jasper got 2 free games by hitting the start buttons at random, while I took a ten minute aqua massage. 
This is a pod-shaped machine that you lie in - - the bottom is a pretty standard massage table with a hole to rest your face in. The top of the pod is where all the action is. Your back is covered with a tarp, and above the tarp is a mobile system of water jets. The water temperature can be controlled, as well as the placement and action of the jets. The water hits the tarp and is recycled, so you don’t get wet, and it’s vaguely environmentally friendly. After my massage, the attendants also had me try out a small portable TENS (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transcutaneous_electrical_nerve_stimulation) unit. I felt pretty relaxed!
Our day was winding down as we headed back to the Mirage, but before we rested up for our night out, we had a late lunch and then visited the small animal reserve at the back of the hotel. This has several dolphin pools with at least ten adults and one baby. Further in is a big cat area with leopards, lions and tigers. We had a long discussion on who would win between a dolphin and a tiger. Size? Dolphins 650 lbs, tigers 450. Advantage – Dolphin. Weapons? Dolphins have pretty sharp teeth, and can hit you with their flukes. Tigers have jaws and claws. Advantage – Tiger. Maneuverability: Dolphins hold a clear-cut edge in the water, but it is hard to imagine them on the land. – Draw. Intelligence – Dolphins. Ferocity – Tiger. However, I do not think a tiger would be able to figure out how to attack a dolphin, since their strategy is to bite the nape of the neck, which is hard to find on a dolphin. So, I think a dolphin wins, although others, notably Jasper, disagree with me.
That evening we went to a show at the Rio. We took a cab (about $10) because the hotel as on the other side of the highway. We ate there as well, at a small steakhouse. Then we went to see the Penn and Teller magic show. Some of the acts were the same as ones that Cindy and I saw 20 years ago. We did enjoy Penn’s diatribe against the TSA, and how Teller had difficulty getting the following items past security: a full size shovel, a fire extinguisher, a skillet on fire, and a RPG launcher. We did see repeats of Teller’s trick with the rose, and watched P&T shoot each other with 357 magnums.
Our day was winding down as we headed back to the Mirage, but before we rested up for our night out, we had a late lunch and then visited the small animal reserve at the back of the hotel. This has several dolphin pools with at least ten adults and one baby. Further in is a big cat area with leopards, lions and tigers. We had a long discussion on who would win between a dolphin and a tiger. Size? Dolphins 650 lbs, tigers 450. Advantage – Dolphin. Weapons? Dolphins have pretty sharp teeth, and can hit you with their flukes. Tigers have jaws and claws. Advantage – Tiger. Maneuverability: Dolphins hold a clear-cut edge in the water, but it is hard to imagine them on the land. – Draw. Intelligence – Dolphins. Ferocity – Tiger. However, I do not think a tiger would be able to figure out how to attack a dolphin, since their strategy is to bite the nape of the neck, which is hard to find on a dolphin. So, I think a dolphin wins, although others, notably Jasper, disagree with me.
That evening we went to a show at the Rio. We took a cab (about $10) because the hotel as on the other side of the highway. We ate there as well, at a small steakhouse. Then we went to see the Penn and Teller magic show. Some of the acts were the same as ones that Cindy and I saw 20 years ago. We did enjoy Penn’s diatribe against the TSA, and how Teller had difficulty getting the following items past security: a full size shovel, a fire extinguisher, a skillet on fire, and a RPG launcher. We did see repeats of Teller’s trick with the rose, and watched P&T shoot each other with 357 magnums.
After the show, Cindy took a picture of the kids with Penn and Nicola got his autograph.
On Wednesday I managed to rent a car (after a long wait in line), and we drove to Hoover Dam. The dam is about 30 miles from the city, but a drive that should take 45 minutes took about two hours. We were in stop-and-go traffic from about seven miles from the dam because you have to drive through a security checkpoint. Of course, the security personnel do nothing beyond waving you through - - they didn’t even check out Cindy’s jihadi scarf (she was asked to remove it when she went through security at Midway). The dam was built under budget and about two years early. First they had to build four huge bore pipes to take the Colorado water around the dam site. They had to dig down to bedrock, and then had to build the dam. They used concrete, and designed a special cooling system to help the concrete set (otherwise it would have taken 25 years for the mix to set up). They used over 3 million cubic yards of concrete.
On Wednesday I managed to rent a car (after a long wait in line), and we drove to Hoover Dam. The dam is about 30 miles from the city, but a drive that should take 45 minutes took about two hours. We were in stop-and-go traffic from about seven miles from the dam because you have to drive through a security checkpoint. Of course, the security personnel do nothing beyond waving you through - - they didn’t even check out Cindy’s jihadi scarf (she was asked to remove it when she went through security at Midway). The dam was built under budget and about two years early. First they had to build four huge bore pipes to take the Colorado water around the dam site. They had to dig down to bedrock, and then had to build the dam. They used concrete, and designed a special cooling system to help the concrete set (otherwise it would have taken 25 years for the mix to set up). They used over 3 million cubic yards of concrete.
Lake Mead has about two years of Colorado flow stored, or 9 trillion gallons, but you can see that is some years from the high water mark. We took an elevator down 50 stories to see the electric plant. They generate about 2 gigawatts of electricity. The electric rotors are so big they had to be constructed on site. 96 people died during construction. You can read more about it here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoover_Dam . 
They are building a highway bypass around the dam, which was pretty impressive in its own right. The dam is on the Arizona / Nevada state line, so we had the pleasure of walking across a time zone as we went back and forth to our car. We got back around 5 pm, rested a bit, and then ate at the hotel buffet.
After dinner we went to the Bellagio to see the fantastic water show. The hotel is set behind a giant reflecting pool that must be something like 300 by 100 yards big. Beneath it are a whole series of computer controlled fountains and lights that shoot up in time to music. There is a show about every 15 minutes after 8 PM, and we watched two of them. I think it is different music every time. If it had not been barely 50F and very windy we might have stayed to see a few more shows.
After dinner we went to the Bellagio to see the fantastic water show. The hotel is set behind a giant reflecting pool that must be something like 300 by 100 yards big. Beneath it are a whole series of computer controlled fountains and lights that shoot up in time to music. There is a show about every 15 minutes after 8 PM, and we watched two of them. I think it is different music every time. If it had not been barely 50F and very windy we might have stayed to see a few more shows. 
On Wednesday we walked north on the strip. We went to Circus Circus, which has an indoor amusement park. There is a small roller coaster that does two loops and two corkscrews, a ‘plunge’ type flume ride, laser tag, and a few other rides. We went on to the Sahara, which is the oldest remaining original casino on the strip (others, like the Flamingo and Tropicana have been redone). While there, we ate at the NASCAR Café. They have a six pound burrito contest - - if you can eat this, you get it for free. Otherwise it’s about $20. We saw three people try and fail miserably, only choking 1/4 to 1/3 of the food down. They got a T-shirt proclaiming them as official weenies, and a photograph for the wall of shame. Our waitress told us about 3500 people have tried to eat the burrito over the last year, and only about 30 have succeeded. Joey Chestnut (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joey_Chestnut) polished it off in 7 minutes!
Giant burrito
Giant burrito
Afterwards we walked back to the Mirage, passing a place that had indoor parachuting, a store selling cosmetic contact lenses in all sorts of colors and patterns. We thought Lucas should get the ‘blind’ eye ones to freak out his tennis opponents. We rested a bit and then went out to see the ‘Sirens of Treasure Island’ (I keep wanting to write "Sirens of Titan", a book by Vonnegut) show outside the TI hotel. This is a bunch of showgirls on one ship having a fight with a crew of pirates on the boat next door. The pirate captain is named ‘Captain Bull” and his ship has a pair of Texas longhorns on the front instead of the usual bowsprit. Anyway, it’s a bunch of yelling and dancing until the pirates threaten (and carry out) to blow up the sirens’ wardrobes. The sirens call up a storm that makes the pirate ship founder. The pirates swim aboard the sirens’ ship, and etc. Afterwards we went into Treasure Island and took a look around.
"Sirens of Treasure Island" motorcycle
Detail from one of two carved mastodon tusks, at least 400 years old, that allegedly took over 100 years to carve
We took a little tram ride from TI back to the Mirage, and then went to the Cirque du Soleil production ‘Love’ in our hotel. Cindy and Nicola liked it a lot. Lucas seemed to enjoy it, Jaz was neutral, but I didn’t like it. I think there is a problem with a show if the biggest star is the stage, and the second biggest are the costumes. Not only was the story incomprehensible, but the music was (obviously) unoriginal. There were also very few ‘circus’ acts. Certain moments were beautiful, and really indescribable, but overall I thought the show was very disappointing.
On our last day we thought to check out the shops at the Roman forum, attached to Caesar’s palace, and the shops at the Venetian. The Roman Forum features several indoor fountains with animatronic statues. One is in front of the Tourneau store, which is about half the size of the New York store (and consequently about three times as big as Chicago’s). We saw Bacchus come alive and more-or-less tell us to shop till we drop. Up across the street is the Venetian, where you can take Gondola rides outside or inside while you window shop. Both feature streetscapes that are designed to make you feel that you are walking in Rome or Venice and the lighting on the cloud-painted ceilings changes as if the day is progressing.
On our last day we thought to check out the shops at the Roman forum, attached to Caesar’s palace, and the shops at the Venetian. The Roman Forum features several indoor fountains with animatronic statues. One is in front of the Tourneau store, which is about half the size of the New York store (and consequently about three times as big as Chicago’s). We saw Bacchus come alive and more-or-less tell us to shop till we drop. Up across the street is the Venetian, where you can take Gondola rides outside or inside while you window shop. Both feature streetscapes that are designed to make you feel that you are walking in Rome or Venice and the lighting on the cloud-painted ceilings changes as if the day is progressing.
Bacchus animatronic statue
Another indoor fountain in Rome
Outside the Venetian
A ceiling in the Venetian
We saw several people dressed in period costumes, as well as living statues.
The changing skyscape.
We had a last lunch at the Carnegie Deli, where Cindy and I split a pastrami sandwich - - this was really big enough for three people. Jasper and Nicola shared latkes, and Lucas had half of a salami sandwich—he took the remainder home for today’s lunch. We had a long wait to get in, but the service was very fast once we were seated. Our flight got us home early, and since then I have been writing about our adventure. Was this a good choice for a vacation? Yes. It’s is not hard to get to Las Vegas. There are a lot of things to do beyond gambling. For instance, if we had gotten our rental car earlier, we would have driven around Lake Mead to see the ‘ring of Fire’ rock formations. There are a lot of shows to see and restaurants to sample. We had good walking weather (mid sixties); I don’t know how pleasant this environment would be in summer or winter. There were a lot of people walking on the street, and yet it was remarkably clean. Cindy read that there are almost 700,000 hotel rooms on the strip, so even during a slow day there could be a half million visitors there. Las Vegas as a city leaves a lot to be desired. What little we saw were commercial strips and teeny homes smaller than Chicago bungalows. Gambling seems like a never ending fountain of jobs and money, but clearly they have been hit hard by the recession. We saw several stalled building jobs and, on the north part of the strip, empty lots where the smaller/older casinos were torn down, but not replaced. The exception was the continued building going on between the two Wynn towers (Wynn and Encore) I am sure that water is also a constant issue for the people that live there.
Love, H.
Love, H.
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