Las Vegas: Day #01 - August 10

As you know from a previous entry, I went to Las Vegas this past week. These next four entries will be a detailed account of each day of this AMAZING trip! Plenty of pictures, as you'll see, will be included! Enjoy, and please comment if you feel inspired. :-)

After a very restless night of sleep due to excitement, Rhiannon and I finished packing and headed to Boca Raton to pick up Janet. We continued on to the Fort Lauderdale airport where we met up with Mary and Becky.

We waited for our 09:50 AM flight while enjoying some breakfast from Dunkin Donuts and, as I found would become the trend for the week, kept ourselves busy by laughing our asses off at the most random things! (The five of us laughed so much that I think I burned more calories from that rather than all of the walking...)

From Mary and Becky blowing up inflatable pillows...

To Becky getting a "Pre-Boarder" pass because of her "claustrophobia"...

We never stopped laughing! The hour and a half of waiting went by quickly. We boarded and were on our way to Las Vegas!

Okay... I must vent for a second. I will never fly Southwest again. I'm someone that likes to sit next to the people that I bought my tickets with. With Southwest, you're given a zone letter and a place in line. You're not given an actual seat number, so it's a free-for-all. Luckily, on the way to Las Vegas, Janet, Rhiannon, and I got to sit together... However, it was ALL the way in the back. Is it so hard to assign seats?

I do apologize for those who really like Southwest. However, for paying almost $300 for my round trip ticket, I expected to sit next to the people who were accompanying me.

Whew... I'm better now.

The flight was pretty smooth until our descent into Las Vegas. The heat caused some crazy turbulence. (Was it just preparing my stomach for how it was going to feel when I braved The Roller Coaster at New York, New York? More on that later...)

We landed around 12:00 PM, Las Vegas time. As we were waiting for our luggage, Becky couldn't resist the temptation of the slot machines in McCarran Airport.

We picked up our luggage, hitched a ride with the shuttle bus, and headed to our hotel, Excalibur, the last of the three stops from the airport. (Isn't that how it always happens? Whichever hotel you're staying at is always the last one on the list... Luckily, there were only three stops in total.)

After checking in, which seemed to take an hour to me who was standing with everyone's suitcases while the ladies did the checking in process at the front desk, we dropped off our suitcases and immediately went upstairs to the food court for some lunch. (Mind you, in our heads, it was after 03:00 PM, so we were beyond starving!)

After our scrumptious meal at McDonald's, we ventured out on The Strip to see the sights at our end. Next to our hotel is Luxor and Mandalay Bay; across the street on one side is Tropicana; across the street on the other side is New York, New York and MGM Grand. We were determined to hit all of 'em and see as much as we could.

First up... Luxor!

We had to take advantage of the photo op as we walked up to the entrance, even if that concrete was hot as hell! Just take a look at Rhiannon's face in the middle picture. Priceless!

The main attractions at Luxor are BODIES... An Exhibition and Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition. Both are around $30 for a ticket, so we chose to spend our $30 on the latter. We were not disappointed!

I've always been fascinated with Titanic, so I knew that I would thoroughly enjoy this exhibit. It was even better than I could've imagined. The exhibit is in chronological order, from the designing of the ship to its ultimate plunge after striking an iceberg.

Here's the Preface to the souvenir book, written by Judith B. Geller, available in the gift shop for $20:
The Titanic was conceived in 1907 and met with disaster in 1912; a brief existence fraught with the drama of a Greek tragedy. The story has been told and retold, but never more poignantly and passionately than by the artifacts presented in this exhibition. Painstakingly recovered from the debris field surrounding the wreck and artfully conserved, these three-dimensional objects, more than words and images, represent the vessel and the 2,228 souls who journeyed with her into history.

Often unassuming, the artifacts are a physical history of society at the beginning of the twentieth century. Viewing them is a test of our humanity. Objects as commonplace as a ceramic toothpaste jar, a bow tie, or a child's marble remind us of life's fragility and the importance of loved ones. A mangled engine part challenges us to reevaluate our overdependence on technology. And, a once shimmering gold watch, its hands swept away by the frigid waters of the North Atlantic, warns that wealth does not insulate against tragedy.

The artifacts were there. They belonged to the Ship and to the people who sailed on her. As custodians, we display them not to take away the pain of the loss, but to demonstrate the importance of remembering and celebrating all whose lives have been, and will continue to be, inexorably altered by an association with the legendary Royal Mail Steamer Titanic.

Besides showcasing the amazing artifacts described above, this exhibition recreates key locations of Titanic, including cabins from all of the levels, the grand staircase, and, my personal favorite, the upper deck. You become a passenger as you step through the door to look out into the darkness as you shiver from the cold and as you hear the water rushing against the side of the ship. It really makes you feel as though you were there...

After that amazing experience, we crossed over to Mandalay Bay to take in the Shark Reef Aquarium, located all the way in the back... You really feel like you've walked miles by the time you reach your destination. It's certainly worth it, though!

For a reasonably priced $16.95, you enter a world of excitement as you see things that you may have never seen before! Prior to beginning this adventure, you pose for some pictures:


Some of the things that you'll see inside are a Golden Crocodile, a Komodo Dragon, lots and lots of fish, a Water Monitor, Black Spot Piranha, various kinds of sharks, Lionfish, Moon Jellyfish, a Giant Pacific Octopus, a Green Sea Turtle, and SO MUCH MORE!

Here are just a few pictures from inside:

After we enjoyed this amazing attraction, we gambled for a bit in Mandalay Bay. I ended up winning $20, which is good for me as I only play the penny slots. :-) (That $20 was quickly spent on food or something of that nature, but it was still fun to win!)

We headed back down The Strip to New York, New York, where I braved The Roller Coaster with Mary and Janet. Being that it goes upside down twice, I have avoided it during my past two trips to Las Vegas. This time, however, I wanted to try it out, since I had two people who were willing to go on it with me.

It was AMAZING! Being that it's so hot and dry in Las Vegas, my screaming attributed to an extremely dry mouth that was in desperate need of some water! It was so worth it, though; I even kept my eyes open the entire time! Woo Hoo!

Next, we headed to MGM Grand to check out the Lion Habitat. Unfortunately, we missed the lions by fifteen minutes...

By this time, we were getting hungry, so we continued down The Strip to have dinner at Paris. We enjoyed a nice meal at Le Cafe Ile St. Louis.

After dinner, Janet, Mary, and Becky were exhausted, so they headed back to Excalibur. Rhi and I fought off our tiredness and acted like normal twentysomethings... We continued on!

We headed to Caesars Palace, my favorite hotel of them all! It's not just because Bette Midler headlines there either! It may have something to do with the amazing Bette Midler souvenir shop that's located there for now, until her two-year run of The Showgirl Must Go on ends. As a Bette Midler fan, it's pure Heaven when you walk in and see so much apparel and things that are available to purchase!

Here's a quick look at some of the new stuff...

If we only had a baby that could enjoy these next items... I was tempted to buy 'em anyway!

We made some purchases that couldn't wait and headed for dessert at the newly-built Serendipity 03 outside of Caesars Palace.

We ordered the Jackpot Sundae, and it was beyond delicious! Dark chocolate ice cream + Strawberry ice cream +Fudge + Strawberry sauce + Whipped cream = HEAVEN!

Before...

After...

We headed back to Excalibur in almost silence as our exhaustion was setting in... We unpacked quickly and passed out for the night!