Aug
01
2010

Standing On The Edge Of The Hoover Dam

(Add / View Comments) (0)Sunday, August 1, 2010 - 06:44:28 pm
(Posted Under: Travel)
I'd like to stay that we're standing on the edge of the Hoover Dam - but rather we're sitting in a huge line of traffic, trying to get to the Hoover Dam. Thanks of course thanks to anti terrorism measures.

I'm all for national security, but this whole security check at the Hoover Dam is a major drag! Especially given how we didn't get out a Vegas close to as early as we wanted.
Aug
01
2010

The Vegas Weekend Continues

Freemount Street, Zia Records, Hard Rock Cafe

(Add / View Comments) (0)PhotosSunday, August 1, 2010 - 04:11:25 pm
(Posted Under: Travel)
Photobox ImageAmazingly, given that I'd only gotten 4 hours sleep, I woke up a little after 9 this morning. Which was actually fantastic, given how much we wanted to fit in before having to leave this afternoon.

Photobox ImageSo we got ready, checked out of the hotel, and headed to downtown Las Vegas to check it out. It's something I hadn't seen before, and so Katie was excited to take me down there. We parked at one of the casinos down there. Walking through to get onto Freemont Street, the difference from the Strip casinos was quite noticeable. And Katie pointed out the "old person" smell of he particular one we went through. We spent an hour or so down there, and it was cool checking out the older part of Vegas.

Photobox ImageFrom there, we fired up Buller, and set out to hit up one of the Vegas Zia Records locations. Unfortunately both were kinda out of the way, but in reality, it didn't take long to get to the one on Sahara. Pretty cool store, and their vinyl section seemed to be laid out a lot better than all the other locations we've been to thus far. Plus they had a cool self promotion sign as "The Last Real Record Store" back there.

We also checked out their "local" section, to see how big it was, and what they had - and were pleased to find that their local section was full of Arizona artists as well as I assume Nevada ones. Although we were on a tight schedule this morning, it meant that we had to go through the whole section to make sure there was nothing we needed. There wasn't, but like I said, quite a decent selection of Phoenix bands. Definitely glad that we headed down there. That puts our Zia locations visited tally to 5 - with 3 more left to go. Next time we're here, we definitely have to hit up the other Vegas one.

Photobox ImageOur plan after Zia's was to head back to the Strip and wait to here from Chris. Not long after leaving we did, and made plans for lunch. While we waited for him to get ready, we decided to cruise the entire length of the Strip, as I'd never been all the way south. That turned into a bit of a thing when we ended up in the airport. [smile] But once we got that sorted out, we got back to the Strip for our cruise. Along the way we spotted a Hard Rock Cafe location that we didn't know about. Our plan was to go to the one at the Hard Rock Hotel for lunch, but we quickly changed our plans given this discovery!

Photobox ImageOnce we hit the Bellagio, we parked, and right after doing so got a buzz from Chris. Awesome timing. So we picked him up, and headed down to the MGM to park. Going through the MGM was something we wanted to get done today, so it worked out pretty conveniently. Although our pace going through there was quick, we got to stop for the lion exibit which was main thing I wanted to do there. It also seemed like the first time Chris had more or less been outside of the Bellagio, so it was good to be responsible for him seeing a bit more of Vegas.

Photobox ImageLunch at the Hard Rock was cool, though time was slipping away pretty fast by this stage. So we didn't really get a chance to look around that much, and didn't have time to look at the memorabilia collection on the third floor at all. Getting nachos, and the time it takes to make your way through a massive plate of nachos really didn't help our shortening time window. We'd planned to leave Vegas at 3 and worse case scenario at 4 if we wanted to fit something else in, so when it turned 4 by the end eating it was a little stressful. A VERY quick browse through the store, a photo and final smoke with Chris, and we were on our way back to the car at the MGM.

We still had to get gas on the way out - which was quite a cluster fuck, and also put us back a bit on time. Once everything was said and done, we were on our way out of Vegas at about 4:45pm. An hour and 45 minutes after what we'd planned. That's Vegas for you. [smile]
Aug
01
2010

Circus Circus

(Add / View Comments) (0)Sunday, August 1, 2010 - 02:56:16 am
(Posted Under: Travel)
So, it back on to the strip and down to Circus Circus. Pulling into the front of the casino, the foyer lights were blinding - a sight that Katie said she thinks heaven is like. [smile] ha.

Photobox ImageWe pulled around to the parking garage and went in. On the way through I saw a Zoltaire machine. Probably not a big deal to most, but for this Aussie it was a cool thing to see. I did question whether it could help the vertical challenged issues of Friday. Katie reckoned it would just to me into Tom Hanks. [smile] We went past the Adventuredome, which unfortunately for Katie had just closed probably 15 minutes earlier. She was pretty excited by that. I particularly liked the slot machines on the rotating platform / merry go round. But more on that later.

Upstairs we checked out the midway, which really makes Circus Circus the casino for Katie! [wink] We had a good time checking it out, and the majority of our 'gambling' went to a claw game where I was trying to win her a Las Vegas bear. I think we lost about $2 there. Went back down for a smoke, and got some change - I was on a mission to get one of those bears, but by the time we got back, the midway was closed, which was a shame, but maybe it was for the best. [wink] Anyways, the idea is probably good for families - load the kids up with quarters and send them upstairs while you gamble. It's kinda brilliant actually.

Photobox ImageSo it was getting late, so we headed back down to the casino. Katie thought we should gamble at Circus Circus, to say that we had. I was strong in my convictions to do so on the rotating platform, so it was agreed. All in all we lost 96 cents. Which turned out to be the entire amount we lost gambling the whole weekend! [smile] Once it came to leaving, it was hard to resist the desire to 'fall' and crawl off the rotating platform Hunter S. Thompson style. [wink] Though I didn't. [smile]

It was back out to the car, and back to the hotel. Made it back at about 2am, which was way later than we'd expected to stay out. That's Vegas for you. It was pretty incredible how drowsy I had been at 8pm, but once out on the Strip, I had all the energy in the world and had no problem going until 2am. Once back at the hotel, we stayed up pretty much until 4am, watching a special on Criss Angel (further enhancing Katie's displeasure with him), and then Billy The Exterminator. Which was like a car wreck, as much as you know you should look away, you can't. [smile] Earlier, Mythbusters made me miss cable, but shows like Billy The Exterminator confirm why I don't understand why anyone pays for it! [wink]

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