It's almost 11 AM in Vegas; the clocks sprung forward last night so it feels like 10 AM. I've been up for awhile but am letting Ms. Laura catch up on some zzzzzs since she is exhausted after mid-term week and as usual, burning the candle at both ends. I'm writing from the hotel room, pumped up on my 4 dollar caffeine fix (just a plain ole drip coffee from Starbucks in the lobby of Planet Hollywood; prices are really ramped up in this town) and planning out what we'll do today. The weather is great; 70's in the daytime, sunny but very breezy. This is a lovely change from Seattle.
We had a good day yesterday; an easy flight and check in to our hotel on the infamous Las Vegas Strip. My only other trip to Vegas was over 20 years ago; I really wasn't prepared for all the changes. The oddest thing is the enormity of the hotel complexes. Problem is; they are so large and visible that they appear to be rather close together. Not. What looks like a short walk could be well over a mile.
Last night we had tickets to Blue Man Group at 7 PM and found ourselves cut short on time; not just a little but a lot. The Vegas Strip monorail (I thought) would be a good idea and save us time but was a disaster, putting us out in an obscure parking lot at least a quarter mile from the Venetian, the venue for the event with less than 5 minutes to show time. Picture us running (and me on my bum knee) through the crowds in the maze of the casino at Harrah's, finally navigating outside to the strip, and in Laura's language, "booking it" to the Venetian, dodging slow moving pedestrians and cursing under our breath. We made it with no time to spare, took our seats with adrenaline surging and sweat seeping but it was all worth it. This show was a winner even if it took us thirty minutes to calm down and settle into the evening.
Tonight we have tickets to La Reve and we will be more thoughtful in our planning, especially since Laura plans to wear 3 inch heels to the show.
I hear you on the distance between hotels! With Kelan and Lauren in tow we hardly left the hotel. We did manage a walk along the strip - once (maybe twice in our week there). We stayed at Mandalay Bay and walked to the Belagio to see the fountain show (which is worth seeing - plus they have REALLY good gelato in the hotel on the corner of the bldg). Sounds simple (long, but simple) until you remember we have a double stroller. The Westheimer intersection near the Galleria in Houston is easier to navigate! Glad you made it to the show last night. Enjoy Vegas! It's an experience.
ReplyDeleteYep, Jeanne...I can imagine how tough it would be with little ones to navigate the strip. Laura and I found that gelato yesterday and shared a triple of cappucino, cookies and cream, and chocolate. Ate every bite while sitting in a wind scoop in the drive up breezeway to the Bellagio.
ReplyDeleteI would love to experience Las Vegas. Have for years. You sound very well occupied with all the sights and shows. Good days.
ReplyDeleteEd and I probably passed you somewhere in the airport. We flew into LV Saturday morning on the 8th and waited until a 5:30 pm for shuttle to Lake Havasu City, AZ. Met my dad and drove to Sedona for a week. We came back through McCarren yesterday (3/16) around 2 and took a red eye that left at 6:30 for Tampa. Plane was late from Salt Lake City and we got home about 2 AM.
ReplyDeleteGlad you had a good time in Vegas!