Last Night in Vegas

We still seem to be sleeping really well but somehow feel tired all the time. The curtains seem to black most light out, the bed is massive so you don’t feel each other move around, combined with a few drinks your out cold. We started off by walking north towards Circus Circus so Claire could look in a shop that she had spotted. She managed to buy a nice green coat and a green pullover and we carried on towards Circus Circus. We were going to get a taxi to downtown and Freemont Street but once we were out of the hotel area we couldn’t flag one down; its not like New York. We carried on walking passed Circus Circus where I had played $1 Black Jack yesterday towards the Stratosphere. It was about $30 to do the ride but I felt like I might have a heart attack if we did it and wimped out.

Anyway we ended up walking all the way to down town Vegas and onto Freemont Street; I guess that not many people walk over here because nobody would believe us. It was a nice sunny day and lovely in the sun so we enjoyed the walk. Mind you we were knackered by the time we got there and didn’t even fancy walking the street. The best time to come here is at night when they have the laser show on apparently but we have no time left as we have to be back for The Phantom of the Opera. Claire had read about the Golden Nugget so we went in for liquid refreshment and some lunch as we were starving by then. We stopped for a drink at one of those bars where they have Black Jack on a screen in front of you and it was only 25c minimum, which is more my style. Because I was playing it we got our beers free so it was a double whammy. I had about 3 drinks and only lost one dollar so that made it even better but Claire didn’t fancy any of the food places in there so we walked all the way back to where they had steaks and a beer for $10. By the time we had got there Claire didn’t fancy that either but she settled for a pizza while I went for the steak. The steak was good but the rest not so and Claire’s pizza tasted sweet somehow which you wouldn’t expect for a cheese one. By the way, yesterday we ate at Margaretville and my steak was one of the best that I have ever had. I had Teriyaki steak and it melted in your mouth, mmmm! Claire had a plain sirloin but hers was a little tough but still it had no fat or gristle on it. And the Margarita that I had was even stronger than the ones that I make at home. When in Rome!

We got a taxi back and got ready quickly as time was moving on and we only had 30 minutes of Happy Hour left at our favourite bar where they all know us now. We walked across the road to the Venetian where our show was on but all the traffic seemed to be stopped other than a convoy of trucks all blowing their horns. It must be for the Nascar race that is on here over the weekend so it was a good job we came home when we did, it was bedlam out there. All I will say about the two shows that we spent 4 or 5 hours at the timeshare to get cheap is that we came out early from both of them; I will leave Claire to explain why.

I couldn’t leave Las Vegas without getting a couple of pictures of the water show outside the Bellagio first so made the long walk there while Claire came back for an early night. Trouble is, when it’s dark and too far away for the flash you need a long exposure and then the water has gone before the photo is taken.

Summing up, I don’t really think that Vegas is our cup of tea; we both are not real keen on Cities and Vegas is probably the craziest and noisiest that you will find. I loved it when I was here for two nights 30 years ago when I was 25 but both Vegas and I have changed since then. In some ways, I remember it as being far more spectacular then than it is now; I guess that I was young and in those days expectations weren’t so high. Walking along the strip at Las Vegas at night reminds me of the scene from “Total Recall” when Arnold first gets to Mars!