Ending Vegas Proper with
Trip Start
Oct 08, 2008
1
5
6
Trip End
Oct 12, 2008
Las Vegas,
Nevada,
United States
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Being the last day in Las Vegas, I had to make the most of it. My parents got up at 6am to catch their flight, so I got up to see them off before going back to bed. Considering I had been only sleeping about 5 hours I needed a bit more. I slept in til about 9:45 and was checked out by about 10:30. Since I had to go directly to the airport that night I left my bags in the bag check room ($1 tip to the attendant) and headed out.
Considering it was almost 11am, a late start, I headed over to Caesar's Palace to grab an early lunch at Trevi, an Italian pizzeria. I figured it would likely have the closest recreation to a real Italian pizza. I got over to the Forum shops sooner than I expected and Trevi was not open, so I decided to go watch the 11am show that I missed involving Nero
Sigfried and Roy's Secret Garden
. Like the Atlantis show it involved animatronic characters in a 10 minute long scene. Also like the Atlantis show, I was not impressed. It just seems that when everything gets renovated every few years, leaving the fountains with the same 1990s quality robotics is a bit disappointing. After being disappointed I headed back to Trevi, which was now open, and got myself a margherita pizza for $15 plus tip. The quality and preparation was the same as those in Italy but I think the ones I had over there tasted slightly better. Still, it is something that I can't get at any pizza place around here, so I was happy.
Since I was up a few from the slots (ok so I was about even, but that is besides the point) the night before I decided to head up to the Mirage to go check out Sigfried and Roy's Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat to see the baby tigers. ($15). The whole exhibit was a bit smaller than I expected, but still very nice considering it was a hotel's exhibit. The first thing that you see is the multiple Dolphin enclosures, both above and below the water level. There was a 5 month old baby Dolphin, which is something I had not seen before which was rather neat. I think there were maybe only 4 or 5 Dolphins out at the time I was there. Further back was the lion and tiger habitat which included leopards, lions, white tigers, bengal tigers, and baby white and bengal tigers (they had 4 when I went)
Sigfried and Roy's Secret Garden
. The older tigers mostly were laying about as they usually do, but the tiny ones would run around and play with cardboard boxes which rates about a 12 on the adorability scale. When the older ones would get up and walk around they seemed as if it was due to training and an internal clock ticked on to make them walk around for the crowd, and seemed quite sad. With that being said, overall I have mixed feelings about the exhibit, but the baby tigers were quite cute.Afterwards I decided to kill some time and gamble a bit, with the few drinks. I headed around the Mirage, Bills, and Paris and ended up down about $15 but up a few drinks with tips. It was a fun few hours with a few drinks even if I ended up down. By then it was now about 3pm at which I headed over to the Bellagio to watch a few of the fountain shows before dinner. The Bellagio fountains, as predicted, are the coolest thing to see in Vegas and even if I saw some of the shows 3 or 4 times over the weekend, they never got old.
After watching a few shows I decided to go have my one big dinner in Las Vegas, and based on the recommendations from friends I decided to head over to Mon Ami Gabi in Paris for an expensive steak dinner. I requested a seat on the patio, since it has the best view of the Bellagio fountains, being right across the street
Sigfried and Roy's Secret Garden
. I ordered a steak bordelaise with a glass of Beaujolais wine to accompany it. Needless to say it was one of the best steaks I've had, and worth the $40 cost after tip (wine included). Can't complain about having a few of the Bellagio shows going while eating said steak either. My waiter said it was the best job in the world, and I almost asked for an application.Since I had tickets for the best show on the strip for 7:30, I decided to watch 2 more shows of the Bellagio Fountains and headed down to the Mirage at around 6 to get my seat for the greatest Cirque show I have seen (partly because I love Beatles music). While the arena (inside) isn't as ornate and trippy as the outside, the show, which follows the creation and breakup of the Beatles with reference to the state of the world at the time, was nothing short of amazing. It is quite difficult to explain without a clip, but it is nothing short of phenomenal. If you are worried about the $140 price tag for a mid level ticket, throw caution to the wind, you're on vacation, and get it. I would also avoid most of the upper cost level seats as, with exception to some of the few balcony seats, every seat in the house is good. With most Cirque shows any seat 6th row or closer is almost too close to take everything in. I know from experience seeing one in the 1st row and would never do it again closer than 6th. (and I've seen 6 of 'em)
Sigfried and Roy's Secret Garden
. I bought the Love Hoodie and Shot Glass (for $95 no less) before the show, and felt completely violated for paying that much, but did so anyway.Since it was about time to end the remarkable weekend, I did what any sane person would do and take a page out of the Ocean's 11 play book and headed to the Bellagio fountains for a few night time shows. While I was hoping for Viva Las Vegas, which eluded me for most of the weekend, I ended my trip with "And All That Jazz" which was my favorite I had seen, as the fountains are the most intense and highest out of majority of the shows. Unfortunately, like Ocean's Eleven, I had to leave at the end of the show, but I was lacking the million dollar take that they had. I quickly rushed back to the Imperial, grabbed my bags, tipped the attendant, and caught my prearranged transfer to the airport for a red eye to Houston, flight to Detroit, before arriving back in Dayton, Ohio to get back to reality. Time to count down 'til Egypt...
