Las Vegas Tuesday

Mid-June, Entrepreneur and I took a trip to Las Vegas. While we were curious about the city, our main goal was to use it as a launch pad for our trip to Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon. But, while we were there, of course we had to experience the sights and sounds of the Vegas strip.

I must say, I’ve been to few places where that much humanity was jammed into one place. The strip is a visual assault with its neon signs and elaborate hotels/casinos. I agree…what happens in Vegas should stay in Vegas. Definitely.

The shows we wanted to see were not playing on the nights we were free to go to the strip, so we just walked and gawked at this testament to humankind’s ability to overwhelm the senses.

Fair warning, there will be a lot of photos for the rest of this post.

We arrived in Vegas on Monday afternoon. After our trip to the dam and canyon on Tuesday, we recuperated by the Wyndham Grand Desert pool and then went for an early anniversary dinner on the strip at Hexx Kitchen and Bar. Sitting outside we had a view of the Bellagio fountains across the street. Which, by the way, are way cooler at night.

Hexx gets high marks for both service and quality of the food. Entrepreneur had a ceviche appetizer, flat iron steak with garlic mashed potatoes. I had a filet with garlic mashed potatoes and we split an Amaretto-spiced pear and custard dessert. And, we had enough food to take back for the next day’s lunch!

The next day, we pooled it again before going back to walk on the strip and take in more sights. Dinner was a buffet in Harrah’s casino/hotel where Entrepreneur ate his weight in crab legs and shrimp.

If you are into people watching, this is the place for you. Not being a gambler, I found the casinos a fascinating social experiment.

After dinner, our goal was to walk from Harrah’s to the Bellagio and watch the fountains up close.

Along the way was Caesars Palace, which spans at least three blocks, and is filled with majestic buildings, gardens, fountains and statues.

From one of the pedestrian bridges, Donny and Marie loom larger than life at the Flamingo hotel.

And, here they come down the strip!

Finally, we arrived at the Bellagio and navigated through the hotel/casino to the fountain area. While there was so much to see around us, I didn’t forget to look up.

We finally found the exit for the fountains and scored a primo spot to take photos and video. Unfortunately, it was too windy and they decided not to run them that night. But…..they didn’t bother to tell anyone. I called the front desk (from the fountain area) and they told me the news. However, while we waited, the Eiffel tower at the Paris hotel across the street entertained everyone patiently waiting on the fountains with a lovely light show.

After hearing the news, we headed back, swimming upstream against the current to get through the people streaming into the fountain area. I have to say, if someone would happen to get lost inside the Bellagio (we did) there’s a good change they may not be found for days.

Tucked back into our room at the Grand Desert, we were hot and tired from our outing. Temps during the day hovered around 103F and the evenings, while cooler, were still in the 80sF.

These last two shots are pieced together from photos take from the window in our room. The first one is Vegas by day. The second is Vegas at night.

Playing along with Happy Tuesday with Sandee at Comedy Plus and Peabea’s Pictorial Tuesday.