Trip to The Strip

We had a very busy day yesterday (hence no blog post). We took the bus to the strip and wore ourselves out looking at the massive casinos and resorts. We were in Vegas about 18 years ago and things have just gotten bigger and more opulent in that time. It's just unbelievable how massive these places are and they really spare no expense on anything. It's quite the contrast from downtown Vegas where we're staying.

There were several highlights yesterday. We had lunch at The Creperie in Paris (Tami LOVES crepes). We were both brought to tears at The Fountains of Bellagio. They played Whitney Houston's rendition of the Star Spangled Banner and a beautiful duet by Andrea Bocelli and Sara Brightman (Time to say goodbye). If you haven't heard this song... LOOK IT UP! I promise it's worth it. We loved it so much we stayed for 3 different fountain shows. We found a shady spot to sit and just enjoyed relaxing by the fountains. There are street vendors selling water and beer, so waiting for the next show was easy. Weird feeling being able to buy beer on the street. We found a good Happy Hour at a Mexican Cantina. We had a nice time talking to our Mexican waiter. It's fun to ask people about their homeland and they are usually happy to talk about themselves a little bit. Most people aren't willing to connect with service workers on a personal level. It's one of our favorite things to do. We also enjoyed a stroll next to the Grande Canal at The Venetian (this was under construction the last time we were here). It's beautiful as you can probably imagine. We wanted to end the night at the pirate show at Treasure Island, but it's closed for repairs. By this time we were tired anyway and decided to just head back to the hotel. It was a FULL day on the Vegas strip and we didn't gamble a dime. I wonder how many people can say that?

Yes, I photographed my own finger in this one. I'm such a dork!

Here's Bellagio from our shaded perch on the concrete railing. Sitting up on the railing is probably not allowed. We're such rebels!

This display was beautiful! I felt kind of silly crying when I was busy being such a rebel sitting on the railing.

The Grand Canal gondola rides are cool, but I wouldn't pay $40/person for a 5 minute ride in a big, glorified canoe. I was content to watch and shoot a photo of somebody else who overpaid for a ride on a fake waterway (think Small World ride at Disney). Tami and I marveled at how expensive things were and how people just seemed to be throwing money away left and right.

It was a good, but tiring day yesterday. We weren't the typical Vegas strip visitors and we liked it that way. It doesn't cost anything to look and we did a lot of looking.

Today we are going to take it a little easier. We're still going to have fun, but we are staying in the downtown area. It's a bit more laid back than the strip and we like it better that way.