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Viva Las Vegas

Wednesday August 24

The alarm went off at four; and that is early. And the lights being turned on in my room was bright! 15 minutes later, we had loaded up the car, and we were on our way. My eyes were aching, and I don’t know how Jason managed to drive, but he did. The airport is an hour and a half away; and we thought we had allowed enough time.

I saw Cheryl checking her purse, and I remembered I had left my credit card in the bag I left in LA. Cue moment of panic. I did not mention this at first to the guys, but I was worried. Our flight left just before eight; and it was approaching seven, and we were still in Fayetteville, half an hour from the airport; we began to get worried. I told them about my credit card, and they suggested calling Linda, Jason’s Mum and she call my Mother so she could call the credit card company to cancel the card. This done, I relaxed a little, and I would call home at Dallas to check that it was OK.

We got to the airport at twenty past seven, and there was no queue; so we checked in, went through customs; and had half an hour to wait before we went on board.

In Dallas I called home; the card was cancelled and it had not been used since Saturday. All was well, and I could relax.

ON the flight to Vegas, they had TV screens, and you could buy headphones to listen to the sound; the film was Monster-in-Law with the awful Jennifer Lopez. There was nothing else to do, other than to look at it; it was bad enough without the sound. The pilot pointed out that we were flying over the Meteor Crater in Arizona, which looked impressive from the air.

At the baggage reclaim, there was a chauffer with a sign with my name on it; and he carried our luggage to the limo. The driver was great, and he took us to Downtown first, to look at Freemont Street, and then down the Strip. We had two bottles of cheap Californian Champagne, which went down well. The views were great, and they got some pictures out of the window; Jason had bought a 1 gig memory card, and was determined to fill it. We stopped at the southern end of the strip, so the driver could take our picture in front of the ‘Fabulous’ sign. Happy with it so far, he took us to tour hotel, the MGM Grand. Thankfully, our reservation was still good, although the queue to check in was horrendous. Once checked in, I asked the guys to take the bags up to the room, while I tried to organise a show for us to see. The was a Cirque De Soleil show now at the MGM, and I managed to get three seats together for the last night we were there, on he front row. Brilliant!

By now we were a little hungry; so I thought I would treat Jason and Cheryl the delight that is the buffet. The buffet is a means to attract people into a casino; it offers unlimited food for a ridiculous low price.

Or hunger satisfied, we set out to explore Vegas. We left the MGM, and walked over to New York New York; I wanted to show them the bar I liked, The Bar at Times Square, featuring twin grand pianos, where they play requests, and the clientele sing along. Trust me; it’s better than it sounds.

From New York New York, we walked across to the kitsch Excalibur. A mediaeval Castle from England transported to America. A castle, if had been designed by Americans. Once inside any casino, they really are pretty much the same; the same machines, the same tables, and the bars all serving the same drinks. We went down to the basement where there are old fashioned fair stalls; and I won a prize hitting a witch into a bottle. Jason did not win. Ha. We then spent half an hour trying to find our way to the walkway to the next casino, The Luxor.

The Luxor is a huge hollowed out pyramid, with the casino on the ground floor, with rooms up the inside of the sloping sides of the pyramid. It is huge in there, and in a mezzanine level there are motion rides as well as cafes and restaurants. We bought tickets for a ride, and had a short wait before we went in. The ride gives the impression of being on a rollercoaster, without moving. Now, Jason suffers from vertigo, and was not impressed, as it really did feel like we fell off the top of a building.

Whilst waiting to go into the IMAX theatre I looked into my wallet, and my other credit card was not there; major panic. I thought about it, and the only place I had used it that day was at the ticket office. So, we quickly rushed back to the MGM, and were directed to the security desk. Lucky for me, it was there, and once I proved who I was, I got it back.

We decided to head to the room and grab showers before heading out for the night; Jason liked British beer, and I knew of a British style pub in the city; so that is where we wanted to go first. We got a cab, with American driver, to the Crown and Anchor, and over the course of the evening, sampled several beers; as well as the guys trying British style chips with malt vinegar.

Much later, we caught a cab back to the Strip. We called for a cab, and the driver turned out to be Palestinian, and had a talk show on which was discussing the problems in the middle east; which did little to ease his obvious temper. Needless to say, we were glad to get out of his cab.

First of all we headed to the Bellagio to see the famous fountains there. It was magical, and as it was a little later, the crowds were not too bad; so we had a good view. I guess we stayed there for some 40 minutes, and took pictures and video of the dancing water.

and made our way back to New York New York to the Bar at Times Square. It was free to get in, and the party was kickin’. As my birthday began at midnight, I got them to play American Pie, which is the Piano Bars’ favourite tune; and the whole place sang along at the top of their drunken voices. Little did I know that Jason was videoing the whole thing, and it would make ‘interesting’ viewing back home in front of their family.

Thursday August 25

So, I turn 40 today; and I wanted this to be as memorable as possible. I thought it would be great to go to The Hilton to visit the Star Trek experience. They have a replica of Quarks bar, and that is where we were going to have breakfast. We caught the monorail that runs from the MGM all the way to the Hilton. The food in Quarks was very good, and the guys I think were impressed with the surroundings. Later Cheryl and I went on the two motion rides that were on offer; both were very good, the second one was in 3D. In the meantime, Jason had won a $100 on the slots, and was very happy.

We made our way on the monorail down to the Flamingo. We walked through that casino and across Las Vegas Boulevard to Caesars Palace.

We wandered around Caesars making our way to the Forum Shops. I wanted to show them the moving fountains, and from there to the largest toy shop in the world, CFO Shwartz. The mall had the feature of a painted ceiling that looked like a blue sky; and was very effective. There was a crowd around the fountain when we arrived just before four. The lights dimmed, and the animatronic statues came to life, and told a version of the Atlantis story; along with pyrotechnics and large video screens. Afterwards, we went to a place called the cheesecake factory for something to eat; and we sat people watching as we ate.

The toy shop is just s few yards further on, and is dominated by a huge wooden horse over 100 feet tall. The ground floor is full of plush animals, and each of the three other floors is full of wonderful things.

After all this walking and window shopping, we were a little fatigued; so we decided to head back to our hotel room to freshen up before heading out for the night. Back at the MGM, I thought I would go and find a restaurant I had eaten in before, as we wanted to do something special that night. I left Jason and Cheryl to go up to the room, while I headed back into the heat and crowds on the strip. I found the place, the Beachwood Grill, and booked a table for half eight.

Dinner was fantastic, and I think it’s fair to say, I made the right choice in going there. I had also been to a specialist cigar shop to get a couple of cigars for the evening for Jason and me. After having a couple of nice malts in the MGM, and then we headed back to New York New York to go back to the Bar At Times Square. It was even more hedonistic than last night. The show ended at two, but we heard the sound of a band in the Irish bar opposite; we headed there, Jason and I leaving cigar smoke trails in our wake. The band was a rock one, and they played all favourites which went down with the crowd.

I had to go to the restroom, and I was walking across the casino floor I witnessed an assault. A guy leaped out on two black women walking along, and swung his fist into the face of one of the girls. I was shocked, but myself and others ran after the guy, and held him until security arrived. The women told security what happened, and then they changed their mind and dropped charges; which was odd. The security guy said he though it might have been an argument between a call girl and her client of a bad drug deal. Whatever the reason, the girls walked out into the night, and I had a story to tell the guys. We ended up at a bar back in the MGM at daybreak, having one last whiskey before heading up the lift to our 23rd floor room; and hopefully a dozen hours sleep.

Friday August 26 When I awake, I looked at the digital clock in the room; it said half eleven. What I had forgotten to take into account was the fact that the clock was stuck on central time, and Las Vegas is on Pacific; so it was half nine. Jason and Cheryl stirred; we decided to head out as it was our last full day and staying in bed a few more hours would have been more sensible. We had showers, and felt a little less delicate. We went to the lobby, and hailed a cab and to take us to Treasure Island where we were going to have brunch in the buffet.

The driver looked American, but turned out to be Bosnian; and I really ticked him off by telling him my first wife was Serbian and then talk to him in what I thought was his language. He barely contained his anger, and to make matters worse, the traffic on the Strip was horrendous, and we were stuck in the cab with him. It was some relief once we got past the broken down taxi that had blocked the road, that he pulled into the Treasure Island lobby.

The food was as ever, fine; and the service good. Suitably refreshed we looked around the casino; it had everything you expect; thousands of slots, hundreds of gaming tables, bars and endless series of women delivering free drinks to the gamblers. Outside it was in the very high 90’s, and blindingly bright. We wanted to go to the latest of the casinos on the Strip, Wynn’s. It was the other side of the strip, so we braved a crosswalk, dodging manic taxis and limos. Wynn’s is huge, I mean massive; and once again no expense has been spared in its construction. Outside, there were imitation waterfalls that looked real; well, except for the un-naturally blue water and the smell of chlorine. Dominating the waterfalls was the huge video screen that must have been ten stories high in itself. On the other side of the strip was the Fashion Mall, with a huge suspended roof the size of a football field; looking for all the world like a flying saucer.

The Casino had the usual high society shops, all with product in the window with no prices on; never a good sign. It did boast an art Gallery, even though it boasted just 14 pictures, the quality made it a must see. I had never seen a Vermeer before, and a chance to see one up close was too good to pass up. It also had a Monet, a Van Goch as well a a number of impressionist works. Past the main lobby, there was a stunning area, two curved escalators led down to a patio café; and hanging from the ceiling were large Venetian style paper lanterns. But really it was just dressing on what was another casino’ it had all the usual things you would expect.

A ten minute walk down the strip is the Venetian; another no expense spared attempt to copy European architecture. The temperature was now hitting 103, and felt like it. We paused for some pictures outside, before heading into the nearest entrance to get out of the blazing sun and into the air conditioning. Both Jason and I were suffering from blisters, that had got worse that morning; and it was clear we would not be doing much more walking around that day. The cost of hiring a gondola was ridiculous for three people, and so decided to pass. The ceiling was painted to look like sky as the Forum Shops were; although the mall had been made to look like Venice. We stopped for a drink that turned into a cocktail in one of the many lounges; and we decided that we were pooped and should think about heading back to the hotel.

Jason and Cheryl headed out onto the Strip to get some last minute gifts for the family, while I went up to the room to have a shower and think about packing. They returned to the room at just gone six, and crashed out on the bed fast asleep. We had planned to go to the Stratosphere and watch the sun set, but I thought we needed a rest more than that.

We went out into the casino at half eight to get something to eat before the show was due to begin. We found a table at a Mexican place on the way to the monorail station. A little further away on another table; a wedding party was having a celebration meal; and the first argument had already exploded.

We queued up outside the theatre, and soon we were inside, looking up at faux industrial towers and walkways above us. Our seats I think were the best in the house, and we had a wonderful time. Ka, the name of the show, was far better than the other Cirque show I had seen, and being on the front row it was like being in the show, as the acrobats ran along the balcony in front of where we were sitting. By the time we got to the hotel room and finished packing, it was well past one in the morning. We collapsed asleep absolutely shattered.