Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
After leaving Flagstaff we travelled west. Most of the day was spent on I-40 but occasionally we did a little detour.
Our first detour took us through the town of Williams which is located on Old Route 66 - or as it is fondly known, The Mother Road. This town has really cashed in on its heritage. Almost every shop, cafe and sign post boast of the fact that it is on Route 66. We didn't mind at all as it made for an interesting leg stretch. We wandered up both sides of the main street snapping photos as we went. After buying our last postcard (yes we still send them) we wrote on it, stuck on our last stamp and posted it in one of the souvenir shops - hope it gets to its destination.
Back in the car we rejoined I-40 for another 40 miles before turning off again at Seligman and remembered we had stopped here in 2009. Again this town is making the most of its Route 66 history. We drove up the main street twice taking photos and then stopped at the Road Kill Cafe for lunch. Their motto is You kill it, we grill it! We ordered a B.L.T which was huge so we shared, of course we also had the coffee which is always bottomless - just like on the movies.
We travelled on I-40 again for another 75 mile and took the exit to Kingman - also on Route 66 but could find no evidence of the old road so we got back on the freeway and headed off towards Las Vegas.
When we were last in this area in 2009 there was a new suspension bridge being built to relieve the traffic congestion travelling across the Hoover Dam. The span of the bridge had not yet joined in the middle in 2009 but today we drove over it - amazing. The bridge is named the Mike O'Callaghan Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge named after two distinguished Nevadans. We parked in the visitors area and then took a walk so that we could go up on to the bridge for a great view of Hoover Dam. I think we were more fascinated with the new bridge than the dam although I'm not sure how Greg managed to walk out on the bridge as far as he did - he did stay well away from the railings of course. After our walk we drove across the Hoover Dam and took a few photos. Traffic was light there as it is now only a tourist view point rather than the main connecting road from Arizona to Nevada.
As it was approaching check in time for our Las Vegas hotel we set off again. Before reaching our hotel we took a drive down Las Vegas Boulevard to refresh our memories of previous visits. We drove south down The Strip as far as the Mandalay Bay hotel which was the location of the massacre that happened in Las Vegas last Sunday, 1st October. The window used by the shooter was still missing from the 32nd floor of the building. There was a large Police presence around the area with TV reporters still along the footpath. People had placed floral tributes on the median strip beside the concert site which was fenced off with black mesh as a crime scene.
We drove passed The Luxor, Excalibar and New York, New York before driving in to the self parking area at our hotel - Ballys/Paris. We are directly across the road from Bellagio which is next door to Caesars Palace right in the middle of The Strip. We are very happy with the location and our enormous room, the view from the 5th floor is also pretty good.
After settling in we set off to check out our surroundings. We tried to stay inside as much as possible to avoid the heat. As our hotel is connected to the one next door, we wandered through Paris but could not find a way out of the casino - Greg even asked two ladies at one stage where the exit was. With good directions we found the Strip and decided that a cold beer was the priority. Beer Park was right beside the exit so we went upstairs, sat at the bar and drank our beer while watching the football - New England Patriots beat Tampa Bay Bucaneers 19 to 14.
We then headed south on The Strip keeping in the shade where possible. We passed Planet Hollywood and its Mile of Shops before crossing the street through Cosmopoliton Casino before returning to street level and walking up to Caesars Palace, one of the most iconic casinos in town where we had dinner. We returned to our room exhausted - and we had only just arrived.
Our second day in Las Vegas we planned to visit some of the casinos, have a look at some shopping areas, check out the fountains and finish off the day with a show we had booked online earlier in the week.
First off we wandered down to Planet Hollywood to make sure we knew where the theatre was for our show. We picked up our tickets at the V Theatre Box Office and decided to have a good look around the Mile of Shops attached to Planet Hollywood. While wandering we came across a Sport's Memorabilia shop with a sign out the front that Mike Tyson would be making an appearance that afternoon - so, in we went to find out a bit more. After parting with some of our cash we had purchased a boxing glove and organised a signing by Mike with photos for later in the afternoon. I couldn't wipe the grin off Greg's face!
As Greg now had a bit of a spring in his step, we crossed the street for a visit to Bellagio that turned in to our morning tea stop. The cafe we chose had a Sienna decor with flags flying and it was right beside the Bellagio Pool. We took far too many photos of the interior of this casino - not of the slots or tables, but of the statues and gardens. Kerrie found out what time the fountains would be performing and we were on our way. We crossed back over the bridge and started our exploration of the north end of the Strip. We wandered down a side street toward the Wheel of Las Vegas that we could see from the 5th Floor of our hotel. There was no way Greg would be going on the Wheel so we found an ice-cream shop - Ghirardellis that, of course sold chocolate as well so we were both happy. Next stop was Flamingo Casino - an oldie but a goodie. The iconic neon sign is about all that is left of the original site but it is still worth a visit. We took some photos of the real flamingos that live in the gardens and then started heading back for our meeting with Mike.
After lining up outside the shop for about 30 minutes awaiting our turn we were ushered inside to meet the man. Greg sat down beside him and started a conversation about how he was a fan (true) and that Mike was a great mate of Jeff Fenech (also true). Kerrie stood beside Mike and said nothing, just smiled for the camera. Mike commented in mono-syllabic phrases, signed our boxing glove, smiled for the camera - and then our audience was over. Was it worth parting with our money - YOU BET IT WAS!
Greg then returned to our hotel room for a rest and Kerrie headed further up the Strip to visit The Venetian - it was further than she thought but well worth the visit. After Kerrie got back to our hotel, we both got ready for our night out.
We had purchased tickets to a small show called "All Shook Up", an Elvis tribute show - what could be better when in Las Vegas. The theatre held about 120 with only about 90 people present so it was quite an intimate event. We were in the third row and enjoyed every minute of the show. Even the MC was entertaining while Elvis changed from one outfit to another. Apparently this Elvis has been named the best impersonator in Las Vegas on several ocassions - it was easy to see why as his moves and voice were very authentic. At the end of the performance Kerrie had a photo taken with the King before we went to have dinner at a sport's bar we had spied earlier.
There were now only two things left to complete our day. Firstly we lined up to watch the fountains at Bellagio. The fountains are choreographed to music and we were lucky enough to have Frank Sinatra sing for us! The fountains work every 15 minutes at night and each performance is different. Greg then returned to our room but Kerrie had one more thing to do.
No trip to Las Vegas would be complete without a visit to Tiffany & Co for Kerrie. She purchased her first piece of Tiffany in Las Vegas and thus began a tradition (so she tells me, just as well Greg went back to the hotel!) Purchase complete Kerrie returned to the hotel with a smile on her face only to find Greg almost asleep after our busy, but extremely memorable day in Las Vegas.
- comments