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Published: February 2nd 2011
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The following morning, they chucked us off the ship really early, 8.30 am, so having prebooked a Shuttle, I was off to the Airport with 5 hours to waste before flying to Las Vegas. Thankfully I'd bought a sweatshirt top in Nassau by then, because it was back to freezing weather again.
Enjoyed flying in the evening to Vegas as it was overland and unlike Australia, where you just see pitch blackness all the way across the country for 4 solid hours (so boring), in the States there's circles of lights everywhere and occasionally lights stretching for miles when you fly over a really big city. Consequently, it was an interesting 6 hour flight. Once again, 4 more hours were added to my day, so I was in bed by 9.30 p.m. (although it was 1.30 in the morning by my time).
Flying into Vegas was superb and the Airport Shuttle even better, as I got a tour of Vegas at night simply by being the last person to be dropped off at my Hotel, the Sahara. This is a very old Hotel (they still have smoking floors, which smell) but the rooms are big and clean and I
got a really cheap rate of $194 for 4 nights.
It also has the monorail connecting into it ($28 for 3 day pass), so really handy for going to the Strip as the Sahara is right at one end of it, and a very long way - too far to walk. It's also very close to the Stratosphere where they have rides on top of the tower and a revolving restaurant, with surprisingly good food, albeit expensive.
Needless to say, the next day I was wide awake at 4.30 a.m. and not unlike the rest of the States, Las Vegas was absolutely freezing and down to about -2C with snow on the mountains. Just about lived in my sweatshirt top which stood out, as it was bright yellow and everyone else was dressed for winter in black, brown or navy.
My list of things to check-out in Vegas, which I'm pleased to say I ticked off most of them:
• In Sahara Hotel, NASCAR Cafe has Speed – The Ride (roller coaster)
• Local CAT bus 301 stops every stop along strip ($2.00 exact fare), 302 express bus.
• Monorail ($5 takes 14 mins covers 4
mile route, unlimited 1-day pass $12, 3-day pass $28) Mon-Thurs 7.00 a.m. – 2.00 a.m., Fri-Sun until 3.00 a.m.
• Strip Trolley – every 20 mins (free monorail that goes from Excalibur & Luxor to Mandalay Bay)
• Roller Coasters, New York, New York and Circus Circus (Adventuredome)
• Best view and rides on top of Stratosphere (10 am – 1 am) & Manhattan Express (also Level 108 Air Bar) and Eiffel Tower.
• Largest Attrium at Luxor
• Check out Cosmopolitan Hotel Chandelier Bar (near Strip side entrance – 3-levels 6M Swarovski crystals). Fontana Lounge, Bellagio Hotel Fountains (FREE) - 3:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m., show every 1/2 hr, 8:00 p.m. - 12:00 a.m., show ever 15 mins
• Bellagio Conservatory & Botanical Gardens (FREE) magnificent garden & fragrance
• Mandalay, Shark Reef
• Lion Habitat, MGM (FREE), 11.00 a.m. to 10 p.m.
• Aquarium, Caesars Palace (FREE) (by Cheesecake Factory), divers in tank 3.15 & 7.15 p.m. daily
• Silverton Casino (south end of town) synchronized swimmers 5 days (no show on Mon or Tues)
• Flamingos at Flamingo Hotel.
• Secret Garden, Mirage Hotel (Dolphins underwater viewing area under main seating arena)
• Wave Pool and Glass
lift to 64th floor (open 5.00 p.m.) Mandalay Hotel, 2 walkthrough glass tunnels aquatic (not free).
• Observation deck and Bar, Paris – can view dancing fountains across street at Bellagios (fountains every hour on the hr)
• Check out the Pool, Golden Nugget
• Nightly - Erupting Volcanos at Mirage (FREE)
• Nightly - Lights at Downtown Fremont Street & “Fremont Experience” (best seen from Fitzgerald’s balcony (get there 15 mins beforehand). Take escalator up to 2nd level.
• Show in the Sky at Rio (FREE) – 7.00 pm until midnight, Thurs-Sun (Mon-Wed, latin band, Masquerade Village Stage)
WEBSITES
VegasView.com
Las Vegas - 100 Things to Do - http://www.lasvegasinsider.com/101/index.htm
Nightlife Las Vegas - http://govegas.about.com/od/nightlife/u/nighteat.htm
Trip Advisor - http://cdn.tripadvisor.com/pdfs/DestinationGuides06/TA_vegastips.pdf
Nightlife Club Scene – What you need to know - http://lasvegas4newbies.com/chap6-6.html)
Hotwire - for cheap Hotel deal at Sheraton
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