Vegas Baby!

Today we were driving into Vegas!  When we arrived me and Mart checked into Caesars Palace, our home for the next 4 nights, and our luck was in as we managed to get an upgrade!  So we were on the 68th floor of the Forum Tower (although it was actually 18 storeys high), but it was a beautiful room - with a tv in the mirror of the bathroom(!) and some great views of the strip.

Ray and Sheila checked into the hotel over the road so we arranged to meet a few hours later after we had settled in our room and walked around the hotel for a while. 

We all went to Fremont in the evening which is the original starting point of Vegas - it had the first hotel - the Hotel Nevada in 1906, now the Golden Gate, it had the first gaming license and the first high-rise (the Fremont Hotel in 1956).  However by 1992 80% of the casino market was on 'the Strip'.  So to lure people back to Fremont the 'Fremont Street Experience' was created.  It cost $70 million to transform five city blocks into a covered walkway which shows laser light shows on the ceiling above you. 

It was well worth the investment as it was a very unique experience with plenty of entertainment and random dancing!

Ray and Sheila went and saw a show they had booked and me and Mart walked around the casinos, shops and entertainment venues.

The next day was my nieces 2nd birthday so we skyped home in the morning and whilst I was chatting Mart went to see if he could get tickets for a show tonight.  We then got the monorail from the Flamingo over the road to the MGM Grand where we picked up the tickets he had just booked.  We then walked around the Luxor, Excalibur, New York, Paris and lots of others, we stopped at the Belaggio to see the fountain show.

We met up with Ray and Sheila in the evening and got the monorail to the MGM again and went to see Ka - a cirque du soleil show.  It was amazing!  A really great show and would definitely recommend it to anyone who likes the cirque shows.

Afterwards we went for a buffet dinner and had a gamble in Caesars!

The next day we took the monorail the opposite way down to the Stratosphere where we went up to the 109th floor and had a go on 'insanity', the ride that hangs you over the edge of the building and spins you round!

The ride was pretty insane!

We then walked back towards the strip and went in Circus Cirucs and had a go on the craps table.  We then saw Treasure Island and met Ray and Sheila at the Venetian, we were going to have a go on the gondolas but when we saw what you actually got for your money it was definitely not worth it!

We went and walked around some of the shops and the centre at Caesars Palace where they have curved escalators!

In the evening we drove to the 51's stadium where we watched our first game of baseball and the beer was only $1!

Ray and Sheila left Vegas today so me and Mart had booked a trip of the Grand Canyon as they had been there before.  We were up very early as was being picked up at 6am for a 7am helicopter flight!

The ride to the Canyon took around 45 mins and went over Hoover Dam.  We then landed in the canyon on the west side where we got out, had a walk around and a champagne breakfast.



After around 40 mins we got back in the copter for the next flight.  I was in the front for this part (they swapped us around so everyone had a chance at sitting in the front).  We landed about 20 mins after to refuel so we all got out again.  We then took off again (and another seat change) and flew over the strip on our way back.

Fremont..

We transferred back to our hotel and had spent the afternoon at our pool where it was hot but really windy!

We walked around in the evening and we did some more gambling!

The next day we had to check out so we left our bags with the hotel and walked around the strip again.  We went to the Mall and then to Wynn which had some nice flower displays but that was it as it's not one of the theme hotels. 

We went to the Monte Carlo and had a go on the craps tables again.  We then got a taxi from our hotel to the airport to catch our evening flight.  Next stop CANADA!