hide random home http://bear.ras.ucalgary.ca/brads_home_page/LasVegas.html (Einblicke ins Internet, 10/1995)

My Las Vegas Trip

In May of 1994, my wife (Susan) and I spent four days in Las Vegas. We stayed at the Treasure Island hotel on the "strip", and managed to do minimal gambling. We were on a bit of a tight budget - we went with only $300 spending money - but still managed to bring back a large amount of "stuff". In short, it is possible to Vegas "on the cheap."

The folks at Vegas have realized that they can no longer sell the town on gambling and glitz alone. As a result several new hotels/casinos/resorts/tourist-attractions have opened recently. The big ones to check out are (moving along the strip, from downtown to the outskirts) the Treasure Island, the Mirage, Caesars Palace, MGM Grand, Excalibar, and Luxor. Each of these has a different theme, and each offers more than simply gambling. Please keep in mind that all of this is my own opinion.

At the Treasure Island, the theme runs to pirates. The place is littered in skulls and crossbones, the hostesses wear little pirate type outfits, as does everybody working there. The draw, however, is the pirate battle that occurs out front. The front of the hotel (the side that faces the strip) is decorated like a (supposedly) Caribbean sea village. Every 1 1/2 hours a pirate ship battles a british ship (you guess who wins). The battle lasts 15 minutes and features some interesting pyrotechnics and acrobatics. It's free, and highly recommended. The shows are best after dark, but try to get there early (half an hour or better) to get a good spot to watch.

One of the bonuses of staying at the Treasure Island was the wonderful view we had (both day and day). Worth the extra money right there I thought.

Next door to the Treaure Island is the Mirage. Out front of the Mirage is a large pond with waterfalls and palm trees (palm trees are everywhere on the strip). At night this idyllic scene is transformed into a fire spouting volcano every ten minutes or so from dusk to midnight. Worth a look. The Mirage is home to Siegfreid and Roy, keepers and breeders of White Tigers, and quite possibly the most expensive show on the strip. We couldn't justify the expense, but from the adverts we saw it looks like quite the spectacular - the white tigers seem to be a small part of the show. While S and R have a large number of tigers at their home, two are always on display at the Mirage (presumably not the same two all the time). Very nice looking animals, and they don't seem to be suffering.

Also at the mirage is a dolphin exhibit. It costs a couple of dollars, but if you like dolphins it will probably be worth it. You get a short tour of the facility but there is no show. There were a couple of young babies there (a couple o' months) which were cute when we could see them. The highlight of the exhibit was "squirt", a three year old male who had just "discovered himself". He would play with a frisbee, moving it around in the pool (we could watch from underneath) and catch the frisbee on his... manhood. Embarrassed the girl doing the tour no end.

Next to the Mirage is Caesars Palace. The hotel is very ornate and classy, with the predictable Roman theme. The hotel had just recently added the "Forum Shoppes", a large collection of very interesting stores. The stores all have a "romanesque" facade and are all indoors. The ceiling of the mall is arched and painted sky blue with clouds on it to simulate sky. The two shoppes my wife and I enjoyed most were the environmental store (can't remember it's name, but it was the only one of its kind outside of Hawaii when we went) and the Warner Brothers store. If you like any of the Bugs Bunny cartoons, this store is a must.

In one of the center courts is a large statue of a rotund roman type character raising a glass of wine, with four smaller figures around him. This scene lies under a domed ceiling. Be sure to be there at the top of the hour - the dude (a "bacchus" - basically the roman god of partying) comes to life, inviting all and sundry to party with him, and a laser-light show erupts on the ceiling. Worth seeing also (and free!).

Further up the strip (take a bottle of water and wear a hat if you walk - it gets hot there) is the MGM Grand hotel. At 5005 rooms it was the largest in the world. It has a "Wizard of Oz" theme - complete with a *huge* emerald city as you enter the hotel through the lion's paws. In addition, the hotel has a theme park with rides for the kids. The casino/shops area is huge - too big for our liking.

Kitty corner to the MGM grand is the Excalibur. I believe it has 4000+ rooms, but I could be wrong. The theme here is (predictably enough) medevial. Interesting to check out, but we were getting tired here and any impressions I leave you with would probably not do the place justice.

The last big hotel is right next to the Excalibur - the Luxor. This hotel is shaped like a pyramid and is as large as or larger than the Great Pyramid in Egypt (Susan couldn't judge for sure one way or another). The rooms are arranged along the outside of the hotel (and have to be reached using an "inclinator" instead of an elevator) - the interior is open for the diplays, rides and (of course) casino. There are a number of rides in the hotel (a couple of bucks each), but we didn't feel up to them so we can't judge them. On the top of the hotel, and seen only at night, is what has to be the worlds brightest spotlight. It reportedly costs $1 million to run per year, can be seen from the Space Shuttle, and is so bright that you could read a newspaper 10 miles away from it. Don't plan on doing any stargazing near it.

We spent our 3 days just looking at these (and other) hotels along the strip, doing a bit if gambling (mostly nickle slots), and suntanning by the pool. We very much enjoyed our trip. I think the key to enjoying Las Vegas is to first realize that the whole point of this town (which they make no effort to hide) is to seperate you from your money. If you accept that and don't let it bother you, you will enjoy your trip.


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