Vegas - Day 2

Sunday in Vegas. We have this fantastic room so it seemed appropriate to sleep in. I don't think we actually got out of the room until at least noon. The plan for today is to check out the south side of the strip. The first of the oldies but goodies is the Excalibur. It is funny because I remember this hotel being a lot "cooler" when I was here 11 years ago. It is starting to get pretty old and run down. King Arther needs to come out of his state room and get the kingdom back in shape. Next was the Luxor. I've always liked the pyramid shape of this hotel. Maybe it is the logical side of me that likes how uniform it is. The Luxor is pretty run down though too... Smokey and dark on the inside. Finally on the end of the strip we got to see the new Mandalay Bay. They have one of the best pool areas in vegas featuring a wave pool. Unfortunately, it is for hotel guests only. Oddly enough, we ran into an old friend that Jennifer and I used to play soccer with. He was here to get out of the Seattle overcast funk as well.... it would be interesting to know where most of the guests in Vegas come from. I bet bad weather in Seattle is very good for the casinos.

Before making our way back we checked out the Lions lying around at the MGM Grand, and I had a chance to eat a Nathan's hot dog from New York, New York. (not sure what the big deal is... other than the $5 cost for a cheapo hot dog) Maybe it is different in the actual New York, but I doubt it because the hotel is EXACTLY like New York. (sarcasm)

We made the long walk back up and finally returned to our hotal at Vdara. The air is so fresh! When you open the door it is really amazing how fresh and clean the air is. We must get used to the light smoke in the casino air and the hazyness of Las Vegas.

For dinner, we went to an Italian restaurant near our hotel which was reasonably good. Afterwards we walked up and saw the Mirage volcano blow and meandered back down to see the Bellagio fountain show a few times. The Mirage was surprisingly good! 15-20 foot high flame fireballs with steam, fountains and explosions. Quite fun. And of course, the Bellagio fountains were great too. They run them every 15 minutes to a different song. Jennifer thinks they are the most romantic thing in Vegas.

Anyways, our evening was pretty low key. We decided to have one night without a show and it was very relaxing. For tomorrow, we are looking forward to some pool time and seeing Phantom at the Venitian.