Vegas!
So I have what is essentially a free week before school starts again next Tuesday, and I might as well take up some of that time by telling you all about my first visit to fabulous Las Vegas. Over President's Day weekend last year, I made my first visit to New York City with sassymngal to attend the wedding of her college friend Dania. Our flight back home was overbooked and so we volunteered to be bumped to a later one. As compensation we each received a voucher for a free round-trip ticket anywhere in the lower 48 that was good for one year from the date of issue, and that was the genesis of this trip. We left on the evening of Jan. 3rd, arriving in Albuquerque, NM just after midnight. Proceeding first to our hotel, and then in the morning to the car rental complex, we did not stick around to explore that city and hopped on the road after a quick breakfast. Our vehicle was a PT Cruiser, which I have concluded must be a popular rental car because no one in their right mind would ever purchase one for their own use.
While the southwest section of the nation is known mainly for its warm temperatures and dry climate, the greater portion of our route across northern New Mexico and Arizona is at 4000+ elevation, making it subject to cooler temps and the occasional snowfall. That Sunday was one such occasion, as a strong storm system swept through as we drove west on I-40. Being used to driving in snow, Katie was not too fazed even in our dinky PT, but the locals were caught off guard. We had to navigate around several semis that had slid off the road and witnessed stupid moves galore by other drivers. We stopped for lunch in the town of Gallup, which our guidebook says is known for its Native American crafts and for being the base camp for many a Hollywood western shoot in the 50's and 60's. Neither of these was in evidence as we drove through on a preserved portion of the old Route 66, as most of the shops were closed due to the snow. We did, however, find one place that was still open, so we picked up some souvenirs for a few folks. Getting back on the road, I assumed that we were traveling through some gorgeous landscape, but since you could only see a few hundred feet I was unable to confirm the hypothesis. The second leg of the day's journey consisted mainly of me trying to get a consistent signal to listen to the Vikings game, and when we got to our stopping point of Holbrook, AZ around 4:00 we were both ready to get off the road. I watched the disappointing second half on the TV in our room, and we spent the rest of the evening being generally lazy.
By Monday morning the snow had stopped and we were back on the road in short order. A couple of hours later we stopped to see our first big hole in the ground, the world famous Meteor Crater. Standing at the edge it is very hard to fathom how deep the thing is with your own eye, but thankfully the folks who run the place provide some tools to help figure it out. There is a small fenced in portion on the bottom of the crater, and along the fence there is a life-sized cut out of an astronaut with a US flag. Looking at it through the scope and then with the naked eye clears up the depth thing pretty quickly. The visitor center has a couple of good exhibits on cratering and impacts, and there is one display where you can adjust the parameters of an incoming asteroid to see how large of a crater it would produce. But when it comes to holes in the ground, Meteor Crater is at most the bastard stepchild of the one about 120 miles northwest, and soon we were on our way there. After a brief lunch in Flagstaff, AZ we went on a lovely scenic drive through the San Francisco Peaks on US-180 and arrived at the Grand Canyon just after 3:00. Unfortunately it had started snowing again just before we got there and the canyon itself was shrouded in mist for miles around. You could see that you were at the edge of something pretty freakin' huge, but that was about it. Memories of a similar experience at Mt. St. Helens back in 2001 came to mind pretty quickly. Thankfully, we were sticking around until Tuesday afternoon, so our disappointment was tempered somewhat. We hung around inside the park for a while and had a nice dinner at the El Tovar Lodge before heading to our actual hotel in the town of Tusayan just outside the park's borders. It continued to snow lightly throughout the evening, but upon arising Tuesday morning the skies were blessedly clear.
Since our park admission was good for a week, we did not have to pay to get back in and so we headed back after breakfast. This time the Grand Canyon lived up to its hype, providing clear, if cold, vistas of multicolored rock strata carved out over millions of years by the Colorado River, which could only be seen as a faint trickle at the bottom. We stopped at several points along the South Rim taking photos and otherwise acting touristy as we took in the spectacular scenery. But as noontime approached the neon lights started beckoning and we embarked on the last portion of our southwest road trip. The first portion was going back south to I-40, then west on that road for about 120 miles, and finally north on US-93 to Vegas. It took about six hours all told including a few breaks. The stretch on I-40 was interesting topographically, but once we turned north again the land became as barren as any I had ever seen. Eventually we came to the vicinity of Hoover Dam and the attending security checkpoint, passing a road construction sign that had been up so long it was more salmon than orange. Driving down to and over the dam, it quickly became apparent why some folks would welcome the half-finished bypass when it finally opens, what with folks flittering about randomly as they go on their dam tours. For me just seeing the engineering marvel as we drove across it was enough, and soon afterward our destination was looming on the horizon.
When we first planned the trip, we booked four nights in the California Hotel, which is in downtown Vegas near the Fremont Street Experience. However, since we could cancel up until a few days prior, the Wednesday before we left Katie made a bid for the same rate we would be paying there for a 4-star hotel via Priceline. It was accepted by the Westin Casuarina, which is only two blocks from the famed Strip. We gladly changed our booking and I think our stay was a much better one than it might have been otherwise. We checked in to the Westin around 5:00 and after dropping off our stuff got to the matter of returning our rental at the airport. It was nice to be rid of the PT and to get to the task of experiencing Vegas in all of its glory. While we knew that in another day or so there would be a large influx of people coming in for the annual Consumer Electronics Show, the crowds were not too bad at any point during our stay. The temperatures were reasonable, at least in my estimation, and the early sunsets helped us see the Strip at its best, since during the day it is really quite blah. Our first order of business was signing up for our own hotel's casino reward card, as you could get your losses refunded in free play up to $50 during the first 24 hours. After playing there for a while without much luck Katie suggested we head over to the Bellagio. Didn't have much luck there either, but after that things started to turn around.
Wednesday morning we slept in a bit, but were up and out by around 11:00 as I had a mission I wanted to complete before noon. Some of you may know that in addition to various games of chance, most of the hotels on the Strip also collectively offer about a couple dozen shows on any given day. Most of them I couldn't care less about, but two of them had been on my radar screen for a while: Blue Man Group and Penn & Teller. The first of these can be found in other cities, so I figured I might save them for some other time, but P & T are only in Vegas, and they were taking Thursday and Friday off, giving us only one opportunity to see them. Now I had heard from many people who had been to Vegas previously (my brother Karl most recently) that paying full retail for any show ticket makes one a schmuck, and to avoid this I went to one of the many ticket brokerages that are found along the Strip. Having a notion that a Wednesday night show in January would have a small chance of selling out, I was able to obtain two tickets for that evening at a 35% discount. Unfortunately the same corner also played host to one of the notorious timeshare sellers, and it took about 10 minutes after being dragged to their booth to figure out what their game actually was. But having gone through it early, we were able to head the rest of them off without any more lost time. Tickets obtained, we were ready to try our luck again, and to me the most appealing choice was Caesars Palace. Katie was amenable so we headed across the street. It turns out that the gaming company Harrah's now owns several casinos on or near the strip, including both Caesars and the Rio, where we would be seeing P & T, so it made sense to sign up for their rewards card as well. Little did we know that we would get a "free" lunch out of the deal, in addition to a 1st-day reimbursement program similar to the one at the Westin. Once that was done I discovered what would be my primary gaming choice for the rest of our time in Vegas: Star Trek themed slot machines.
Now for many years I had wanted to go to Vegas in order to see the Star Trek: The Experience attraction at the Hilton, so it was with great dismay that I took the news in June of last year that it would be shutting down that September. These machines turned out to be a nice consolation prize, especially given their adaptive feature which lets you accumulate medals and advance ranks over multiple playing sessions in multiple venues. They also had a pretty good sound system and a chair that vibrated when the Enterprise was hit. It didn't even matter that it was based only on TOS, in fact the kitsch value of that series actually fits best with the whole Vegas atmosphere in hindsight. We spent most of the afternoon in Caesars with slight losses (which is nearly as good as winning) at various machines and had our lunch on them, then headed back to our hotel to prepare for the evening. While walking to the Rio would not have been a great burden, it would have involved crossing a major highway so we took the shuttle from the Bally's/Paris complex that was just across the street from the Westin. The nicest thing about the Rio, I felt, was the exterior. The gaming area was not much to speak of, and the machines were not generous, therefore I was happy to get to the P & T theater a half hour before the show started.
Our tickets were originally on the mezzanine level, but since the show was far from full we got to upgrade to the main floor at no extra charge. Our seats were quite good, and the amount of legroom was more than adequate. They have a jazz pianist to provide live entertainment in the hour before the show starts, and Penn plays the bass with him for the first 45 minutes. You can also, if you wish, take part in the Penn & Teller envelope signing experience, which Katie and I did and recommend to anyone should you ever have the chance. The show itself was all I had hoped and more. It was surprisingly clean for anyone familiar with their work on the "Bullshit!" series, but contained their trademark skepticism and exposure of fakery. Some of the tricks they explained, but for others we were just left amazed. Teller's routine of taking the petals off a rose by only manipulating its silhouette was particularly spellbinding, and Penn's bit where he takes a nail gun and shoots alternately in a seemingly random pattern a board on a metal table and various parts of himself was nerve-wracking to say the least. The explanation was pretty simple: the nail strip in the gun contains blank spaces, Penn just memorizes the pattern. After the show they stuck around to sign autographs and have pictures taken, both of which we did with Penn. It was interesting to finally see them in person and realize that Teller is not uncommonly short, he just looks that way when performing next to the giant that is Penn.
Taking the shuttle back to Paris, we played there for a while, but the most memorable thing about that place, aside from the light and airy interior, was the unique style of the cocktail waitress outfits. Earlier that afternoon I had collected my free play credits at the Westin, so when we got back there I used that up and ended slightly ahead overall. Thursday we slept in again and had a late and expensive breakfast at a cafe in Bally's. It was then my desire to take a walk down the southern portion of the Strip to see what it had to offer. The answer turned out to be not much, as New York New York, the Excalibur, and the Luxor all looked like they had seen better days. It seemed the portion closest to our hotel is likely the most thriving in this current economy. I would not be surprised if one of those three goes under in the next couple of years. We took a cab back to Bally's and played there for a while, I found some more Star Trek machines and came out more or less even. Then it was back to our hotel for a little break from all the glitz. As some of you know, Katie has some relations in the Vegas area, specifically her uncle John and his progeny: three daughters and more recently two grandsons and one granddaughter who was the flower girl at our wedding. After some discussion with them, we had set aside Thursday evening for a family gathering at John's house, and he came to pick us up at our hotel around 4:30. First he drove us down to the southern end of the Strip so we could get some photos next to the "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign, then went back north to his house. Previously I had met only John, his granddaughter Aubrey, and her mother Julia, so it was nice to finally see the rest of the gang. There was no big meal, just a lot of snacking and getting to know people and catching up on what everyone was doing. Given that it was a school night, the festivities wrapped up around 9:00 and John drove us back to our hotel. I was actually feeling a little out of sorts, so I turned in early as I had another mission to complete the next day.
Friday I woke up pretty early and began my mission. While I knew that Star Trek: The Experience was no longer open, I was interested to know whether or not there was still merchandise left over from it. To that end I purchased a ticket for the monorail and rode up to the Las Vegas Hilton, accompanied for most of the way by a host of techies with their CES swag. Upon reaching my destination I discovered that it still had a space-themed gaming area, but alas no Trek stuff was available for purchase. Since Katie and I had agreed that we would have the morning to do our own thing, after that stop I decided to go back to the Caesars complex and took a stroll through its Forum mall, which is one of only two places in the country where you can find spiral escalators. Eventually I made my way back into the casino area and managed pretty well on a Wizard of Oz-themed machine before meeting back up with Katie. One of the other things I was interested in seeing was the lion habitat in the MGM Grand, so we went there next. The lions, not surprisingly, were sleeping. We tried a couple of machines there, but soon headed back north after a late food court lunch. We spent the rest of the afternoon in Caesars, where my obsession with Kirk and the gang finally paid off. After about a half hour of mostly even play, in the space of a few spins I suddenly found myself up more than $100. While that didn't erase all of my previous losses, it left me much closer to breaking even than I would have been otherwise.
After that I found Katie, who was at one of those machines that was giving you just enough to not walk away. As the afternoon faded we said goodbye to Caesars, which of all the themed hotels in Vegas that we visited was the one I would be the most interested in staying at on any future visit. Then we finally got around to watching one of the fountain shows outside the Bellagio, which had been recommended by all my siblings and pretty much anyone else I know who'd been to Vegas. On our first night we had seen the tail end of one while walking over one of the pedestrian bridges, but to my great horror it was set to some Celene Dion number. This time we had better luck, as were treated to a beautiful twilight show set to the final movement of Copland's "Appalachian Spring". About an hour after that we met Katie's uncle John again, and he took us to the downtown area for a while for dinner and then to see the Fremont Street Experience. This was the last thing on my personal checklist, and while it was a bit more lowbrow it was still entertaining. The one show we saw on the canopy was a cheesy Queen tribute, but the technology on display was impressive. Then, since Katie and I had both expressed a desire to see one of the casinos that catered more to the locals, John took us to a place called the Cannery East, which is on the developing Boulder Strip area. There we finally played a couple of table games and I came out slightly ahead over a couple dozen blackjack hands. Then I found another Trek machine, and while it wasn't as good to me as the last one I still had fun. It was after 1:00 AM when John dropped us off back at the Westin, and we decided to save our last gaming dollars for the morning.
In almost every respect I found the Westin an excellent place to stay. It was much more of a manageable place than any of the mega-resorts on the Strip, where I can imagine people getting lost quite often. The service was also top notch and our bed was comfortable. Finally, when a fee showed up on our final bill that had not been disclosed on the original Priceline bid, the desk staff waived it after we brought it to their attention. Their casino area, while small, had just enough variety to keep you interested, and it was smoke free which was a big plus. After packing up Saturday morning, the place gave me a nice send-off when I won $25 on a Monopoly-themed machine while we were biding our time before heading to the airport. Overall, I was quite satisfied with my first trip to Vegas. I think our stay was of just the right length, as the city seems to exhaust at least one of three things pretty quickly: your budget, your sanity, or your patience. For me the last of these was tried the most, primarily by the constant solicitations we encountered. Before any return trip I have vowed to get myself a shirt with the message "Please do NOT ask me about a timeshare", and there definitely will be a return trip.
Peace, out.