MikeSandy.net

Las Vegas '05 Trip Report

Trip Summary

With about three weeks left until our classes at the University of Utah start, my rommate Brendan and I needed to take advantage of our new location and our free time. So, we escaped Salt Lake City for a short three-day trip to Las Vegas. Las Vegas did not disappoint. It was a great time.

August 14, 2005

My roommate Brendan and I left for Las Vegas early Sunday morning. The 6+ hour drive was interesting because I-15 descends into Arizona's Virgin River canyon, which was quite impressive.

Las Vegas appeared seemingly out of nowhere as we traversed the desert. Unfortunately, huge storm clouds were pounding The Strip with rain and lightning.

When we arrived at Circus Circus at about 4:00 p.m. to claim our $40 room, we were greeted by a zoo of people. The check-in line snaked through the lobby for about 50 yards, and a hotel employee said this line would not dwindle for at least 5 hours. She said, "The best time to check-in is 3:00 a.m. Leave and come back later."

We took her advice. We returned our bags to the car, and set off down The Las Vegas Strip, on foot.

Somewhere around the Stardust, we decided that we would walk the entire length of The Strip. We would stop in each of the casinos, walk around each long enough to form a developed impression of the place, take note of attractions, shows, etc. to investigate further on Monday, and then move on to the next casino.

So, for the next 9 hours, we walked about 10 miles (through a drizzly, but steady desert rain) up and down the strip while stopping at 17 of the casinos resorts.

We saw a ton in just this one day. We saw 17 of the Las Vegas Strip casino resorts, Pete Rose in the Forum Shops at Caesar's Palace and, morbidly, some poor woman's compound ankle fracture outside of the MGM Grand (it was gross, and I do hope that she'll be OK).

Needless to say, my feet were aching after traversing Las Vegas for so long. Thankfully, our room at Circus Cirus was clean and comfortable so we could rest up for the next day's adventures.

August 15, 2005

While our room at the Manor at Circus Circus was clean, we wanted to stay closer to the heart of The Strip, so after our trek up and down The Strip the previous night, we had called all the casinos to inquire about room rates. The Monte Carlo offered a room for $60, which was only $20 more than our room at Circus Circus. So, we checked out of Circus Circus, and headed to the Hoover Dam to spend the day investigating the engineering marvel before checking into our room at the Monte Carlo.

The Hoover Dam was the Hoover Dam. I visited it once before in 1993, but it was still impressive.

We returned to Las Vegas at about 3:00 p.m. to check-in to the Monte Carlo. We received a room on the 25th floor that faced away from The Strip, but we still had a nice view of the Rio, the Bellagio, Caesar's Palace and Treasure Island.

This night we decided to target just a few things we found interesting the day before.

We watched the Fighter Pilot IMAX movie at the Luxor, walked around more, watched the fountain show at the Bellagio, watched the volcano erupt at The Mirage, and sipped whiskey sours at the Tangerine bar while watching the free "Sirens of TI" show at Treasure Island. Apparently, Treasure Island (or just "TI" as it is annoyingly now known) decided in 2003 to attract a different market segment (young adults). So, they got rid of the cool Pirate sign out front, removed the video game arcade, and made the nightly show less pirate-themed and more slut-themed. It was strange.

After the show at Treasure Island we just walked back to the Monte Carlo through some of the casinos to cap off another amazing night in Las Vegas.

August 16, 2005

We checked out of the Monte Carlo, bought a few souvenirs, and, most importantly, ate lunch at the buffet at the Monte Carlo. The food was decent.

We left for home right after lunch. The drive back was absolutely terrible in that it just felt so long--a small sacrifice for such a fun trip.