Las Vegas Part 2: Sunday

Well, we only had all day Sunday to go see whatever we could fit into the day. I knew there was an M&Ms World, so we headed there. It is 4 stories tall and has so many M&M candy items for sale. We bought a really cute candy dispenser. It is the boy red candy and the girl green candy sitting in a car. You put candy into the back of the car, pull down Red's arm, and it opens up a door in the back to dispense the candy. They had a squished penny machine, so we got one of those for Evan since he collects them. We also saw a 3-D movie which was about 15 minutes starring Red and Yellow. Right next door was a Coca-Cola store. We ended up buying a 3 pack of Barq's Root Beer, Coke, and Cherry Coke flavored lip gloss for the kids to split. These were the only souvenirs we brought home for them. They were a tiny bit disappointed, but we explained to them that this was about the only shopping we had time to do, so they were than thankful for their gifts. They really liked the candy dispenser.

We walked down most of the Vegas strip. All of the high rise resorts/casinos are amazing. They all have different looks and themes. There was a Paris theme, New York, MGM Grand, Caesar's Palace where we stayed, and so many more. Several resorts have thrill rides--inside and outside. There are peddlers on every corner trying to shove fliers at you, or trying to stop you and sell you things. There were many people walking around or sitting on the streets with signs saying they were homeless. There were walkways above the streets so you could cross the street that way instead of on the road. There were even outdoor escalators to take you down or up to/from the walkway to the sidewalk. There was a bus system that you could buy an all day bus pass for $7 that stopped in front of every resort if you didn't want to walk the entire strip.

New York resort (taken from a window at the m&m store). We couldn't get the pic of the Statue of Liberty. Notice the outdoor roller coaster:

Paris resort. Barry Manilow was their headliner. The inside of this resort was beautiful:

The next 6 pics are trying to take a 360 degree panoramic view of the strip. Not too interesting:

But the lights are interesting:

 One of the outdoor escalators:

After the concert on Sunday night, we went next door to the Bellagio and watched their outdoor fountain show. I video taped it with my camera and was so hoping to play it here, and Roger tried really hard to get the video to a size that would load to my blog, but he just couldn't. It was really neat, though. You might be able to find it on youtube?

You definitely see a different set of people at night than you do during the day. There are more women in short skirts, 5 inch heels, and really low-cut blouses. Men are walking around carrying drinks in their hands. So many drunk people. This is all happening outside and inside the resorts. The casinos are empty during the day, but so, so crowded during the night. The waitresses are wearing seductive looking clothes, some women dealers are in corsets, fishnet stockings, and when we walked back into the resort on Sunday night, right there in the middle of some of the gaming tables were some women pole dancing.

What you may not realize is the casinos are not excluded from the rest of the resort. When you check in, you have to walk to different parts of the resort to your room through the casinos. So, whether you want to or not, you have to walk by all of those half dressed, pole dancing women, gaming tables, slot machines--you don't have a choice. I did not know this. I thought the casinos were in separate areas of the resorts from the rooms. Well, isn't that what I expected? Yes, I wasn't shocked in any way, it's just all so ungodly. I finally learned first hand why Vegas is called Sin City. There were some families there, so their children had to witness this, also. A lot of people and families were were from different countries, so maybe they didn't realize this is what Vegas is about? Oh, there's also slot machines all over the airport.

Vegas is also one of the most expensive places I have ever been to. Here's an example--eating. We discovered that the most economical way for us to eat was to join a program called Total Rewards. It didn't cost us anything to join, and we only did it because of the buffet program they offered. There are 7 participating resorts that are in this program (including Caesars where we stayed). By joining, we paid about $48 each for a 24 hour period of buffet eating. We joined at 9:33 Sunday morning, had breakfast, lunch, dinner and then breakfast Monday morning. If we were staying more days, we would have had to pay another $96 for the two of us to have another 24 hours of eating, and we would have had to continue this every 24 hour period. They give you cards and a receipt with the time on it for you to keep with you to show every buffet that participates. We tried to eat one meal at the Paris resort, but the line was way too long, so we ended up eating all of our meals at the Caesars buffet. The food was very good, though, and many dishes to choose from. There are many restaurants at the resorts and on the strip to choose from also.

The buffet dining room was very comfy and clean. See that dessert I'm holding? Chocolate mousse. Let's just say I probably ate more of those than I should have. Soooo yummy!!

When joining the rewards program, they gave us each $5 on our cards to play the slot machines. Well, it wasn't our money, so why not. Roger sat down at a machine and played both cards and won a whopping 24 cents. No, we didn't bother to cash in on our winnings.