Sep14

Las Vegas

Written by Selma-n-Louis on September 14th 2006 in Itinerary

Las Vegas is the craziest town on earth! It’s the capital of gambling, it’s the mecca of flashing lights, it’s the manifestation of post modernism. It’s a city that doesn’t sleep, yet that’s basically what we plan to do there.

Welcome to Las Vegas, courtesy of David Salafia
Welcome to Las Vegas, courtesy of David Salafia

Yes, Vegas is crazy, and it’s something we just have to see for ourselves. But there’s so much else we want to see down the road, so we’ll just stay for one evening. What’s most important to us is to just experience the atmosphere. We might try to catch a show, and we’ll probably donate as much as our budget allows to the slot machines. Here is a list of some of the things we can try to squeeze into our short visit:

The Strip
The Strip is what most of us associate with Las Vegas (well, that and CSI). Four miles of the Las Vegas Boulevard South is filled with hotels and casinos. At the southmost end of the Strip you’ll find the famous “Welcome to Las Vegas” sign (seen above), at the northern end is the Stratosphere hotel and casino. At night, the Strip is an inferno of flashing light-bulbs, cheesy shows, friendly women and the sounds of thousands of slot machines.
The Stratosphere
The Stratosphere is the northernmost of the major Strip casinos and the only one actually in the City of Las Vegas. It’s got a 1,155 ft (350 m) tower with a great view of the Strip, and several rides (like many of the other hotels). Supposedly, the rooms here are relatively cheap, due to its inconvenient location far from the most popular hotel casinos.
The Fremont Street Experience
The Fremont Street is probably the second most famous street in Vegas, after the Strip. It used to be the location of all the famous casinos, and the street was nicknamed Glitter Gulch because of all the neon lights (today the name refers to a topless club). To make the area even more tacky, they closed the street from (vehicle) traffic and covered it with a humongous screen roof:
The Fremont Street Experience is a pedestrian mall and attraction occupying the westernmost 5 blocks of Fremont Street. A 1,500 feet LED canopy covers the area, displaying light shows after dark. To attract even more tourists, concerts (often free) are held at two stages.
Cirque Du Soleil
Cirque Du Soleil has been described as the modern circus, and focuses upon a storyline as well as amazing performances. It has several touring and resident troupes and five of the resident shows are located in Las Vegas;
Bellagio
The 200-foot-tall fountains at the Bellagio hotel, choreographed to music for performances, are extremely cheesy - and well worth a visit!
M&M World
If gambling, booze and women won’t satisfy your needs, chocolate always will. That must be what they thought when they decided to open the M&M World in Las Vegas. Four floors of M&Ms in all kinds of colors, located in the Showcase Mall, next to the MGM Grand.
Get married!
Selma might just propose to Louis, just to get the experience of a Las Vegas wedding (it’s not automatically recognized in Norway anyway). Weddings Elvis style, drive thru weddings, halloween weddings…Lots of possibilities for some instant fun - and you could always pull a Britney the next day.
Celine Dion: A New Day…
Well, this is something we might have considered if we were to stay in Vegas for several weeks. Celine Dions show at the Caesars Palace is supposedly great, but.. Celine Dion? With prices ranging from $87.50 to $225.00, it would take a bit more than a squeaking canadian and gallons of water for us to pay up. (Notice how we listed this below getting married Elvis style!)

New York-New York Hotel, courtesy of Pilou@ttitude
New York-New York Hotel, courtesy of Pilou@ttitude

What others say

As always, please drop us a note if you know about something we ought to see while we’re visiting Las Vegas!

And of course, stay tuned to see what we end up doing when we get there!

Got tips? Comments? Do tell!