"Dingo" Dave's rants and raves

Spent the morning/afternoon exploring the southern strip. Amazing!

Started off by taking the monorail from the Imperial Palace station to the MGM Grand. What a difference in culture and ambience... The MGM Grand is just that... Grand! Of course, it's also HUGE! It took me a good twenty minutes (albeit with stops to gawk at the decorations and exhibits). I'm going to see if I can get into a Chris Angel (MindFreak) show tonight or tomorrow. That would be cool.

One thing I'm grateful for is the proliference of Starbucks coffee shops! I counted three in the MGM Grand alone. I couldn't live without my Starbucks and their mocha frappucino (with extra coffee shots) in the heat of the day. I think I've seen at least one, sometimes two, shops in each of the casinos, and one every block on the strip.

Across from the MGM Grand, of course, is the New York New York resort. I looked at the roller coaster ride, and decided against it. It's WAYYY too high, and my fear of heights just diminishes the thrill, from past experience at Elitch Gardens in Denver. But it LOOKED fun!

Of course, I stopped and paid homage at the Firefighter's memorial out front. Amazing the number of people that were just hit with the enormity of 9/11 all over again. I heard one lady snifflling as she scanned the exhibit of t-shirts from the various fire brigades in New York. You'd think after 9 years it would have worn off a bit, but I found myself tearing up a little just remembering how it all it went down.

Anyway, from there I crossed the street, and came to the Excelsior resort. With my background in the medieval fairs (Primarily the Rennaissance Festival in Larkspur, Colorado), I had a vested interest in seeing if this lived up to its reputation.

And it certainly did. The architecture and interior of the casino/hotel were exquisite, and even though the employees should have been dressed in medieval garb, it didn't detract from the experience. I wandered for over an hour just checking out all the exhibits, games, etc. It even had a kid's arcade downstairs for the younger crowd. That's one thing I've noticed missing in the other casinos.

Riding the moving walkway across to the Luxor, I went from Medieval times to the Egyptian. This was definitely a change in environment, as the Luxor was about as kid-friendly as the least of the casinos. Not that that's a bad thing. Just not someplace you'd want to take the kids on vacation. A lot of places like the Cat House bar would definitely raise questions in the pre-teen crowds.

Another moving walkway (after navigating up and over the main casino floor) to the Mandalay Bay resort. Very swanky and elegant lobby and casino. I'd heard about/seen the Mandalay Bay on several TV shows (CSI for one), and was interested to see it for myself. Definitely a top-notch resort, with a large open casino floor and quite a few employees just standing around to answer questions. Every time I stopped to look at something, one would ask me if I needed help. Now THAT is service... Although it got a bit annoying after a while.

I spent a good hour there playing the slots and cooling off the doggies (feet). It's a LOT of walking even if you take the monorail to get in the general area of where you want to be. Just to get to some of the resorts you have to walk for ten minutes just to get to the front doors. Which isn't a bad thing, with all the lush vegetation and scenic waterways to look at on the way. I don't think any other town in the USA could have as many fountains and waterfalls in the same square mileage!

I'm back at the hotel now, and cooling off a bit before I go get some lunch (I think I saw a McDonalds up overhead just down the street. (Mom, sorry, I HAVE to eat McD's at least once!)

Also got some work to do online. Can't let the work stuff pile up too much or I'll be overwhelmed when I get back to actual work. <grin>