(Plus National Parks Galore)
September 17 - October 5, 2007
Over the last few years, Las Vegas has become my favorite vacation
destination. I typically spend about two weeks in Las Vegas, plus a few
days visiting parks in the general area. For this trip, I decided to
place a little more emphasis on national parks, so I cut my time in Las
Vegas to a mere 12 days.
I also decided that my trips
have been lacking a certain quality, a certain something: while I've
been very good at finding interesting, off beat things to do, I've
overlooked too many of those only-in-Vegas opportunities. This trip
would be different. Las Vegas Tacky would finally have an opportunity.
I've highlighted such items with a tacky little tourist guy:.
National Parks
Zion National
Park
Grand Canyon National Park (North Rim)
Bryce Canyon National Park
Cedar Breaks National Monument
Click here for all the details
Las Vegas
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My favorite hotel is Wynn Las Vegas. Unfortunately, its rates have risen while my hotel budget has dropped. In such cases I fall back on The Flamingo. It's aging, has mediocre to poor restaurants, and is generally unimpressive. However, it's relatively inexpensive, its location is near perfect, and the rooms are comfortable enough. Sold!
I won't go into details, other than to say my 10th floor room, facing Caesars Palace and the Bellagio fountains, was fine. My overall experience was like prior trips, such as this one.
[Allow me to digress for a moment. What's with the word "the" in front of many hotel names? Even Harrah's can't seem to figure out what to call its hotel. I checked the Flamingo web site, and on three different pages there were three different versions: "The Flamingo", "the Flamingo", and just plain "Flamingo."]
·
Rock
Scrambling
If you like hiking,
you owe
it to yourself to try scrambling. It's physically challenging, but not
horribly so. It's mentally challenging, but again not horribly so. It
gets you to out of the way places where the views are great and where
you may be the only person in sight. If I were in Las Vegas and didn't
go scrambling at Red Rock, I wouldn't view it as a complete vacation.
What is rock
scrambling? It's a little like rock climbing, and a little
like
hiking. There are
rocks, huge boulders and even small cliffs to climb, but none are so
difficult
as to require ropes. No previous experience is required, but
you
need to be in pretty good shape. I don't view it as
particularly
dangerous, but
there's always the chance of injury or of getting lost, so don't go
alone. I
highly recommend Neil Sobelson
of Hike
This!. Neil, a licensed guide, has been doing this
for a long
time, knows the
area very well, and is just a whole lot of fun to be around.
He'll tailor your scramble to your interests and ability. Oh
yeah, he also does hikes if you're so inclined.
Red Cap Rock Scramble
Red
Cap, also known as Red Top, is
a descriptively named peak in the Calico Tanks area. This is an easy to
moderate scramble.
Click here
for details of
the Red Cap Bypass rock scramble
Gray Peak Rock Scramble
Gray
Peak is one of the few
limestone peaks in the area. The recent flash floods have changed the
landscape in this area, so it made for an interesting rock scramble.
This scramble is moderately difficult, and fairly long - 4 to 5 hours.
Click here
for details of
the Gray Peak rock scramble
·
StuntWorld
Action Camp.
Did you ever wonder what it was like to be a stuntman (or stuntwoman)?
Well, now you can find out. StuntWorld
Action Camp
offers you the chance to try a number of different stunts. Chuck
Borden, an active stuntman, leads all this insanity. A number of other
stuntmen help out. The stunts vary from class to class; I got to try
the following:
Fight Choreography, aka Bar Room Brawls. I was even less excited about this stunt, but again I was surprised. I learned how to give and take fake punches and kicks, which was mildly interesting. The really interesting part involved furniture. I learned how to get thrown onto a dining table, and how to get thrown onto and over a bar. This was a lot of fun. Unfortunately, one of my falls was improper, and I broke a leg -- a leg of the dining table, that is. Sorry, StuntWorld!
Wire Work. Well, rope work, actually. This kind of stunt is fairly new, and a little hard to explain. I was fitted into a variant of a rock climbing harness. In this case, the harness works right side up or upside down, and there are ropes connected to the harness at the left and right hip. I was then raised into the air -- kind of like a swing, but with the ropes angled outward. I learned how to do such things as back flips and the old I'm-flying-like-Superman pose. If you've ever seen a movie where someone does an exaggerated martial arts-style leg kick, followed by a back flip -- well, I got to do that too. It's hard to describe, but was a lot of fun. If you have a tendency to get motion sick, consider taking Dramamine!
The class is very expensive: $400 for half a day, or $725 for a full
day. Was it worth it? To me, definitely yes. At that price, I probably
won't be returning soon, but as a special one time experience, it was
great! The Fine Print:
It's very hard to find the building. The address seems easy, but the building is well hidden off the street, addresses are not consecutive or well posted, and there's no sign for StuntWorld. Make sure to get detailed written directions.
Click to see me looking stupid.
·
Pinball Hall of Fame.
3330
East
Tropicana
Avenue. The Pinball
Hall of Fame (PHoF) is no longer a secret known
only to the very few, but it still doesn't get the attention it
deserves. The
PHoF
is a non-profit enterprise, a labor of
love by Tim Arnold. Ironically, Tim made his fortune
operating
video game parlors during the PacMan era. The PHoF houses
about
200 machines, from the 1950's through the 1990's. Now here
comes
the good part - you get to play them! I especially like the machines
from the 1950's and 1960's, but this time I found a new machine as
well. High Roller Casino
has a ridiculous number of ramps, spinners and other gadgets, but it's
well designed and provides lots of flipper action. Add in the gambling
theme, and it's a winner.
Here's
a picture of one of
the first machines with flippers: Rondeevoo. It's from the
1950's.
Sorry about the picture quality - it was very dark.
·
Spamalot.
Wynn.
I'm not even going
to attempt to describe the plot, or
anything else about this show. If you want those kind of details,
Google can get you everything you want to know. Suffice it to say that
I'm not a dyed in the wool Monty Python fan, but I am a big fan of this
show. It's silly, its plot is weak...but so what? It's just a whole lot
of fun - one of my favorite shows in Las Vegas.
And now, a few words on seating. When
I purchased my ticket, I pretty much had my choice of seats. Based on
comments from others, I selected row G. It was just about perfect:
close enough to see the actors' faces, far (and high) enough to get a
good view of the entire stage. Why "just about" perfect? Well, the
seats in this theater are very narrow, which results in a lot of elbows
in other peoples' ribs. I think an aisle seat would be best, even
though the stage angle wouldn't be perfect.
·
Le Rêve. Wynn.
I saw this show when it first opened, and was very impressed. It's
undergone a lot of changes in the following years, so I decided to see
what it was like. I was seriously disappointed. It seemed
unimaginative and boring. Have my tastes changed, or has the show
gotten that much worse?
If you decide to go, don't worry too much about seating. Unlike the
Spamalot theater, seats here are reasonably spacious. It's a circular
theater, so seat row matters more than seat number. The first couple of
rows are wet seats, and will require just a bit of neck craning. I
liked the first row well enough when I went a couple of years ago, but
I preferred my aisle seat in row F (specifically, section B, row F,
seat 1) this time.
·
Willie
Nelson.
Hard Rock Hotel (The Joint). I had never been to The Joint. I
had
never seen Willie Nelson perform live. First, the theater. The Joint is
small by rock concert standards - perhaps 1,500 or 2,000 seats. The
stage is also small, and there's no barrier between stage and audience.
This makes the concert feel more personal. Sit near the front, and you
can see the spinach in the singer's teeth.
On the
minus side, seats are small folding chairs connected with plastic ties;
you're going to get to know your seatmate very personally by the end of
the concert. Speakers are placed adjacent to, and pointed at, people
sitting in the front row on the left and right sides. I can personally
confirm that it's painfully loud. If you're anywhere near the front and
on the side, bring ear plugs; the volume level will still be more than
loud enough. I can personally confirm this statement
as well.
Willie Nelson may be in his seventies, but he still gave a
great
performance. His voice was clear, and he sang song after song. He
somehow managed to personally connect with the audience. It's
interesting to me that I'd be most likely to informally refer to him as
Willie, while I'd refer to many other singers by their last name (e.g.,
Dylan, not Bob).
The audience seemed to agree with me. They were pretty enthusiastic.
Especially women. Especially when Willie took off his headband (he had
quite a stock of them) and threw it into the audience. There was at
least one slight scuffle over ownership. Age of the audience varied,
but not many fit the typical Hard Rock Hotel demographic. Of course, I
fit the age demographic. Perfectly. Twice, even.
If you get a chance to go to a Willie Nelson concert, do it!
·
Ronn Lucas.
Luxor. He left Rio to play at Planet
Hollywood.
Within a couple of months, he left Planet Hollywood. Now he's
found a home at Luxor. Yes, Ronn Lucas is back.
Ronn Lucas may be the best afternoon performer in town. For those of
you who don't know him, he is a ventriloquist. His most famous puppet
is Scorch, a maladjusted teenage dragon, but Lucas also talks through
Buffalo Billy, Chuck, a turtle, a microphone(!), a sock, and a member
of the audience. He successfully combines humor, a bit of schmaltz, and
excellent ventriloquism skills.
The theater is small, so seating isn't critical. I sat in the front
row, and had to look upward a little bit, but not neck-snappingly so.
It was amazing to be so close to Lucas yet still have the illusion
preserved.
[Time out for trivia. One of the most popular ventriloquism
shows
starred Edgar Bergen and his dummy Charlie McCarthy. It
lasted
for 19 years - on radio. How does that work? Also: Edgar
Bergen
died in Las Vegas.]
Want to read a couple of his lines from the show? Click here.
·
Dirty Hypnosis Unleashed.
Harmon Theatre.
This
show has gone under many names in the past year, and has been at
several locations as well. Prior to the Harmon Theatre, it was shown at
The House of Blues in Mandalay Bay. The idea behind this type of show
is to hypnotize volunteers from the audience, and get them to do
embarrassing things.
The Harmon Theatre is pretty much a bar with 100 or so chairs
facing a simple stage. On a Tuesday night, even this small venue was
half empty. The hypnotist kept making references to his time at The
House of Blues, making it sound as if misconduct on stage has resulted
in his being kicked out. Perhaps it was supposed to be a joke, but no
one laughed.
The
hypnotist go about ten volunteers from the audience, did his hypnosis
thing, and rejected a couple of people as not being suggestible enough.
He then went into his shtick: "the person next to you smells really
bad"; "you [the men] notice that you are really
well endowed" or "you notice that you are very poorly endowed"; "the
chair you're sitting on is vibrating in a very pleasurable way." Things
along that line.
Was it faked? I hope not. I'd hate to think someone would fake
something that was so lacking in humor. I do confess to almost being
put to sleep, but the only urge I had was to get up and leave.
·
Neon Boneyard.
Where
do old neon signs go to die? Many end up in the trash, but many others
are saved for possible future restoration. In the meantime, they live
in purgatory, also known as The Neon Boneyard. The Boneyard consists of
two large lots and, nowadays, lots and lots of neon signs.
A few have already been restored. If you go to
Fremont Street downtown, there are a number of working signs. Plans
call for more to be placed on Las Vegas Boulevard near downtown. The
rest remain where they are, locked behind chain link fences where no
one can see them...that
is, unless you know the secret: a group called The
Neon Museum provides guided tours. Until recently, tours were
limited to groups of 10 or more. However, they now accept reservations
from individuals; the fee is $15.
In order to enjoy the tour, it's a good idea to understand what you're
going to see. The tour takes an hour to an hour and a half. It's all
outdoors, with no shade, on gravel lots with some broken glass, so
dress appropriately and bring water with you. The two lots are filled
to the brim with signs - so full that it's hard to get a good view of
some of them. Lastly, the signs look pretty bad: almost all of the neon
is missing, rust is apparent, and some signs are in several pieces.
That's the bad news. The good news is that it's fascinating to see a
sign and say "I saw that when it was running" or "I read about that
casino." During my tour, one of the other tour takers pulled out
pictures he had taken 30 years ago, of some of the signs when they were
still in operation.
This isn't a glitzy tour. It's almost educational. Still, I thoroughly
enjoyed it. If you'd like to see a few pictures I took (including some restored signs on Fremont Street), click here.
·
Hoover
Dam.
If you love huge
construction projects, you'll love Hoover Dam. Otherwise, it's one of
those places you should visit once, after your higher priority items
have been done. Click here
for pictures from my tour of the dam.
·
Big
Elvis.
Bill's Gamblin' Hall & Saloon (formerly The Barbary Coast).
Pete Vallee, better known as Big Elvis, is of course an Elvis
impersonator. He is of course BIG. At one time he
claimed to be the illegitimate son of The King, but I don't see that claim
on his web site, and don't know the current status of the claim. A real
wacko, right?
Maybe, but if so he's a real successful wacko,
currently performing three times daily, five days a week. Big Elvis is
frequently named best Elvis impersonator in newspaper popularity contests.
I listened to him for a few minutes a couple of times, and he's
actually pretty good. He draws a huge crowd that whoops and hollers,
and there's lots of dancin' going on.
The show is free. He's a Vegas institution. Go see for yourself. Sorry, no pictures, but you can see him at his web site.
·
BikeFest
2007. Cashman Center; Fremont Street.
This is the annual
Las Vegas motorcycle get together. Some 40,000 bikers show up. I'm not
a biker, but it's still fun to browse through the stalls, and look at
all the motorcycles on display. Here are a few pictures.
Gambling
Craps. I'm a confirmed fan. It looks complicated, but it's actually very easy to get started. If you've been afraid to try it, STOP and get thee to one of the classes held at some casinos - or simply go to an empty table and ask for help from the dealers while you play for real. You'll be hooked in no time.
On the Strip, table minimums are usually $10, and sometimes higher. A few of the big casinos still have $5 games, especially during off hours. The very lowest minimums are found at a few of the smaller joints: Casino Royale; Slots-a-Fun; slightly off Strip at Westin ($1 during happy hour M-Th 5-10pm). These places each have their own "character;" you'll have to decide if that's a plus or a minus.
Sigma Derby. This nearly extinct beast is the slot machine equivalent of horse racing. Insert one or more quarters, choose the top two out of six horses to finish, and watch the mechanical horses run around the oval. There are ten stations around the track, so it's a communal game. I'm sure the house percentage is huge, but if you stick to 25 or 50 cents per race, it's a very cheap way to gamble. The last of these machines is at MGM Grand. Try it before it disappears.
There were fewer new restaurants that caught my eye, and I wasn't feeling rich enough to return to any of the super expensive places in town. Still, I continued to eat my way through the better restaurants - just at a less frantic pace than during some past trips.
I've eaten at so many places, so frequently, that it's become a bit of a problem in writing these reviews. How do I refer to past visits to the same place? How do you know in which trip report to look? I've decided to take all of my restaurant reviews, for all trips, and combine them. This should make it a lot easier to find what you want, as well as providing more details for those places I've visited multiple times. Click on Larry's Las Vegas Restaurant Guide, and a new window will open.
You can still see the reviews from this trip below. However, the eagle eyed may notice that the links lead you to a different web site (including "lasvegasvacation" in the url). I'm using that location for the new restaurant reviews.
Key:
 =
A restaurant
that
I have not reviewed in prior trip
reports. |
B&B Ristorante.
Venetian. This fairly new Italian restaurant, part of the
Mario
Batali empire, serves good offal - and good pasta. It was the best new
place I tried.
Click here for a full
description of my meal
Enoteca San Marco.
Venetian. The second restaurant opened by Mario Batali, this
is
an informal place. It has good antipasti and excellent gelato.
Click here
for a full
description of my meal
Yokohama Kaigenro.
Near the Hard Rock Hotel. An inexpensive Japanese restaurant with an
ambitious menu.
Click here
for a full
description of my meal
RA Sushi.
Fashion Show Mall. The emphasis is on a trendy atmosphere;
too bad it isn't on the sushi.
Click here
for a full
description of my meal
The Verandah.
Four Seasons. I had breakfast here once. I'll definitely be
back.
Click here
for a full
description of my meal
The Restaurant at Platinum.
Platinum. I liked the online breakfast menu, so I gave it a
try. The food was good, but the service stunk.
Click here
for a full
description of my meal
Le Burger Brasserie.
Paris. A sports bar featuring design-it-yourself hamburgers.
So-so.
Click here
for a full
description of my meal
Bellagio Dinner Buffet.
Bellagio. My new favorite dinner buffet. I'm still not a
buffet fan, but this one wasn't bad.
Click here
for a full
description of my meal
Bellagio Lunch Buffet.
Bellagio. Stick with the dinner buffet.
Click here
for a full
description of my meal
·
Okada.
Wynn Las
Vegas. As good as ever. Okada now offers hamachi kama
(grilled yellowtail collar) - highly recommended.
Click here
for a
description of my meals
·
L'Atelier
de Joël Robuchon.
MGM Grand. Back for meal number five, I had very high
expectations. Expectations met!
Click here
for a
description of my meals
·
Daniel
Boulud Brasserie.
Wynn Las
Vegas. This is another of my regular haunts.
My meal was pretty good, but it wasn't as good as in the past. I hope
this just means that I chose poorly.
Click here
for a full
description of my meal
·
FIX.
Bellagio. The fish was good, but the doughnuts were excellent.
Click here
for a
description of my meals
·
Nobu.
Hard Rock. I'm not a fan of this branch of Nobu.
However, I was at the Hard Rock at dinner time, and nothing else
appealed. By choosing carefully, I managed to have a very good meal.
Click here
for a
description of my meals
·
Bouchon.
Click
here for a
description of my meals (including one dinner)
·
Jean-Philippe
Pâtisserie.
Bellagio. The best pastries in Las Vegas. This time I tried a
dessert crepe.
Click here
for a
description of my meals
·
Emeril's.
MGM Grand. For dessert only - a piece of Emeril's wonderful
banana cream pie.
Click here
for a
description of my meals
Miscellany
·
Construction.
Construction is everywhere, with more than 40,000 new rooms due in the
next few years. For me, the biggest annoyance is the impact on traffic.
There's some impact on automobile traffic, but the thing I find really
annoying is the impact on pedestrian traffic. Strip sidewalks are
congested under the best of circumstances, but construction
has
caused some sidewalks to be narrowed so much that it's a tight squeeze
just to get by a person coming from the opposite direction. Passing a
slower walker feels like an exercise in kamikaze tactics (wait for
break in oncoming traffic; burst out to the left, and go to warp speed;
zoom by, hoping you can get back to the right before you collide with
the next oncoming pedestrian).
Here are a few pictures of the construction.
· Seen on a panhandler's sign: "Ninjas killed my family. Need money for karate lessons." Yeah, this was a rip off of a sign made famous a couple of years ago, but it was the first time I saw it.
Highlights
The national parks
Rock scrambles at Red Rock Canyon
Spamalot
StuntWorld Action Camp
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