Viva Las Vegas…
Our first full day in Las Vegas and a lovely start to the morning with breakfast at the Oasis RV Resort’s small cafe.
Then it was time to jump in an Uber and explore the Strip.
The Uber dropped us at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, the start of the south end of the Strip, and then we began walking north.
Starting at the Mandalay Bay we walked past the Luxor, Excalibur, Tropicana, MGM Grand, New York New York, Monte Carlo, Aria, Planet Hollywood, Cosmopolitan, Paris, Bally’s, Bellagio, Caesars Palace, Flamingo, Linq, Harrah’s, Casino Royale, Mirage, Venetian, Palazzo, Treasure Island, Wynn, Encore, The Fashion Show Mall (I found my favourite shop, Zara), finishing at Circus Circus.
We had almost completed the Strip and we were starting to get tired, hot and hungry. The temperature hovers around the 36 – 40+ degrees at the moment.
Thinking that Circus Circus might be a little more child-friendly we decided to stop there for lunch and have a look around. The Casino (which in most cases you have to walk through regardless of playing) was just a seedy as it was 10 years ago.
The Circus Circus Hotel holds a kids amusement arcade called Carnival Midway, gambling for kids (we gave the boys $20 each in Reno and told them to knock themselves out) and the Adventure Dome, an adventure area filled with roller coaster rides. Today we were trying to be better parents and neither of these spots were appropriate for the boys or their ages.
Pete was verging on hangry but he did still offer to watch the free circus act. The boys were not fussed, we will not be forking out for Cirque du Soleil tickets…
A quick Mexican lunch, a short explore of the hotel and then time to get an Uber from the Strip to the Las Vegas South Premium Outlets.
The outlets were actually super cheap (I had heard this but really didn’t believe it). I managed a few more purchases.
It had been 10 years since Pete and I had been to Las Vegas, which was also my first time in the USA. You still can not help being blown away by the scale and design of the hotels on the Strip, I really enjoyed walking it again.
The Casino’s, yes, a lot have a seedy feel, but explore the actual hotels, restaurants and entertainment, and go to some of the shows and it is a wonderfully surreal place to be.
Leave the kids at home…
Back to the motorhome for a rest and a load of washing (not very interesting for Vegas), ready to get back out on the town.
We had been told by a number of Uber drivers that we must go to Fremont Street, the ‘Fremont Street Experience’. It is in downtown Las Vegas and the original casino corridor before the Las Vegas Strip.
As well as the western end of Fremont Street there is also a pedestrian walkway closed to traffic and covered by an overhead canopy. The canopy ‘Viva Vision’ is the world’s largest video screen playing nightly shows of music and images paying tribute to holidays, events and classic rock bands.
Under the canopy, there is a zip line, casinos, bars, food vendors, drinking and lots of crazy people, crazy street performers and crazy entertainment. The original ‘Las Vegas’.
We walked the Fremont Experience (luckily the boys were more interested in the zip line then the naked ladies) until we had run out of any appropriate child-friendly options for dinner.
Then we stumbled upon the Downtown Container Park which has a children’s playground, shops and restaurants built inside shipping containers.
One of the shops was a magic shop that Wes was desperately hoping to find. He was indecisive at the magic shop earlier in the day and had missed out. A purchase was made and therefore, a happy Wes.
We were then distracted by the Driverless Electric Shuttle that was offering free rides departing from the container park. We waited for our turn and took the half-mile loop along the Fremont East Neighbourhood. It was very cool.
It was now almost 8 pm and we had forgotten how hungry we were. While on the driverless shuttle we had spotted a restaurant on Carson St that looked nice and ‘normal’. I am happy to report that the restaurant (7th and Carson) was perfect and the food delicious.
A fun-filled day exploring the weird, wacky and amazing Las Vegas.
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