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Day 3: Thursday 19th April 
Second impressions; Vegas is shabby! I realise this sounds strange when you see all the photos showing the lights and the hotels, but when you see it in daylight a lot of Vegas looks like a building site. Apparently it is the fastest growing city in the States, with an estimated 6000 people moving there every month. Obviously, the hotels look fantastic, but often the space between them is a derelict open space or a building site. And once you go behind the Strip it is even worse, some of the buildings are practically shacks. You can see all this from the back of a cab, but it really strikes you when viewed from a great height, which is what we did by going up 1,200 feet to the top of the Stratosphere Tower. The main selling point of the Stratosphere is that it has a roller-coaster on the roof, and a reverse bungee that shoots you up 150 feet into the air (as if being 1,200 feet up isn't high enough!). Because I'm not too keen on heights, this wasn't my idea of a good time, but Ash and Heather thought this sounded like great fun so I tagged along on the premise that I would wait at the bottom to catch them in case they fell off. Predictably, the ground floor of the tower is a full of slots but we resisted the temptation and bought tickets for the rides and entrance to the viewing gallery at the top. Also predictably you could not reach the top without passing many shops, and after a good look round we headed for the roller-coaster. Unfortunately, by this time the wind had become to strong and the rides had been closed. I stayed in the observation lounge long enough to snap a couple of photos before deciding that the tower was wobbling to much in the wind and I would feel much happier back on terra-firma. Heather and Ashley are made of much stronger stuff and hung around for a while longer, even venturing outside for a better look. We met up again in the safety of the ground floor casino and decided to have lunch in Circus Circus. Anyone who has read Hunter S. Thompson's "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" will recognise Circus Circus as the hotel with the revolving bar that the good doctor and his accountant spent time at, high on acid and mescaline, hanging on to the bar, thinking that the centrifugal force would send them spinning across the room. As a homage to this literary masterpiece Ashley and I had bought the most outrageous Hawaiian shirts we could find for a photo opportunity. After eating in the buffet (cheaper than the Luxor, but the food wasn't as nice) we set of in search of the revolving bar.  We were more than a little disappointed to find the bar was tiny, and it didn't start spinning until the evening. Still, Heather took the photo, and I think she has captured the hallucinogenic mood of the book perfectly. Circus Circus is quite an old hotel, and it does show, it's nowhere near as grand as some of the hotels further up the Strip. We had a good look around though, and had our first big win of the trip, $25 on one of the slot machines. After putting it all back into the various machines we went back to the hotel where Heather chose to stay and have a rest while Ashley and I walked down the road to the Hilton hotel to see the Star Trek Experience. 
Even though neither of us are huge Star Trek fans, I had heard fantastic reviews of the exhibition. Despite being off of the Strip, the Hilton is every bit as lavish as its name suggests. The Star Trek Experience seemed to be in a purpose built wing of the hotel, and there are big models of the Enterprise and Birds of Prey hanging from the ceiling. It seemed a bit expensive at $25 to get in, but we thought we would take a chance. The first thing we saw was a mock-up of Quarks Bar and Grill from Deep Space 9. This was great, and we enjoyed a pint of green Romulan ale before heading into the exhibition proper. To start with you walk through a museum featuring many of the props and costumes from the original Star Trek through to Next Generation and the various spin-offs, and then the fun really starts! I won't spoil all the surprises for you, but the next few minutes saw us beamed aboard the Enterprise and riding in a shuttle through a ferocious space battle with the Klingons. Worth $25? You bet! Another quick trip to Quarks to calm our nerves and it was back to reality. 
By this time we had worked out that the best way to enjoy Vegas is to go and do things during the day then have a siesta before setting out again in the evening. So, after a short rest, Heather and I (sans Ashley) went out that evening to the Freemont Street Experience. As the Strip became longer, filled with bigger and better casinos, the original casinos in downtown were losing a fortune, so to bring people into them Freemont Street, all two blocks of it, was covered with a roof of lights and every hour they put on the most incredible light shows. One was starting as we arrived, featuring the music of legends who have played Vegas, such as Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jnr. The roof cost several million dollars and was well worth it, the effect is astounding. This is the cheaper end of the Strip, and it is very tacky but still very enjoyable. It was amusing to see some strip clubs down here with pictures of very rough looking women with dreadful 80's haircuts and bad skin, not very enticing. We spent a couple of hours milling about, played a few slots, and then headed home for the obligatory night-cap and then to bed. |
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