Life
I went on a trip to Vegas along with my family from Dallas, and as soon as we landed in Vegas we went to see The Bellagio Fountain. As it was the weekend, the music, water, and lights trio mesmerized us with its real beauty in the night. The show is free to all, and special shows are available only on weekend nights with a display for every 15 minutes from 7 PM to midnight. It is said that the weekday display shows are not very special comparatively.
The very next day early in the morning we took a day trip as we pre-booked bus tickets to Grand Canyon & Hoover Dam.
Day 1: The scenic route to Grand Canyon
Went to see the most spectacular and picturesque Grand Canyon’s west side. It’s about 125 miles from Las Vegas, and the Skywalk spot there is truly scenic. The Eagle Point and Guano Point are views from different directions on the Hualapai reservation. 360-degree views of the canyon can be experienced from Guano Point. It takes about 4 hours to cover all the points, and later we went to the Hoover Dam which is about 90 miles on the way back to Vegas. As it’s a day trip from Vegas in the morning, starting at 7 AM, we arrived back at the MGM Grand by 7 PM where we booked our stay for 3 days and 4 nights.
Day 2: Beauty of THE STRIP
There are more than 50 best tourist attractions to look around in The Strip. Amenities that are available commonly in almost all the resorts are casinos, shopping malls, outdoor pools, spas, restaurants, bars, nightclubs, lounges, theatres, shows (permanent, live), polished suits, whirlpool tubs, and posh dining areas.
First thing in the morning on the second day, I went to one of the museum chains of Madame Tussauds that took me around $42 to get into, and I spent about 2 hours to take a glance at all the wax dupes of many famous American artists & historic icons. Later, I took a gondola boat ride at the Venetian Resort and went into The Venetian, which is an Italian-themed casino resort. I felt for some time that I was in Europe, and the interior ambiance made me float in the air of Venice. Part of it includes The Palazzo, 4 outdoor pools with a spa, Sands Expo Convention Centre, and gondola rides that give a Venetian experience with architectural replicas of some of Venice’s greatest monuments.
Then it started raining slightly. The weather was too opportune to experience and feel the pleasure in the air. Against this backdrop, we went to Flamingo, which is very next to the High Roller Ferris Wheel. There’s a zoo with flamingos, a live show by an instructor, and day-to-day activities of the habitat. With lots of colorful fish around and a Caribbean-themed casino with a lagoon-style outdoor pool, this place is truly alluring and extremely peaceful with birds of many types. Adjoining this is The Linq, a casino hotel with Linq Promenade, High Roller, etc. The next place we went to is Mandalay Bay, a tropical-themed luxury resort and casino and the only one that has a bay beach. It also encompasses Shark Reef Aquarium. It has an underwater aquarium with lots of habitat in the exhibits. It costs around $30 per ticket to get into the aquatic museum. Mandalay Bay has permanent shows like Michael Jackson-One etc. Just beside this stands a huge and very beautiful ancient Egypt-themed Luxor casino hotel. It has an artifact exhibition, displays of the Titanic & human bodies, and many more. Luxor has the largest Atrium in the world. On the same line, if we walk straight forward, we can get into The Excalibur Hotel & Casino. It is a medieval Europe-themed casino. It boasts King Arthur’s Arena etc. New York-New York Hotel & Casino adjoins this that has a replica of the Statue of Liberty. It also has Hershey’s chocolate world, Big Apple Coaster, and many more.
We then took a bus ride using the RideRTC app by purchasing a 24-hour strip & all-access bus pass @$8 per person (3-day pass @$30 each). The whole strip band will be covered if we take a ride one at a time. But many of the attractions are up to The Strat.
In the evening, we went to see the Circus Circus, The Cosmopolitan, Planet Hollywood Resort, and Paris Las Vegas and returned to MGM Grand after revisiting the Bellagio fountain show.
Day 3: Caesars Palace and Bellagio
The Italian-themed Bellagio resort has a conservatory and botanical gardens with many species of flowers orchids and bromeliads, and it also celebrates Chinese New Year. This place is nearly heaven on earth with many tropical flowers. This luxury hotel and casino also has the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art and many more.
We then went to the Roman Empire-themed Caesars Palace that accommodates Forum Shops, The Colosseum, and dupes to ancient Roman, Greek, and Renaissance art forms. Fountain of the Gods and The Atlantis Show with aquarium stands as the highlights. It takes more than half a day to cover this entire place. The ambiance of this place is splendid and extremely intriguing. This is the one place that I didn’t want to come out of. It is so palatial and gloriously luxurious. I’m impressed with its sumptuous outlook and interiors. Many more captivating details are embodied in Caesars Palace that are spellbinding.
This 3-day trip of mine is so very much memorable to me. I came back with loads of images in my mind to fill my memory bank for a lifetime. Las Vegas is definitely a must-go-to place. I hope to get a chance to revisit…
