When we arrived in Vegas it took us a while to find the Uber pickup area for the airport, its on the second floor of the short term parking garage. We were staying at the MGM and once we dropped off our bags we hit the strip for something to eat. I did a Google search for what was rated as a good buffet and the one listed on multiple sites was at Caesars Palace, so we headed that way while taking in the desert sun and warmth I have missed so much. I haven't been to that area of the US since we moved back to Indy from Tucson.
I haven't been in Caesars Palace before so it took us a little while to find the buffet. I was glad to see there was no one in line to get in and was looking around as Tania paid for us. While we were being seated I looked across the table at Tania, she looked like she was going to be sick. I asked her what was wrong and she said, "I had no idea this was going to be over $160,00. I'm pretty sure I was able to replicate the same look she had, so in an effort to find the glass half full side of this, I saw a flyer that said something about all you can drink alcohol. When the waitress came over to the table and asked us what we wanted to drink I told her I would have a beer, and she asked if I wanted a bucket of six, I said sure. She then went on to explain that I could do the all you can drink (pointing at the flyer) for an additional $30.00 a piece. I then promptly ordered some iced tea. The remainder of the trip was a game for us in finding the cheapest places we could to eat. The buffet was good but maybe $35.00 each good.
We spent the rest of the night wandering around and headed back to the hotel early that evening. I did find some socks for my boss who has some kind of strange fetish for ugly socks.
After deciding that purchasing them for him could potentially be career limiting, I showed him this picture when we got back. He liked them so much he immediately went online and ordered a pair.
Saturday we walked the casinos did a bunch of shopping and bought a massive margarita. I had bought some tickets for KÀ by Cirque du Solei. I have never been to a Vegas show before so I didn't know what to expect, all I can say is if you get a chance to go you must go, it was very impressive. Don't worry about getting the best seats, even though we were in the fourth row I don't think it would have mattered much where we sat.
They didn't allow cameras during the show so I took a couple pictures before it started, the area surrounding the stage was awesome.
The next day we rented a car and drove to the Hoover Dam. I have wanted to visit the Hover Dam for quite a while but even with us living in Arizona for two years we never made the trip.
We rented a car with the points I had acquired, from a hotel near by. When we arrived the agent informed me they didn't have a midsize sedan available so they had upgraded me to a Range Rover, which for 24 hours cost me $1.86.
This is something you must do if you have the chance, its like a 25 minute drive from Vegas. Going early in the morning is important, it was busy when we got there but when we left there was literally a five plus mile line of cars trying to get in.
Even though we did get there early the full blown power plant tour had a 3 hour wait, so we took the standard tour which was still very good. It took us down in the dam to where the water inlets were and we were able to see the generator room as well. Its a very impressive place with tons of the original Art Deco everywhere.
When we got back into Vegas and while we had a vehicle, we drove over to Gold and Silver Pawn.
It was much smaller inside than I had envisioned and obviously none of the now millionaires that work there were at work, There were some pretty cool items on sale though and its not far off the strip so its worth the visit. I would bet that 98% of the people that were inside were doing the same thing.
Overall it was a good trip and nice to get away for a few days.
