VIVA LAS VEGAS!

We packed a lot into our 3 day 2 night Las Vegas Getaway. If I counted correctly this was the 5th time Lou & I have visited Las Vegas together. Due to airshow conventions in years past, I've probably been there at least another 10-12 times. Our flight arrived in Las Vegas just before 11 AM. As is usual for us, we hit the ground running.

Our first stop was the Clark County Museum in Henderson, Nevada. If you watch "Pawn Stars" on TV, their expert with the hat & long beard is the curator of the Clark County Museum.

The Clark County Museum has a lot of stuff! There is a main building with exhibits following the history of Las Vegas. Here is a display documenting the gambling for which Las Vegas is known worldwide. This was the first of two bargains we encountered that I highly recommend. The museum admission price is $2 per adult & $1 per senior!

Outside there is a street of about 8-10 historical homes & buildings which have been moved to the Clark County Museum grounds. All of the buildings are open to tour & have numerous period furnishings inside. This home had an old Studebaker under the carport.

There is also a nature trail that takes you through an old ghost town from years past. I love these old artifacts & enjoy photographing them. However, this picture presented quite a challenge to keep the new homes that surrounded the field out of the background with the relics.

Once we decided to do this trip, we wanted to find a more upscale hotel to enjoy. Due to dumb luck I managed to find a great deal at the five star Wynn Las Vegas resort which included an upgraded room & daily buffet breakfast.

Our 640 square foot room included floor to ceiling windows & this gorgeous bathroom! I could get used to this as long as someone came in every day to clean for me. The bathtub was heaven! You could fill the tub 8-10 inches deep without being near overflowing. If you can see that wide, raised area in the middle near the back wall, that is where the water filled from giving the impression of a waterfall! Way cool! I'm pretty sure the bathroom alone was about the size of our guest room.

Enjoying our view from the 37th floor of the Wynn Las Vegas. The photos we took don't do the room (or the view) justice. If you would really like to see a photo of the room, just Google Wynn Las Vegas.

It was pretty much impossible to get good daytime photos of our view due to glare & reflections. This is the first room I've had with buttons to control the drapes & sheers - lots of fun. If you entered the dark room in the evening & hit the "All Open" button, every light in the place came on & the drapes opened automatically to reveal this breathtaking view of the Las Vegas Strip through the wall of windows!

Early the next morning I managed to get this colorful photo of the snow covered mountains in the distance without too much glare.

Looking to the left we had a view down the Strip of the Palazzo, Treasure Island & the Mirage. Unfortunately, if we looked to the right, this is what we saw. What the hell? I thought we were getting away from all his crap. We kept our chairs angled toward the left. 

As you can see the pool was not used too much in the 50s to low 60s weather. However, we did venture out one afternoon to enjoy the atmosphere & the hot tub. The pool was heated & Lou went for a swim but I just indulged in the 100 degree spa.

It had been 8 years since our last Vegas visit (where does the time go??). We headed out on foot that evening to explore some of the familiar sights & some new ones.

This is a new attraction since we were last in Vegas. The LINQ Promenade stretches for a quarter mile off the Strip. It is kind of like a Downtown Disney or a Universal City Walk with shops, restaurants, music blaring & lots of lights. One of the highlights is the LINQ High Roller, a 550 foot tall observation wheel - more on this later. Each round car can hold up to 30 people & it takes 30 minutes to make a revolution with amazing views. This was a fountain show along the promenade.

On our walk down the Strip we passed the Venetian with its gondola rides & beautifully recreated Italian scenery. I'd like to someday stay at the Venetian, too. 

All of the hotels & casinos lit up at night make an incredible sight. We stayed at the Mirage on our first trip to Las Vegas 17 years ago! And in 2009 we saw the Beatles Love Cirque du Soleil show. It was fantastic & is still playing 10 years later. 

The next day after our huge buffet breakfast that included a huge variety of normal lunch & dinner food along with a myriad of dessert choices as well as normal breakfast fare, we headed out to explore a couple of museums. First up was the Neon Museum Boneyard.

Years ago before this Neon Boneyard opened, Lou & I did a walking tour of Fremont Street where about 10 working neon signs were displayed. Now, they have a dedicated "museum" that includes hundreds of old Las Vegas signs.

About 15 signs have been restored & are turned on. The docent explained to us that during the day, the red neon tubes are easiest to see. They are better to view at night but then the unlit signs aren't as visible.

This Stardust sign is one of their prized signs. Many of the signs weren't neon at all but rather had thousands of bulbs to illuminate the. The Hard Rock guitar is currently being painstakingly restored but it will probably take years with volunteers doing the work.

We were a little disappointed that most of the signs aren't functioning & are in various stages of disrepair. Some are rusted through & they are a hodge podge of organization. At least they are trying to preserve the history of Las Vegas.

This is one of the iconic old neon signs now displayed at Las Vegas Boulevard & Fremont Street. It was originally installed in the mid 1960s at the Hacienda Hotel on the Strip. The Hacienda has since been torn down & the Mandalay Bay is currently in that location.

Our next stop was the Mob Museum, officially the National Museum of Organized Crime & Law Enforcement.

This is the actual wall where the St. Valentine's Day Massacre took place in 1929. The bricks have been removed, labeled & painstakingly replaced to be displayed twice in their history. Seven members of a Chicago gang were lined up against this wall & murdered by four unknown assailants believed to be part of a Chicago mob.

This was Al Capone's favorite pistol. It was really narrow & didn't ruin the look of his suits in his shoulder holster. A docent told us the story of how it was somehow "stolen" from Capone the day before it was used in a murder. The gun later went missing again & was discovered in an illegal gambling raid in 2004.

That evening we had a wonderful Italian dinner at Maggiano's Little Italy before attending the David Copperfield show at the MGM Grand. No photos were allowed but it was a fun, entertaining show that astounded us several times. Who doesn't enjoy a little magic?

The following morning after another really big buffet breakfast including creme brulee for dessert after my omelette (I mean why not?), we headed to the LINQ High Roller.

The cars of the High Roller are always slowly moving. The door opens allowing current riders to exit one side as new riders walk into it from the stationary platform. The circular cars rotate as the wheel lifts them so that the floor is constantly level with the ground. It is totally smooth & you don't even feel as if you are moving.

Lou & I about halfway up to the top of the High Roller. You know if there is anything "high" that Lou will ride it, climb it or tour it. And I usually do it with him.

This photo is from our car at the apex of the ride, 550 feet above Las Vegas!

Looking straight down from the top of the High Roller. We were towering over most of the high rise hotels & condos. That is the Flamingo Resort pool at the upper right of the photos. The cars look like little Hot Wheels lined up below.

We walked through the Flamingo Resort to get to the High Roller & made a stop to see the live flamingos. I didn't realize they have a small habitat for injured birds. It seemed like a nice switch from the drinking, eating & gambling to me.

A few flamingos in the pond. Charley loves flamingos & I have to say they are beautiful birds. It amazes me how many interesting & strange creatures there are in our world.

From a distance these birds are gorgeous but zooming in on this one's head, he sure does look pissed off & ready to let someone have it. 

It was feeding time for these two pelicans, Virginia & Bugsy. They both have damaged wings from being caught in wires or ocean debris which prevent them from flying. They are on loan to the Flamingo Resort.

I can't remember the type of this duck or the one below, but they were certainly different looking with the strange shapes & markings.

Another interesting duck swimming around the flamingo habitat. I've always liked how the ripples in water appear when a photo is snapped.

Since we had a little time left before grabbing dinner at Cracker Barrel & catching our evening flight home, we decided to check out the Pinball Hall of Fame just off the Strip. It was delightful fun!

There were literally hundreds of pinball machines lined up in many rows in this warehouse on Tropicana Avenue about a mile off the Strip. They are all a collection of a retired arcade tycoon who has restored them to working order. All are playable for 25 cents to $1. There was a popcorn machine with small bags that cost a quarter. All money is donated to charity.

These are some of the newer machines with rock star themes - AC/DC, Kiss & Metallica are just a few. Lou & I both said we hadn't played pinball in 30 years or more. But it was a great way to spend an hour for just a few dollars. I highly recommend the Pinball Hall of Fame as another fabulous bargain in Las Vegas!

The Pinball Wizard!

And Ms. Pinball Wizard!
This was the oldest machine in the building from 1948, I think. I have to admit that the newer ones were much more fun!