Las Vegas
We were so excited to be back in Las
Vegas where we got married a *long* 5 years ago. We’d always said we would be
back on our 5th anniversary, and we were only 2 months out.
We had booked to stay close to Fremont Street, in downtown or ‘old Vegas’, which was much cheaper than staying on the strip, or Las Vegas Boulevard, where all the big hotels are. Fremont Street in the main ‘strip’ in downtown, where the famous Golden Nugget casino can be found. Downtown is about 12km from the better-known Las Vegas Boulevard.
Pretty much all of the hotels on and around the strip and the larger ones downtown charge a resort fee which more or less doubles your bill, but we managed to find a place, the Downtowner Motel, less than a 5 minute walk to Fremont Street with no resort fees.
We walked to the Las Vegas Premium Outlets North, a couple of kilometres from Fremont, having planned to spend an hour shopping. We ended up spending most of our first day there, picking up some absolute bargains but leaving us short of time for more fun stuff.
That evening, we took an Uber to the Neon Museum. This not-for-profit museum was founded in 1996 and its main aim is to preserve and exhibit iconic signage from Vegas’ history. The exhibition ranges from the 1930s to today.
Vegas was founded in 1905 when William Clark, a railroad
owner held a land auction and Vegas, a small desert ranch town, developed into
the Sin City it is today, when tourism grew from visitors passing through on
their way to see the Hoover Dam.
Changes to legislation on divorce, gambling and drinking occurred across the States, but Nevada was the last to sign up, so it was much more easy-going, and the attitude was if you can't do it at home, come to Nevada.
Over time casinos were built, but in order to offset the boring boxy architecture of the buildings, gaudy, bright signage was brought in to draw attention to the casinos. The Moulin Rouge was the first racially integrated casino, but it was only open for 5 months in 1955; probably because it was too progressive and there was pressure to close it down. However, the ‘Moulin Rouge agreement’ ended segregation on strip in the 1960s even before the rest of USA.
Fun facts!
The construction of the Hoover Dam started in 1931 and the mainly male workers settled in Las Vegas. In order to keep these guys happy, gambling was legalised at a local level and speak-easys were commonplace for them to drink.
Gambling was made legal across the US in 1931, and in 1933 prohibition was repealed. The version of Las Vegas as we know it today started to take off.
The Mob Museum was well worth a visit, and even if you stay on the strip, a day in and around Fremont Strip is highly recommended.
After the Mob Museum, we went to get our hair cut, and then checked out the Downtown Container Park. This is really close to Fremont Street and it’s a cool outdoor ‘mall’ chock-full of shops, cafes, bars, a playground with a treehouse and live entertainment, such as movies and bands.
Finally, we headed down to the Las Vegas Boulevard on the bus to the Mandalay Bay, where we wanted to go to the aquarium there. There are 2 buses you can get between the strip and downtown; the Deuce and the SDX. The SDX is a faster service as it doesn’t stop as much, but both are super convenient and cheap. A 2 hour pass is $6, a 24-hour pass is $8 and 3-day pass is $20.
We didn’t end up going into the aquarium at the Mandalay Bay because it cost $25 each and we were getting very short on cash. It was a shame because it has over 2,000 animals including giant rays, green sea turtles, golden crocodile and there is the chance to dive with more than 30 sharks, for $650 each.
We took the monorail from the Mandalay Bay to the Excalibur and although it was meant to stop at the Luxor, it didn’t, but who’s complaining when it’s free? It’s not meant to be free, (we just didn’t have a ticket). There are several other monorails between different hotels; it’s quite a handy way to get between hotels if you can’t be bothered walking, or it’s too hot outside (or too cold in our case).
We walked up to the Bellagio
which helped us regain our sense of equilibrium and popped into see the famous Coca
Cola Christmas display at the back of the foyer, in the botanical garden,
replete with polar bears, gigantic Christmas tree and an ice queen.
We had planned to have dinner at Bellagio’s famous buffet and although there was a big queue when we arrived it actually went down fairly quickly. The dining area was huge, and once we’d ordered our cocktails – we’d paid for the bottomless drinks option – we were off. We paid $38.99 plus $19.99 for the limitless drinks option. Roast meat carvery, fresh Italian style pizza, seafood galore, cheese, sushi, pasta, Chinese, a myriad of desserts, fresh fruit…the choice was fabulous and it was all very good quality. We had a few more drinks in Caesars Palace next door (still no gambling) and headed back to the hotel.
The Bellagio where we had eaten the night before is famous for its fabulous fountains and its frequent fountain shows. Bellagio is a town in Italy situated on Lake Como which would explain the lake and fountains in front of the hotel. It costs $10,000 to run the fountain shows and it is possible to pay $250,000 to choose a song, receive a bottle of champagne and press the button to start the fountain show, so if anyone decides to do it, make sure you go for the longest song you can get your hands on. The fountain’s highest jet of water goes up to 140m. There are around 2,000 flowers in Bellagio’s botanical garden and its patisserie holds the Guinness world record for largest chocolate fountain.
We could have done with another day in Vegas, but we were flying to NYC the next day to spend Christmas there. We’ll be back, and next time I will gamble! Things we didn’t do but have done before include visiting the Vegas sign, taking a helicopter tour to the Grand Canyon and having lunch there, eating dinner at Planet Hollywood’s buffet, going to the top of the Stratosphere and watching the crazy folk on the rides, having a go on the zipline down Fremont Street, oh and getting married in Chapel of the Flowers! We didn’t gamble then either! Onto New York (the real one this time).
#lasvegas #fremontstreet #bellagio #neonmuseum #mobmuseum #newnewyorkrollercoaster
We had booked to stay close to Fremont Street, in downtown or ‘old Vegas’, which was much cheaper than staying on the strip, or Las Vegas Boulevard, where all the big hotels are. Fremont Street in the main ‘strip’ in downtown, where the famous Golden Nugget casino can be found. Downtown is about 12km from the better-known Las Vegas Boulevard.
Pretty much all of the hotels on and around the strip and the larger ones downtown charge a resort fee which more or less doubles your bill, but we managed to find a place, the Downtowner Motel, less than a 5 minute walk to Fremont Street with no resort fees.
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| Fremont Street |
We arrived in Vegas quite late after a long journey from
Lima, so we headed straight to the hotel to get some sleep. Vegas has many,
many shopping malls and both of us were in dire need of some new shoes and
clothes – it was a lot colder in the States in comparison with most other
places we had been and we weren’t likely to be allowed into a lot of places in
Vegas wearing our old hoodies and knackered trainers.
We walked to the Las Vegas Premium Outlets North, a couple of kilometres from Fremont, having planned to spend an hour shopping. We ended up spending most of our first day there, picking up some absolute bargains but leaving us short of time for more fun stuff.
That evening, we took an Uber to the Neon Museum. This not-for-profit museum was founded in 1996 and its main aim is to preserve and exhibit iconic signage from Vegas’ history. The exhibition ranges from the 1930s to today.
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| Fremont Street |
Changes to legislation on divorce, gambling and drinking occurred across the States, but Nevada was the last to sign up, so it was much more easy-going, and the attitude was if you can't do it at home, come to Nevada.
 |
| Sassy Sally's sign - Neon Museum |
Over time casinos were built, but in order to offset the boring boxy architecture of the buildings, gaudy, bright signage was brought in to draw attention to the casinos. The Moulin Rouge was the first racially integrated casino, but it was only open for 5 months in 1955; probably because it was too progressive and there was pressure to close it down. However, the ‘Moulin Rouge agreement’ ended segregation on strip in the 1960s even before the rest of USA.
Fun facts!
- The Moulin Rouge sign was designed by Betty Willis who also designed the most famous sign in Vegas – ‘Welcome to Las Vegas’.
- One of the older casinos, which still exists down on Fremont Street is Binions. Benny Binion was charged with 2 murders but managed to get away with it. He later went to prison for tax evasion. Benny was the guy to change the way casinos were used, and who used them. He managed to make ‘little’ people feel like ‘big’ people by putting in carpet, chairs and comping. Benny made so much money that all the other casinos followed his example.
- Casinos tend not to own their signage, they rent them. Old signs are taken down, then stripped and reused.
- Sassy Sally's sign was designed in 1981 to hark back to the 40s. Red and yellow were used which are colours proven to catch your eye, so a lot of casino use them – McDonalds is a prime example. There is also a subliminal message in Sassy Sally's; the letter S being a dollar sign.
- Neon, argon, helium and other inert gases were all used in the signs, but neon was the first to be used and neon became a generic way of referring to these gases, so the signs were too.
- Elvis Presley has his debut in the Frontier in 1956 as a support act, which didn’t go too well. He vowed never to go back, but Liberace convinced him to play years later in the International, and Elvis fell in love with the town and Priscilla, and Viva Las Vegas became the ‘theme tune’ to the town.
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| Stardust sign - Neon Museum |
The only way to see the museum is by booking a guided
tour in advance, and it is well worthwhile. Our guide was extremely knowledgeable
and funny. She told us a lot about the history of Las Vegas and stories behind
the signs.
We were off to the nearby Mob Museum the next morning, which tells the story of the infamous crime history in Vegas. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries there was an influx of eastern European Jews and Italians into the US. Shortly after saw the emergence of the Black Hand, a money extortion racket which then morphed into the mafia. In the US, in the early 1900s gambling was illegal – Nevada being the last state to agree, prohibition was introduced and it was nigh on impossible to get divorced. This state of affairs was ideal for the growing mob culture in the US, which always found an opportunity to capitalise on money making situations.
We were off to the nearby Mob Museum the next morning, which tells the story of the infamous crime history in Vegas. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries there was an influx of eastern European Jews and Italians into the US. Shortly after saw the emergence of the Black Hand, a money extortion racket which then morphed into the mafia. In the US, in the early 1900s gambling was illegal – Nevada being the last state to agree, prohibition was introduced and it was nigh on impossible to get divorced. This state of affairs was ideal for the growing mob culture in the US, which always found an opportunity to capitalise on money making situations.
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| Mob Museum |
The construction of the Hoover Dam started in 1931 and the mainly male workers settled in Las Vegas. In order to keep these guys happy, gambling was legalised at a local level and speak-easys were commonplace for them to drink.
Gambling was made legal across the US in 1931, and in 1933 prohibition was repealed. The version of Las Vegas as we know it today started to take off.
The Mob Museum was well worth a visit, and even if you stay on the strip, a day in and around Fremont Strip is highly recommended.
After the Mob Museum, we went to get our hair cut, and then checked out the Downtown Container Park. This is really close to Fremont Street and it’s a cool outdoor ‘mall’ chock-full of shops, cafes, bars, a playground with a treehouse and live entertainment, such as movies and bands.
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| Downtown Container Park |
We walked up
Fremont Street, stopping to gawk at the greedy people in the Heart Attack Grill. You get weighed when
you go in because if you’re over 350lbs you eat for free. If you have a heart
attack, you also get to eat for free. If you don’t finish your meal, you get
spanked by one of the waitresses dressed up as a nurse. Everything is cooked in
lard, and the heftiest meal is the Quadruple Bypass Burger which has
almost 10,000 calories and contains 4 half-pound beef burgers, twenty pieces of
bacon, eight slices of cheese, a tomato, and half an onion served in a
lard-coated bun. Yum (?!)
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| Heart Attack Grill |
Finally, we headed down to the Las Vegas Boulevard on the bus to the Mandalay Bay, where we wanted to go to the aquarium there. There are 2 buses you can get between the strip and downtown; the Deuce and the SDX. The SDX is a faster service as it doesn’t stop as much, but both are super convenient and cheap. A 2 hour pass is $6, a 24-hour pass is $8 and 3-day pass is $20.
We didn’t end up going into the aquarium at the Mandalay Bay because it cost $25 each and we were getting very short on cash. It was a shame because it has over 2,000 animals including giant rays, green sea turtles, golden crocodile and there is the chance to dive with more than 30 sharks, for $650 each.
We took the monorail from the Mandalay Bay to the Excalibur and although it was meant to stop at the Luxor, it didn’t, but who’s complaining when it’s free? It’s not meant to be free, (we just didn’t have a ticket). There are several other monorails between different hotels; it’s quite a handy way to get between hotels if you can’t be bothered walking, or it’s too hot outside (or too cold in our case).
From there we moseyed on over to have a go on the roller
coaster at New York New York. We had to wait 20 minutes because we wanted
to sit right at the front of the ride. It was awesome! Luckily, with speeds up
to 67mph we hadn’t eaten beforehand. No gambling yet…
 |
| Bellagio Christmas display |
We walked up to the Bellagio
which helped us regain our sense of equilibrium and popped into see the famous Coca
Cola Christmas display at the back of the foyer, in the botanical garden,
replete with polar bears, gigantic Christmas tree and an ice queen. We had planned to have dinner at Bellagio’s famous buffet and although there was a big queue when we arrived it actually went down fairly quickly. The dining area was huge, and once we’d ordered our cocktails – we’d paid for the bottomless drinks option – we were off. We paid $38.99 plus $19.99 for the limitless drinks option. Roast meat carvery, fresh Italian style pizza, seafood galore, cheese, sushi, pasta, Chinese, a myriad of desserts, fresh fruit…the choice was fabulous and it was all very good quality. We had a few more drinks in Caesars Palace next door (still no gambling) and headed back to the hotel.
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| Maple syrup and bacon on a cake! |
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| MGM lion |
Guess what we did the next day? Yep, a free
walking tour! We met our guide outside the Mirage on the strip at 10.30 and we
were told that we’d probably have to walk about 2km along the strip. We learned
that the Venetian is the biggest hotel with 7000+ rooms, Stratosphere is the
tallest hotel in Vegas and tallest in the USA (this is where we had our wedding
meal in 2012!), and Las Vegas means ‘the meadows’ in Spanish. Aria Hotel holds
one of the largest free art exhibitions in the world, and before MGM brought in
its new lion, you would have had to walk through mouth of the old lion. This is
seen as bad luck for Chinese who are some of the hotels biggest clients, so
they changed it.
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| New York New York |
We learned a bit more about the criminal culture in
Vegas. Bugsy Siegel was a Jewish mobster, who was very influential with the
Jewish and Italian mobs. He saw the success of El Cortez – a casino downtown, which
is one of few casinos that still has coin-operated machines– and wanted a piece
of it, so he bought it. After that, he wanted to build another hotel, but his permit
not approved because of his gangster links. To get around this, he worked with
developer Billy Wilkerson to get approval to build the Flamingo, which cost a
massive $6million in 1946. The Flamingo was opened that year even though it
wasn’t finished, and it lost a lot of money because Bugsy was allegedly
skimming money. He ended up getting murdered in his girlfriend’s house,
probably by mob bosses, but no one was ever charged.
Bugsy’s girlfriend’s nickname was Flamingo because of her skinny legs, and nowadays the Flamingo actually has real flamingos inside.
In 1980 a huge fire took over the original MGM, which is now Ballys, starting in the kitchen and spreading to the casino. The fire was so big that even cars caught ablaze and the smoke spread everywhere. This was the worst disaster Nevada had ever seen, with 700 injured and 87 dead. Three months after MGM fire, the Hilton caught ablaze through arson, leaving 200 injured and 8 dead.
In September 1996, Tupac attended a Mike Tyson fight and later on got into a fight himself in the hotel lobby. At around 11pm that night, he was driving down Las Vegas Boulevard when he got stopped by police for playing his music too loud. As he drove off, he stopped at an intersection and car started shooting at him. He spent 6 days in hospital before he died. This murder went unsolved, and still is to this day, so very little information on the case was publicly released, hence all the conspiracy theories that he isn’t actually dead.
Bugsy’s girlfriend’s nickname was Flamingo because of her skinny legs, and nowadays the Flamingo actually has real flamingos inside.
In 1980 a huge fire took over the original MGM, which is now Ballys, starting in the kitchen and spreading to the casino. The fire was so big that even cars caught ablaze and the smoke spread everywhere. This was the worst disaster Nevada had ever seen, with 700 injured and 87 dead. Three months after MGM fire, the Hilton caught ablaze through arson, leaving 200 injured and 8 dead.
In September 1996, Tupac attended a Mike Tyson fight and later on got into a fight himself in the hotel lobby. At around 11pm that night, he was driving down Las Vegas Boulevard when he got stopped by police for playing his music too loud. As he drove off, he stopped at an intersection and car started shooting at him. He spent 6 days in hospital before he died. This murder went unsolved, and still is to this day, so very little information on the case was publicly released, hence all the conspiracy theories that he isn’t actually dead.
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| Bellagio's lobby 'Fiori di Como' murano glass |
The Bellagio where we had eaten the night before is famous for its fabulous fountains and its frequent fountain shows. Bellagio is a town in Italy situated on Lake Como which would explain the lake and fountains in front of the hotel. It costs $10,000 to run the fountain shows and it is possible to pay $250,000 to choose a song, receive a bottle of champagne and press the button to start the fountain show, so if anyone decides to do it, make sure you go for the longest song you can get your hands on. The fountain’s highest jet of water goes up to 140m. There are around 2,000 flowers in Bellagio’s botanical garden and its patisserie holds the Guinness world record for largest chocolate fountain.
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| Paris hotel |
After the walking tour we headed back to the hotel to get
ready to go out for the evening. We wanted to see a Vegas show and had tried (too
late) to get tickets for Britney Spears as her 4 year residency was coming to
an end. At $900 a ticket we left it. Instead we managed to get a fairly good
price on tickets to see Mariah Carey’s Christmas Show at the Colosseum in
Caesars Palace. But first of all, we wanted to see the volcano
eruption at The Mirage. This occurs twice a night, at 7.30 and 8.30pm. We
had time to see the 7.30 showing before going to the Mariah concert, but the
wind was so strong it was cancelled, which we were told happened very rarely.
Annoyingly.
We are not huge fans of Mariah Carey, but the show was fabulous. She was as diva-esque as you’d expect, and it got us properly in the Christmas spirit.
We are not huge fans of Mariah Carey, but the show was fabulous. She was as diva-esque as you’d expect, and it got us properly in the Christmas spirit.
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| Mariah! |
We could have done with another day in Vegas, but we were flying to NYC the next day to spend Christmas there. We’ll be back, and next time I will gamble! Things we didn’t do but have done before include visiting the Vegas sign, taking a helicopter tour to the Grand Canyon and having lunch there, eating dinner at Planet Hollywood’s buffet, going to the top of the Stratosphere and watching the crazy folk on the rides, having a go on the zipline down Fremont Street, oh and getting married in Chapel of the Flowers! We didn’t gamble then either! Onto New York (the real one this time).
#lasvegas #fremontstreet #bellagio #neonmuseum #mobmuseum #newnewyorkrollercoaster
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