Act 5
26
August 2008 – 29 August 2008
26/08/08
Unfortunately neither of us slept well the bed was not as comfortable as
it looked, the air conditioner was so noisy (and we have had some noisy ones on
our trip which we have slept through) and if you turned it off the room was much
too hot even with windows open.
Never
mind we thought our breakfast will be here at 8am which will be good then we
will get ourselves organised and head out for our
sightseeing.
I
have to say it but the breakfast was terrible and cold. We ate what we could but were not
happy.
This
is the first time in our trip where we have not felt welcome as a guest and
where the service was really lacking in the main front areas. The bellman Tom, our server Rick and the
young woman who delivered our breakfast were friendly and happy to be of
service.
After
much deliberation we decided to check out and head off to places unknown at that
stage. I explained our problems to
the lady at the front desk and she said we would not be penalised if we were to
check out. You know there was no I
am sorry you are not happy or is there anything we can do it was just ok that is
fine. El Tovar is operated by
Xanterra which also operate Stovepipe Wells Village where we had no problems and
were completely happy with their level of service.
We
packed up and were on our way but first we went and had a look at the canyon
from a few view points. The scenery was magnificent the Grand Canyon is
definitely something to behold. Around 1.15pm we headed west thinking
we might end up as close to Las Vegas as we could. Surprise, surprise we made it all the
way here by around 7pm.
I
phoned Bally’s once we got close to Las Vegas to make sure they could
accommodate us and it was all good.
Check in was good and we have a room in the North Tower on the
6th floor with a bit of a view of the Bellagio and Caesar’s
Palace.
Our
bags were brought up to our room by a very friendly lady who welcomed us to
Bally’s. Then we went downstairs to
see about some dinner (it was 8.30pm by this time) and we decided to have dinner
in the Sidewalk Cafe. The service
was good and the food very good.
A
good finish to our day and we are pleased we made the decision to leave El
Tovar. Please don’t get us wrong we
really are fairly easily pleased but we know that we made the right
decision. Better to miss a day or
so somewhere rather than spoil what has been a fantastic holiday so
far.
There
was an excellent band playing downstairs and we even had a little flutter after
dinner and came out with a win of $20 not too bad really. We are looking forward to the extra 2
full days here in Las Vegas.
We found some more cool signs today on our drive and will post them soon.
7/08/08
After quite a late night we did have a good sleep in this morning. The
bed is so comfy. Once up and
dressed we headed off to find some breakfast. We ended up just across the road from
where we are staying – Bills Gambling Hall I think it is called. Breakfast was good Reg really enjoyed
his and my cornflakes with banana were fantastic (lol).
From
here we walked up toward Planet Hollywood for a look around. Oh boy are the hawkers out in full force
trying to get you to go here and there or give you money to gamble. It is all part of Las Vegas but they
don’t seem to take no for an answer.
There was even a guy who had a goanna with him. He was trying to get people to have
photos taken of them holding the goanna with their camera of course and at a
cost. I felt sorry for the
goanna.
As
we passed Paris a young couple in their wedding finery were being photographed
in front of the fountain which is a replica of La Fontaine des Mers. The looked
a lovely young couple and I would think those photos will come out looking
amazing.
It
was great to get into the lovely air conditioned mall attached to Planet
Hollywood for a look around. The
first thing we noticed was the 3D ceiling it was amazing. It really made you feel like you were
walking through an Arabian market place.
We
especially wanted to have a look at Michael Goddard’s Gallery, ‘Oh My Goddard’
as we do enjoy his work. It always
makes us feel good and smile. For
those of you who might not have heard of him you can read a little about him at
http://www.michaelgodard.com/.
We
thoroughly enjoyed browsing through the gallery and well Reg found a statue (I
will call it) aptly named “Pool Shark”.
I have tried to find a picture of it but all I have found so far is his
actually paintings of the same name.
Anyway it is a shark with a pool cue on a stand above an olive and it can
be unscrewed and put onto a beer handle tap as well. It is going to look mighty fine in “The
Shed” when the two pool sharks are playing. Of course that is Reg and Phil (a very
dear friend). I suppose I should
also add that it was quite reasonably priced as well.
Then
we walked across to a gallery with a lot of Wyland’s work so we had another
great time browsing through there.
We
finished wandering the mall and then headed back to Bally’s this time opting to
walk through Paris and the shops connecting Paris and Bally’s. It was definitely cooler than
outside.
Once
back at Bally’s we had an icy cold beer at the bar and Reg had a $6 flutter (oh
yes the last of the big spenders) playing some kind of poker game on the machine
where he was sitting at the bar.
Well wasn’t he smiling when he walked away with a $205 win. It will feed us for a few days that’s
for sure.
After
returning to our room we organised ourselves for the dreaded washing. It has been quite a few days now and
well it had to be done so we set off in the car with “Alice” to find the place
that the reception desk given us the name and street address for.
Upon
our return to our room we took a little bit of time out while I did some sorting
and Reg caught up on some emails before heading downstairs for
dinner.
After
another very enjoyable meal in the Sidewalk Cafe we headed off to the Monorail
for a ride around to have a look at Vegas by night. Tomorrow we will use the Monorail and
get off and go and explore. First
stop I am thinking will be MGM Grand for a look around and then who knows
where.
It has been a good day so till next time Goodnight all.
28/08/08
Another brilliant sleep in and when we set off it was for a very late
breakfast. We seemed to have
collected quite a bit of stuff, so we decided to send it back home so as to
leave more room for shopping. So
after breakfast we headed out to a post office which we actually found next door
to where we did the laundry the other day.
While
there we took the opportunity to quickly do the last bit of washing we needed to
before we arrive in New York in a week’s time. Doubt we will have time in Niagara Falls
for such a mundane task. Lol.
Once
done it was time to take the car and “Alice” back to Avis. We have done over 2300 miles (3700 klms)
in the car so it has been a huge trip, so far, but such a wonderful one
too. We have to give credit where
it is due we would not have found our way with such ease if we had not had Alice
so thanks “old girl” for all the help.
I think we might miss her ‘recalculating’ voice.
Maybe!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
As
we dropped the car back at Avis at the Venetian we took the opportunity to have
a look around this hotel. Oh my
goodness the painted ceilings are beautiful and there is a canal and gondolas
and it is oh so huge. So many
shops, too many beautiful things we would like and so little money for all those
beautiful things. Lol.
After
a very light but also very late lunch we ventured, into the heat, outside and
started walking back towards Bally’s.
We got as far as Harrah’s after stopping for a couple of purchases. I found a nice Vegas polo shirt for Reg
and a couple of other things.
Once
inside Harrah’s we headed to the monorail for a ride back to Bally’s. Back at base I headed to the bar for an
icy cold beer while Reg went up stairs for a rest. The beer, Samuel Adams, was lovely and
cold and went down ‘mighty fine’.
We
took the weight off our feet for awhile and time ran away from us. It was 8.30pm when we headed out for
dinner. First we crossed over to
the Bellagio for the fountain show.
We only caught the tail end of one so we wandered into the Bellagio to
have a little look around before heading back out.
This
time we saw the whole of the fountain show and it does look wonderful. Reg filmed the fountain show so I am
hoping that it comes out ok.
Then
we headed to Bill’s Gambling Hall for dinner – they advertise NY & Prime Rib
Steak for $14.95. Mmmm the prime
rib was delicious and I ordered a house Chablis with it as well. The waiter explained that it came in a
$5 or $9 size so I opted for the $5 size and apart from actually being quite
drinkable it was a small carafe which held over 3 glasses. My goodness what
great value was that 3 glasses for $5.
Reg enjoyed some excellent chinese.
Dinner over it was very late so we headed back to our room for a goodnights sleep.
29/08/08
Yes we did it again another huge sleep in. Gosh this bed is
wonderful.
The
night time pictures that I took, with the new camera, did not turn out as good
as we would have liked. So I
thought it time to read the manual.
Oh yes I know it should have been done in the beginning but hey you don’t
want to rush these things.
Well
I am hoping that I have it figured out but will know more once we take some more
night shots this evening.
Once
we finally got underway we stopped at the Pizza shop on our way to the Monorail
here at Bally’s for a slice of pizza for lunch. Oh boy what a huge slice it was but very
tasty.
From
there we hopped onto the Monorail and headed for MGM Grand. This place is huge it seemed to take
ages to walk from the Monorail into the main area. We stopped for a small flutter and
walked away with a nice little profit.
Certainly not going to break the bank here in Vegas but it is nice to
have a win and we are most definitely out in front.
Then
we went looking for the Lion Habitat, more walking but we finally found them and
there were 2 lionesses there today called Chilli and Pepper. Their keepers were in there with them
trying to get them to play but they seemed more interested in sleeping than
playing and putting on a show.
Next
we headed over to New York New York.
The front of this casino is amazing and quite a good replica of New York
landmarks. Amazing really, in fact
it is all amazing and oh how large are these Casinos. It seems like you walk for miles and
miles. Mmmm I think we definitely
have been.
We
headed back to Bally’s and had a relatively early dinner as we intended to head
down to Freemont Street tonight.
Now as they say “all good plans of mice and men” well it didn’t happen as
we were both bushed and we opted to rest our weary legs (and boy are they tired)
and bodies. Gee it seems we are not
as young as we used to be.
Well another day tomorrow and then we are going to see Cher tomorrow night at Caesars Palace. We are so looking forward to the show.
Here are some more cool signs we saw in our travels:
I really love this
one.
