The plan was to leave on Saturday by 10 am in order to make lunch time prices at the Wynn buffet. Well, we WOKE UP at 10:15. Great, already off to a late start. So, I skipped taking a shower and doing my hair as that takes an hour. I wore my black hat to cover my bad hair day. Josh was able to squeeze in a quick shower. We would have been doing ok on time until Josh realized, as we were walking out the door, that he needed to send out a couple of emails for work...since the Internet at the hotel would not be free. We were finally on the road at 11:15.
The drive from Phoenix to Vegas was nice....desolate, but nice. There was a long stretch of highway without cell phone coverage and only Country and Spanish music on the radio...we were glad to have our CD player in the car. We pulled into the Wynn self-parking lot (no valet for us) around 4:15 (dinner prices began at 3:30). We didn't have to wait in line which was great, although they'd upped the prices for the meal due to the holiday weekend. Anyway, the food was STELLAR! We chilled out eating sushi and creme brulee for 2 hours. Delicious.
After eating, we went to Bill's Gamblin' Hall and Saloon to check-in to our room. It was great. The hotel is located on the Strip, on the corner of Las Vegas Blvd. and Flamingo. So, it's center Strip (next door to the Flamingo and across the street from Caesar's and Bally's/Paris). There was no line and although we paid the "regular" price, we were upgraded to a room with a view of the Bellagio fountains across the street. That would have cost us $20 per day extra, so it was a nice savings. We really loved the room and we agreed that we'll only try to stay here in the future (great price, great location).
I took a shower and did my hair. We went out for the night and Josh watched the Sirens show at Treasure Island. I'd seen it in April and knew it was lame but Josh had to see it for himself. Afterward, he agreed about its lameness. We played video blackjack at TI and video poker at the Wynn before eating a midnight snack at McDonald's and calling it a night at 1:30 am.
On Sunday morning, Josh and I were up bright and early to stand in line at Tickets-4-Tonight by 10 am. This place offers discount tickets for the different theater shows in town. We stood in the bright sunshine for about 30 minutes (a staff member did bring us an umbrella for shade). They had tickets for Phantom of the Opera available, but I told Josh I could have bought those discounted online before we went on our trip, so if we bought them now it made standing in line pointless. In the end, we bought Category 2 seating for Love, the Cirque du Soleil show set to Beatles music. At $250 for 2 tickets, the price was high and Josh had to voice his opinion that he thought it was a waste of money even before watching the show.
Well, whether or not it would be worth the price, I didn't know. I'm not a Beatles fan, however, I am a Cirque fan. However, I don't think I'll use Tickets-4-Tonight again because they do not assign seating when you purchase your tickets. After you purchase your tickets, you have to go to the venue where the show will be and then they will give you assigned seating. Annoying. Thankfully, the Mirage, where Love plays, is close to the Tickets-4-Tonight booth.
After getting our Love tickets, we stopped by Caesars Palace, took a couple of pictures at the fountains and visited the Forum Shops. The gigantic Trojan horse and dragon are at F.A.O Schwarz. After Caesars, we returned to the hotel to chill out for a couple of hours in the AC. We decided to go to the Flamingo pool since when you stay at Bill's you get free access to the pool at the Flamingo next door. I'd read online that the Flamingo has a great pool and I'd missed getting to go to the pool in April (although I was staying at the Flamingo, I had too much work so I didn't get to go).
OH MY FREAKING GOODNESS!!! The Flamingo pool was so NASTY! Ok, granted I've been spoiled by the pools at Mexico resorts we've stayed at AND it was a holiday weekend. HOWEVER, this pool and lounger area was filled to capacity with bodies (adults and children). Trash was literally piled up by everyone's loungers (beer bottles and cans). The only open loungers we could find were next to the burger grill...yes, picture me laying on a sun lounger while burger smoke wafts over my body. Uh, disgusting.
Well, I was determined to give this experience my all. Into the pool we went. Into the sea of bodies, floating debris, and spiked beach balls. Awesome...not so much. Josh and I stood under one of the waterfalls and let the falling water massage/pummel us for a few minutes and then we were out of the water and out of the Flamingo pool area! Back to the hotel.
We got ready for dinner, choosing Le Village Buffet at Paris...$50 for dinner and very disappointing. I'll pay $88 for dinner at the Wynn Buffet any day because although it costs more money, the Wynn is worth the difference. The best thing at the Paris buffet was the fresh-made crepes. I had two-so good!
After dinner, we headed over to the Mirage to watch Love. When the show started, I was reminded of the Fetes de Nuit show we saw at Versailles in Paris in 2006 (that show was all in French and Josh and I were like, "What did we get ourselves into?!?!?). However, after the first 2 minutes of Love, the show was AMAZING and I had a HUGE SMILE on my face for most of the performance. There was one part of the show where I thought I was going to have a panic attack, but in order not to spoil the show for anyone, you'll need to ask me specifically about what caused me to mildly freak out.
Josh thought the show wasn't as great as Mystere which we saw in April, however, I might go so far as to say that Love was my favorite Cirque show over Mystere and KA. Maybe. Each show is different and yet you can tell that each is a Cirque show. Either way, I thoroughly enjoyed myself and I'm not a Beatles fan...maybe I had low expectations? I don't know...I still thought it was awesome. Highly recommended.
After the show, we returned to our hotel and gambled for a couple of hours...unfortunately, we donated our money to "Uncle Bill" and didn't win anything. At least Josh was able to throw the dice in craps several times. That was fun. We were off to sleep at 3 am.
We woke up at 10 and checked out of the hotel. We thought we'd try the Wynn buffet for breakfast but they only offered a bruch since it was the holiday. There wasn't a significant price reduction for brunch over dinner so we opted out and ate at the Hard Rock Cafe before leaving town. Below are some pictures of the Strip as we departed Vegas. We even caught the Farewell sign for Vegas...next time, we'll capture the Welcome side of the sign! Sheesh, this was my 4th time to Vegas and I still don't have the Welcome sign on film!
Below are some pictures of the scenic drive from Vegas to Phoenix. Man, I LOVE the desert! While I'm not into Southwest decor at all (I think it's kind of tacky, personally) I love the landscapes of the Southwest. Enjoy!
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