March Break Getaway

We had been looking forward to visiting Vegas, and decided to go for it during this March Break.  Well, we are not much into gambling, but the food, the show and the neon light city in the desert itself sound exciting enough!

After a long line-up to check in and going through U.S. Customs (not surprising during March Break), we made it on the plane pretty smoothly.  It was a 5 hour flight from Toronto to Vegas, and everything was on time.

Needless to say, Vegas has been famous for its gambling and adult entertainment activities and has earned the title of Sin City.  There were slot machines everywhere, even inside the airport, and believe it or not, people were playing them, considering the closest casino is just 10 minutes drive away!

At around 7:00pm, we arrived at our hotel (Luxor). It has an Egyptian theme and has the shape of a pyramid.  After checking in and dropping off our luggage, we went to Mandalay Bay for dinner based on some highly recommended reviews online, and the reviews were right!  The buffet was excellent there, probably  because of our late arrival (we had dinner at 8:00pm Las Vegas time, which was 11:00pm Toronto time).  Anyhow, all the food taste extra yummy, including some of the biggest crab legs I've ever seen!  It was so good that we almost went there a second time during the rest of the trip.

On the next day we spent most of the afternoon at Premium Outlets, and took a walk on the Strip at night.  It is at night where Vegas really comes alive!  All the drinking and partying usually seen on weekends elsewhere happen here every night!  I just found lots of photo opportunities with all the neon lighting displays around Paris and Bellagio and had a good time snapping shots after shots!

You have to admire the Americans for their determination to transform a desert into what we see here in Vegas today, and there are many crazy stories to tell here.  From what I heard, if you let the casino know that you are going to spend a huge amount of money gambling on their facility, the hotel will give you free vouchers for food (buffet, most likely) and a free room to stay (the luxury level of the room depends on how much money you agree to spend).  Pretty good deal, right?  Thinking that you might have a chance to break even or even able to win a fortune, while enjoy all the free stuff?

Well, imagine how much revenue these casinos/hotels have to generate in order to support the establishment of such spectacular architecture in their facilities, to hire all the staff to work there, and to cover the energy bill they use to light up the desert?  Most likely, this money is coming from the gamblers' own pocket.  What are the odds that people think they are going to be the lucky one hitting the jackpot?  Well, do the math and think again.

Anyhow, I am beginning to understand how come almost every casino has a buffet restaurant... it serves the purpose to feed people quickly, so they can get back to gambling in no time!  For the same reason, I think I know why all casinos are designed in a way that people have to walk through the gambling area before getting back to their hotel rooms or the exits.  Also, no wonder why the casino exits are so difficult to find, yet they never bother putting up more signs and directions to show people where the exits are.

The next day we went to MGM Grand to pickup the tickets for Cirque du Soleil's Ka.  I was really excited seeing the Lion Habitat there and saw some real lions!

 

We then went down to the Venetian, the Mirage and Caesars Palace.  We didn't get to visit the real Rome and Venice, yet we had a chance to see all these European attractions on just one street.  Although all these architecture were great to look at and I still enjoy a walk on the Strip, they are all phony, and the people and the culture behind the real thing are missing.  Maybe that's why I was so excited about seeing the lions earlier, because even though they were trapped behind glass for display, I saw lives in the lions, which was in big contrast with the phony and hollow European landmarks here in Vegas.  Hopefully some time in the future we can see the real thing in Europe ourselves.  Finally, we headed back to MGM Grand for dinner and to see Cirque du Soleil's Ka.  Fabulous show!!

The trip wouldn't be complete without a visit to the Grand Canyon.  After a light night’s sleep, we managed to wake up at 6:00am and met up with the tour going to the South Rim.  The drive itself took 5 hours one way.  On our way to the Grand Canyon, we stopped by at Hoover Dam for a 10 minute photo shootout.  At around 1:00pm, we finally arrived at the Grand Canyon and stopped by the Bright Angel Trailhead.  The view was absolutely breathtaking!  During our given 3 hour free time, We took the shuttle bus, stopped off at the Mather Point area of the Canyon, and walked along the trail to the Yavapai Point area.  The view on the way was truly beautiful, and you have to be there to experience and see for yourself how the geologic processes played out over time and how magnificent the landscape is.  What a great piece of nature's artwork!

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.
~Psalm 19:1~

During these 4 days in Vegas, I think we had seen everything we wanted to see and we were ready to head home. Vegas is worth the visit but once you've been there, I don't see why you'd go back. Maybe next time we would consider staying at the lodge there, so we have more time hiking down the Canyon and explore its beauty in other ways, like a helicopter ride down the Canyon. Exploring the Red Rock Canyon with a scooter sounds pretty fun, too!

Oh, and of course, thanks Jen for the treat!!

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