Running Away to (from?) Vegas

It's been only about a month since we visited Las Vegas for Vince's interview at UNLV.  It was my first really personal visit to the Strip, and I've got to say that while there were many interesting things we saw, there were even more things we wish we hadn't seen.  But, here are some fun things:

Our first stop was M&M World, which I was expecting to be more exciting - like a factory or something.  It was a giant three or four level store with every kind of M&M merchandise imaginable.  We didn't buy anything.

Next, we dropped into MGM Grand, so I could look at the lions.  I made sure to look up all kinds of free stuff we could do while there, and much of it was animal or vegetation exhibits.

It was kind of fun to watch the lions - they were still just babies, really.  I enjoyed it when one came right up to the window and started licking it right where a little girl was standing.  I think it thought she was tasty looking.  It was a little sad to watch them in there, surrounded by all these spectators (myself included).  I guess they do have a real habitat outside of Vegas though.

New York was our next stop, though we didn't go inside.  Definitely interesting to get so much of the NY skyline in one small picture :)  It's kind of fun to see famous things in miniature, but I still prefer the live versions.

It was Vince's first experience with the Statue of Liberty, though :)  One thing I think is really telling about Las Vegas is that everything is trying to be an imitation of something bigger or better, but its all just so fake.  How sad.

Definitely more impressive in real life.  Still, not too bad for a fake, if you can manage not to see the obscene pictures all around (I had to block some stuff out on the bridge :)

I got a real kick out of the street performers (well, some of them).  Definitely more movie characters and Elvis impersonators than I've seen in other cities.  It was pretty funny to see Darth Vader walking down the street with us regular Joes.

Really, only in Vegas.  Or maybe Disneyland :)

I guess I'm lucky that I have seen some of these places in real life.  While this was very cool, it just doesn't live up to the real thing.

Same goes for the Eiffel Tower, which is obviously much bigger and more impressive in real life.  Still, I obviously took photos.  Not sure when I'll see either a fake or the real thing again!

Our next stop was the menagerie/aviary/whatever at the Flamingo.  And here are the namesakes. 

I found it pretty ironic we had to trudge through the smoky, dirty, and loud casino to get to this quiet little oasis of nature and animal life.

Beautiful black swans - they really had some lovely birds and water fowl here.

Caesar's palace had some interesting architecture too.  I've never been to Italy, so this was a bit more exciting, even if it totally pales in comparison to any kind of ancient buildings in Europe, including many we saw in the Czech Republic.

I was sure trying to smile, but my feet were starting to hurt from all that walking!

I'm sure this is iconic enough for you to figure out we saw the fountains at the Bellagio.  Either we missed a minute or two of it or I just wasn't that impressed - it was short with some horrifying music that went with it.  Kind of lovely to look at though :)

Apparently the Bellagio also has an indoor garden/conservatory thing too.  It had some really gorgeous flowers and such, but it was super tiny and we again had to walk through the casino which was enormous to get there.

They really go all out for these displays though.

But nothing like any of the botanical gardens I've seen elsewhere, particularly Japan, simply because it took us about 10 minutes to walk through the Bellagio to get there and about 30 seconds to see the garden.

Exalibur looked kind of like a fun place to stay, but we just walked past it.  I think kids would like it, but I personally don't want to take my kids anywhere near this place :)

And our last stop was the Luxor. I've never been to Egypt, but I'm 100% sure the sphinx and pyramids are way bigger and more impressive :)

Ok, I didn't mean to be so negative about the whole trip, we stayed in Henderson and everything was very nice there, but I'm just not impressed with Vegas.  I mostly felt really sad for all the people who just spend their lives (and money) wasting away in a casino, hoping to win a fortune.  With that weighing on my mind the whole time, it was pretty much a downer.  Plus, the place is just dirty in more ways than one.  Being bombarded by images you don't want to see all the time was really overwhelming and frustrating.  I'm sure there are many good things about Vegas, particularly once you get off the Strip, but all this is leading me to tell you...we decided NOT to live there.  So, Arizona summer, here we come!