Las Vegas: Day Five

 April 4, 2013

Today we headed home!  We took a shuttle from the MGM Grand Hotel back to the Las Vegas airport at 7:15 a.m.  We enjoyed a yummy breakfast at Cinnabon in the airport.

 Views of the Las Vegas Strip from the airport

Our flight took off around 9:37 a.m. and arrived in Chicago around 3:20 p.m.  It was a direct flight so that was nice!

After we retrieved our luggage, we took a shuttle to pick up our van.  It was then time for the 2-2 1/2 hr drive home to Monroe.

This was definitely a different kind of vacation for us and we loved it!  It seems no matter what type of vacation we take, we enjoy every moment.  We thought this would be the only time we would ever go to Las Vegas, that we really would not want to go again.  But, thinking back on it, I think we will go again sometime in the future!

Las Vegas: Day Four

April 3, 2013

After enjoying a fabulous breakfast at the Rainforest Cafe again, we took the LV Monorail from our hotel down the strip as far as it went (near the Stratosphere).  We then hopped on a bus and rode it down to The Fremont Street Experience (old Las Vegas).    

It is a pedestrian mall and attraction with a barrel vault canopy 90 ft high at the peak and four blocks  in length.   

  

The Golden Nugget was originally built in 1946, making it one of the oldest casinos in the city.  They had a Starbucks so we enjoyed a morning cuppa joe...

 

Binions Hotel & Casino is named for its founder, Benny Binion, whose family ran it from its founding in 1951 until 2004. 

The hotel, which has 366 rooms, closed in 2009.

The large number of neon signs earned the area the nickname "Glitter Gulch."  

The Golden Goose is a "gentlemen's club".  This is the one aspect of Fremont Street that we did not like - they were blatantly selling "sex"  there.  On the main Las Vegas strip it didn't quite smack you in the face as much as it did down here.  Fremont Street seemed much seedier...

A couple of show girls...

The Golden Gate Casino & Hotel is the oldest and smallest hotel (106 rooms) on Fremont Street.  It opened in 1906 as the Hotel Nevada. In 1907 it was assigned Las Vegas' first telephone with the number 1. In 1931, with gambling being re-legalized in Nevada, the Hotel Nevada was expanded and renamed Sal Sagev (Las Vegas spelled backwards.) The hotel gained its current name in 1955 when a group of Italian-Americans from San Francisco Bay Area started the Golden Gate Casino.

The Pioneer Club occupies a building that was built in 1918 and originally served as a restaurant. The Pioneer Club and Cocktail lounge opened in April 1942 on the corner of 1st Street and Fremont Street. It ceased operating as a casino in 1995.

The Four Queens Hotel and Casino is home to the Queen's Machine, the world's largest slot machine.  Construction began on November 16, 1964, opening in 1966. The casino is named after the builder Ben Goffstein's four daughters, Faith, Hope, Benita, and Michele.

The Fremont Hotel opened on May 18, 1956 as the tallest building in the state of Nevada. At the time of its opening it had 155 rooms, cost $6 million to open.  In 1963 the Hotel was expanded to include the 14 story Ogden tower and one of the city's first vertical parking garages.

Trader Bills (could not find any info about it...)

The East end of Fremont Street has some very cool old neon signs from days gone by...

    

 I forgot to mention that we went and saw Cirque Du Soleil at the Mirage on April 1st.  It was a great show!  We saw Beatles LOVE.

LOVE celebrates the musical legacy of The Beatles. Drawn from the poetry of the lyrics, LOVE explores the content of the songs in a series of scenes inhabited by real and imaginary people. The international cast of 60 channels a raw, youthful energy underscored by aerial performance, extreme sports and urban, freestyle dance.

It was another gorgeous day in Vegas!  Just love the Eiffel Tower!

Of course, we had to stop by the Bellagio again and watch/listen to the fountains.  

We were fascinated!!

We had an early dinner at Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville. It was quite tasty.  

We were able to sit out on the balcony and enjoy the sights and sounds of Vegas.

Caesar's Palace

Loved the giant Coke bottle

Anyone who knows me well knows I LOVE M&Ms!!!

Replica of the Brooklyn Bridge in NYC

Very neat replica of the Statue of Liberty

The Vegas Strip is just so awesome at night!!!

We went up in the Eiffel Tower after dark so we could get a really good view of the strip at night.  It was fantastic.  And, our timing was perfect - we got to see the Bellagio Fountains go off twice!! The fountains are so cool from above!

 

The Hard Rock Cafe

The giant coke bottle all lit up! 

Here I am, chatting with Ron, my brother.  He called to see how our trip to Vegas was going.  He has been here numerous times and wanted to make sure we were hitting all the sights.

We ended our last day in Vegas at the Nine Fine Irishmen Pub.  It was standing room only!  They had some live music; I had some Irish bread pudding and enjoyed a Guinness.  It was enjoyable and brought back memories of our trip to Ireland!

Then we spent a short time at the slot machines in our hotel before calling it a night.