A Vacation

We just got back from a fantastic vacation in Las Vegas.  As first-timers, we were like the bumpkins gone to town - craning our necks to see all the sights and there were lots to see!!

We stayed at the Venetian which is beautiful and HUGE!  The Canal Shoppes were plentiful and fun to look at but certainly not to buy from!  St. Marks Square was inside but certainly gave the impression of being outside - and that's one reason we ate there several times - we were in the hotel complex but not in the dark, very dark casino area!! It was the next best thing to being outside!

(This picture is of the Grand Canal where you can catch the gondola.  The STRIP is the road right in front of the casino.  The Mirage and Treasure Island are right across the street - the Wynn is next door)

We went to see Bette Midler at Caesar's Coliseum and she was, of course, terrific.  We walked back and got to the Mirage in time for the volcano eruption (which we could see hourly from our hotel room!).   The helicopter ride to the Grand Canyon was great - the weather was perfect, the pilot was a retired Navy pilot who'd lived in Virginia Beach and we have a nice picnic on an outcropping above the Colorado River.  The next day we took a tour bus ride where you could get on and off as many times as you wanted.  After making the whole round once, we went back to the hotel to decide what to see again - that night we went to the Bellagio to see the dancing fountain -incredible.  Then back to get the bus down to New York New York.  Passing the Bellagio we saw the fountains again!  New York New York was very interesting and Don rode the roller coaster which you catch inside the casino but most of the ride is outside - there are loops and barrel rolls - he said it was incredible - I waited for him to finish!!

Out to the "Welcome to Las Vegas" sign and back up the strip to the Flamingo where we got off - Harrahs would have been closer but the stop not as accessible, so we walked from the Flamingo - where Donny & Marie are appearing!!) back to the Venetian. 

The trip home was uneventful and that makes it good.  It's good to go away and better to come home.  Vacations are few and far between - this one was terrific!!