My wife and I are headed to Las Vegas this weekend for a Medical conference next week. While she is in classes I am to be left to explore and make plans for the evenings. For someone who doesn't gamble and will be on foot, what should I look for and what should I avoid?
Andy
Andy,
Buffets, my man. Buffets.
Dave
Bellagio Fountains, conservatory &botanical gardens and Fiori di Como
Art Nouveau ceiling in the Tropicana casino.
CSI:The Experience at MGM Grand
New York New York Roller Coaster
Eiffel Tower Ride at Paris Las Vegas
The compressed version of Manhattan at New York-New York, the canal, shops and living statues at Venetian, etc., etc., etc. If you can't find something to do besides gambling in Vegas, you're not trying.
I know you said you will be without a car for transportation but sign up for a tour of the Red Rock Canyon area. It is only about a half hour from the strip. Your hotel could arrange it for you. You can see the area from the strip. Take a look on Google Earth. There are some impressive photos.
> My wife and I are headed to Las Vegas this weekend for a Medical conference next week. While she is in classes I am to be left to explore and make plans for the evenings. For someone who doesn't gamble and will be on foot, what should I look for and what should I avoid?
>
> Andy
you can renew your marriage vows...
Oh, go ahead and live on the edge
Get a roll of nickels and play the nickel slots. That's about all I do in a casino, but one time I won 1000 nickels. Makes a heck of a racket when they come out of the machine and hit the tray!
Oh, go ahead and live on the edge
The slots have mostly been replaced and don't use real coins anymore. You put money in a machine that gives you a card with a bar code. Then you enter that into the slot machine and use your balance up, usually to zero.
Oh, go ahead and live on the edge
Or you can put bills into a slot and cash out on a strip of paper which you then have to go to the cashier to get your money.
If you follow any of the "reality" shows, seek out Pawn Stars, Counting Cars, Ricks Restorations, etc. Someone posted here recently about going to the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop...
I usually don't do the "tours" scene... even at 50, I tend to be the youngest, LOL
Personally I like to hit pawn shops and look for deals, I would guess there are some good ones there near the casinos...
Last time we were there, we went to a concert (Aerosmith I think), then when we came out, we hired a limo and went into old town and basically rode the city....
Las Vegas - Where are you staying?
> The compressed version of Manhattan at New York-New York, the canal, shops and living statues at Venetian, etc., etc., etc. If you can't find something to do besides gambling in Vegas, you're not trying.
Rich gave you a great list but a vegas itinerary needs to be tailored by a few key variables.
Such as where are you staying?
Will your wife have time for a show? Are you going to budget for a show?
Going cheap, moderate, or spending the farm checks!
When I lived in LA I would go to vegas 4-5 times a year and I too am not a gambler. I like to play a little, but I see every nickle spent on gambling as hard earned hours of sweat and stress being pissed away if not winning. Best thing about Vegas is People watching for free things too do.
The strip is super long and it takes a toll on you walking. Unless you want to pack it all in there are many ways to have a great time and only see a small part of the strip.
Send me an email or throw up some more details and I'll get back to ya.
Cheers.
I had a rental car, so I went to see Hoover Dam. Well worth the trip, and they hadn't finished the new bridge then. I think it's open to traffic now. There and back is about half a day.
> My wife and I are headed to Las Vegas this weekend for a Medical conference next week. While she is in classes I am to be left to explore and make plans for the evenings. For someone who doesn't gamble and will be on foot, what should I look for and what should I avoid?
>
> Andy
Depends on where you are staying, but here's my standard "advice sheet" for Vegas trips (we go at least once a year, to visit family).
When we go we stay at the Aria, or the Bellagio, but can get a discount due to family connections. But, if you want to be in the middle of things, those are the two best to stay at, along with the Venetian, Wynn/Encore, or the MGM Grand, especially if you don't need to rent a car.
At the south end of the Strip are Tropicana, Excalibur and New York-New York ...between those three and the MGM Grand, that intersection has more hotel rooms than all of San Francisco, and they need bodies to be there in order to get the gambling money. A bit further south are Luxor and Mandalay Bay, which are right next to the airport, but anyplace on the Strip is within 10 minutes by car, cab or shuttle bus. There is one long monorail (not free) more or less one block east of the Strip, which runs all the way from Tropicana to Sahara.
There are several shorter and unconnected monorails on the west side of the Strip, running between hotels and shopping centers, but they are free.
There's also Downtown Las Vegas, much more honky-tonk, but what you see on TV most of the time. The Golden Nugget, Four Aces, Binions, etc., etc., should also be discounting rooms.....just be prepared for less glamor than you'd see on the Strip. You'll need to bus or cab it to get between Downtown and the Strip.
The last remainders of the “old Strip” are Circus Circus, the Riviera and the Sahara. All three are a bit too far north of the action on the Strip, and the Stratosphere is almost in the worst party of town (but the rides at the top of the tower are great).
If you do ANY gambling, even for just a little while, be sure to join whatever “players club” the casino has.........you may accumulate points that you can use for comps, or you may get bonus gambling money in the form of credits.....ask at each casino. And of course, if your casino is part of a group, the points will accumulate at each venue. The main groups are the MGM-Mirage Group, the Harrah’s Group and the Stations Group. Cards are useable at all the hotels owned by that particular group.
Most of the hotels will have stars of varying degrees appearing....some shows are expensive, some not so much. And, you’d be surprised who’s appearing there.....some old long forgotten names, or some high profile stars, it all depends. Again, make reservations in advance as much as you can. If you aren’t a high roller, the concierge may not be able to do too much for you the day of a show.
Here’s a map:
http://www.vegaschips.com/lasvegasmap.htm
Outdoor activity could include Boulder Dam and Lake Mead, Mount Charleston (from 90 degrees to two feet of snow in a one hour drive,) Red Rocks Canyon and the Valley of Fire. Helicopter and planes fly to the Grand Canyon several times a day. Or, the Atomic Bomb Museum. There’s also a Pinball Museum, a Mob Museum and the Neon Graveyard Museum. You can also visit the Pawn Stars Shop, downtown near the north end of the Strip.
Enjoy.
I highly recommend the Atomic Testing Museum- just off of the Strip, across from the UNLV campus. They document the scale and scope of the US Nuclear Testing conducted about 100 miles north of Las Vegas.
Slight Hijack - "Rich" and famous
It was a great trip. Watch for Bart Crattie's article on the Royal Observatory at Greenwich in an upcoming issue of American Surveyor.
