Vegas Vacation 3: Hotel California − 12 May, 1999
It wasn't too late in the morning when we finally got out of bed and had breakfast at the restaurant in the Frontier. I was struck at how much it felt like a Denny's, only on a much larger scale. And the food was pretty much the same -- although, honestly, how much can you really dress up eggs and toast?
Looking around, there weren't many other people having breakfast. The few there were looked pretty rough -- hard night gambling, hard night drinking, or a hard night of sex. Or all three.
We all looked pretty fresh by comparison; probably because we hadn't done any of the three.
Sin City my ass.
After breakfast we hit the strip, again taking in the sights that the casinos had to offer on the outside. We ducked into Treasure Island and spent the better part of an hour wandering around lost without finding any interesting attractions inside. It took almost as long to figure out how to get the hell out of the casino. We eventually escaped.
Next stop was the Mirage. Again, we roamed around inside looking for free entertainment. (Yeah, we all had pretty low incomes at the time.) We pissed away another hour looking. Didn't even come up with a white tiger in a cage. And again, it took a long time to find the exit. The casinos must be purposely designed to thwart people from trying to leave.
It's the fucking Hotel California.
Caeser's Palace seemed a welcome respite. We strolled the shops and got some ice cream while we watched the magic shop put on a little magic show. Great idea, really: they put on a show using a few of their magic props that they have for sale. After this particular show, a young boy of about 9 or 10 wanted to buy the magic trick. His dad dutifully paid up, and the clerk took the boy into a back room (door concealed behind a bookcase -- cool!) to show him how the trick worked.
After several minutes of "training," the boy emerged from the back room looking a bit crestfallen. I know that look, and I know exactly what happened: when he was shown the magic trick, he discovered it was merely a combination of slight-of-hand and a gimmicked item that produced the effect. There was no real magic involved. Not even something remotely mysterious.
Yeah, I know that look.
Even now, as an adult, it is difficult. It is a hard thing for me to reconcile my geek side that wants to know how it works, and my fantasy side that wants to believe there is magic. Every time I give in to the geek side, I get the same look that boy had.
After watching that sad display, I joined the others at the fountain where we waited around to watch the "show." It's nothing special, or particularly entertaining, but when you're at Caeser's Palace, it's just something you have to do.
Just beyond the fountain we discovered that there was a motion ride here, too; like the Luxor's. Only this one (Race for Atlantis) appeared to be in 3D. Of course, I had us all lined up immediately.
This type of 3D used the big, goofy-looking goggles to achieve the 3D effect. In combination with the motion ride, this was -- and there's really only one way to say it -- fucking cool! It made the ride at the Luxor seem like a rocking chair in front of an old TV set.
We went on this one twice.
Energized from the ride, we looked around for a way to vent some of the excess energy. Across the street was an ESPNZone. Lots of video games there, so we spent some time shooting things and blowing stuff up.
We had skipped lunch (something my wife and I tend to do on vacation), so we were really jonesing for dinner when the early evening rolled around. From previous visits, we wanted to go to the World Buffet at the Rio, but it was a ways off the strip.
Fortunately, we came across a free shuttle that went straight to the Rio. Once there, we bee-lined for the World Buffet.
Yep, they still had the Amazon Grill. Best food there, and the only food we ate there. All you can eat and drink for $8. We gorged ourselves -- something about the words "all you can eat..." it's like a challenge. Plus, you know, I'm scrawny; so I needed to start putting on some weight.
On the shuttle ride back to the strip, the driver regaled us with tales of how bad Vegas buffet food is: reused day after day, left out in the open, casino employees getting sick from it... yeah, we really weren't too pleased to hear this after we just ate a shit-load of buffet food.
We couldn't decide what to do next, but we were all in agreement that we were getting a bit footsore. My wife noticed that "The Mummy" was playing at a nearby theater and suggested we go see it.
We're in Las Vegas, at night, and we go to see a movie. What. The. Fuck.
It turned out to be a great decision. The theater was nice and cool, we got a break from walking, and the movie was pretty good.
Still, though, going to see a movie in Vegas? That's just poor form.
We must have all felt a bit ashamed about that, because on the walk back to the Frontier we stopped at every place we saw selling beer and alcohol in the red plastic cups.
We were all decently plastered by the time we made it back to our room. I do believe it took us a while to find it, though.
Looking around, there weren't many other people having breakfast. The few there were looked pretty rough -- hard night gambling, hard night drinking, or a hard night of sex. Or all three.
We all looked pretty fresh by comparison; probably because we hadn't done any of the three.
Sin City my ass.
After breakfast we hit the strip, again taking in the sights that the casinos had to offer on the outside. We ducked into Treasure Island and spent the better part of an hour wandering around lost without finding any interesting attractions inside. It took almost as long to figure out how to get the hell out of the casino. We eventually escaped.
Next stop was the Mirage. Again, we roamed around inside looking for free entertainment. (Yeah, we all had pretty low incomes at the time.) We pissed away another hour looking. Didn't even come up with a white tiger in a cage. And again, it took a long time to find the exit. The casinos must be purposely designed to thwart people from trying to leave.
It's the fucking Hotel California.
Caeser's Palace seemed a welcome respite. We strolled the shops and got some ice cream while we watched the magic shop put on a little magic show. Great idea, really: they put on a show using a few of their magic props that they have for sale. After this particular show, a young boy of about 9 or 10 wanted to buy the magic trick. His dad dutifully paid up, and the clerk took the boy into a back room (door concealed behind a bookcase -- cool!) to show him how the trick worked.
After several minutes of "training," the boy emerged from the back room looking a bit crestfallen. I know that look, and I know exactly what happened: when he was shown the magic trick, he discovered it was merely a combination of slight-of-hand and a gimmicked item that produced the effect. There was no real magic involved. Not even something remotely mysterious.
Yeah, I know that look.
Even now, as an adult, it is difficult. It is a hard thing for me to reconcile my geek side that wants to know how it works, and my fantasy side that wants to believe there is magic. Every time I give in to the geek side, I get the same look that boy had.
After watching that sad display, I joined the others at the fountain where we waited around to watch the "show." It's nothing special, or particularly entertaining, but when you're at Caeser's Palace, it's just something you have to do.
Just beyond the fountain we discovered that there was a motion ride here, too; like the Luxor's. Only this one (Race for Atlantis) appeared to be in 3D. Of course, I had us all lined up immediately.
This type of 3D used the big, goofy-looking goggles to achieve the 3D effect. In combination with the motion ride, this was -- and there's really only one way to say it -- fucking cool! It made the ride at the Luxor seem like a rocking chair in front of an old TV set.
We went on this one twice.
Energized from the ride, we looked around for a way to vent some of the excess energy. Across the street was an ESPNZone. Lots of video games there, so we spent some time shooting things and blowing stuff up.
We had skipped lunch (something my wife and I tend to do on vacation), so we were really jonesing for dinner when the early evening rolled around. From previous visits, we wanted to go to the World Buffet at the Rio, but it was a ways off the strip.
Fortunately, we came across a free shuttle that went straight to the Rio. Once there, we bee-lined for the World Buffet.
Yep, they still had the Amazon Grill. Best food there, and the only food we ate there. All you can eat and drink for $8. We gorged ourselves -- something about the words "all you can eat..." it's like a challenge. Plus, you know, I'm scrawny; so I needed to start putting on some weight.
On the shuttle ride back to the strip, the driver regaled us with tales of how bad Vegas buffet food is: reused day after day, left out in the open, casino employees getting sick from it... yeah, we really weren't too pleased to hear this after we just ate a shit-load of buffet food.
We couldn't decide what to do next, but we were all in agreement that we were getting a bit footsore. My wife noticed that "The Mummy" was playing at a nearby theater and suggested we go see it.
We're in Las Vegas, at night, and we go to see a movie. What. The. Fuck.
It turned out to be a great decision. The theater was nice and cool, we got a break from walking, and the movie was pretty good.
Still, though, going to see a movie in Vegas? That's just poor form.
We must have all felt a bit ashamed about that, because on the walk back to the Frontier we stopped at every place we saw selling beer and alcohol in the red plastic cups.
We were all decently plastered by the time we made it back to our room. I do believe it took us a while to find it, though.
