We are not alone in skipping Christmas and skipping off to Las Vegas. A few hundred thousand of our closest friends are here as well. Another Harley-riding couple from Seattle did what we did and rented a bike to tour around over the holidays.
We’re not your usual Las Vegas vacationers. You couldn’t drag me to another Cirque show and other than Defending the Caveman and taking our chances at the comedy clubs, there isn’t much else on the billboards that grabs me either. We’ll likely take a shuttle to the world’s biggest Harley store and another to the huge outlet mall but the rest of the time we’re exploring the strip and even that has its limitations.
I’m not complaining but I can’t help but note that back when I used to “do” Las Vegas, you could pop across the street. Not any more. We’re at the south end in an area obviously planned after the monorail was installed because it doesn’t come this far. You take the Tram to Excalibur, take the walkway over the strip to the MGM Grand where you catch the (paid) monorail that makes several stop from one end to the other. That sounds simple but keep in mind that each hotel is actually a resort compound consisting of dozens of acres. It’s just what it is if you’ve never been here before but if you remember old Vegas, it’s pretty mind-blowing! You literally cannot cross the street. They wisely keep tourists off of the intersections now for the sake of reducing road rage and pedestrian fatalities. Gone are they days of zipping across the Strip to play the slots at Caesar’s Palace. Those other hotels look so close but they’re so far away!
Last night we played the slots for a while. I had invested about six bucks when I won 100. That was my cue to cash out and feel lucky for the rest of the night! The galleria shops in each resort are exquisite – I strolled the ones between the Luxor and Mandalay Bay last night while Derek caught the end of the football game on the giant screen in the casino. It is truly magical here but I can’t help but be a bit wistful for the way it used to be.