Was there before the casinos ...
Sin City is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Las Vegas.
In the 1800's is meant "the meadows" to the Spanish. It was a green valley and its desert spring waters offered respite for weary travelers traversing the Old Spanish Trail on their way to California.
In 1904 a construction camp for workers building a railroad from Los Angeles to Salt Lake City was established in the Las Vegas Valley. In 1905 110 acres of land adjacent to the Union Pacific Railroad tracks were auctioned in what would become the downtown area. In 1911 the city incorporated with a population of 3,000 - Wow.
In 1931 Nevada legalized casino gambling and liberalized the state divorce law ... and there begins the downhill slippery slide.
Fremont Street
Named after John C. Fremont, who led a westward overland expedition and camped at Las Vegas Springs in 1844. This was once a dusty whistle stop.
When neon emerged Fremont Street became known at "Glitter Gulch." In 1995 history changed again for Fremont Street ... more than 12.5 million LEDs and 550,000 watts of sound are part of this entertainment extravaganza. Five blocks and pedestrian friendly. Every hour the casino streetlights dim and the ceiling comes alive with pulsing lights synchronized to music. The night we were there we watched a tribute to Queen - it was amazing!
Then we checked out the Bellagio Casino - where they have a Botanical Garden.
This frog is made from flowers.
These mushrooms were huge. When we were leaving, they were bringing a huge lift-truck in to begin changing over to the summer display. They had workers laying down 4x8 sheets of plywood to cover the floor and make a sort of road. They would take the sheet from the back and carry it to the front and lay it down in front of the tires and then go to the back and get the next sheet and carry it to the front and lay it down again. Seemed like there must be a better way. There were tons of people (oblivious tourists with small children) walking in the same beautiful marble hallway only a few feet away from this huge lift truck with giant tires and workers trying to quickly move large sheets of plywood. Nothing was roped off ... odd.
Anyway - the mushrooms were so large, the lift-truck took off only the top. And there were giant bees and butterflies and ants. The next display is supposed to be ready in one week.
This is the ceiling in the lobby area. 2,000 hand-blown glass flowers by Dale Chihuly hang above your head.
This is the Guiness Worlds Record Tallest Chocolate Fountain.
Standing 27-feet tall, the masterpiece circulates more than 2,100 pounds of melted dark, milk and white chocolate at a rate of 120 quarts per minute. Its more like a chocolate cascade than a fountain.
There are three tanks of chocolate -- dark, milk and white -- 2,100 pounds heated to 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Six pumps join forces to transport the molten delight to the top of the fountain through two-inch diameter, stainless-steel pipes hidden within the walls of the shop. Surrounding each pipe is an additional three-inch pipe through which flows hot oil to keep the chocolate thinned as it journeys up the wall to make its entrance. More than 500 feet of these double pipes circulate chocolate 24 hours a day.
Anyway ... its enclosed in glass so you can't touch it ... what a tease!!! I don't think anyone ever gets to taste it - what a waste.
Outside the Bellagio Casino are the fountains - they are really cool. The first night we went to see them it was too windy so they were not doing the show. The next time it was nice and calm and the show was really cool.
The Bellagio calls it a "choreographically complex water feature" and its true.
They do several different shows. We saw "Proud to be an American" and it was amazing how the water would sound like cannons when it would shoot up.
At the Luxor
This casino is shaped like a pyramid and covered with black glass. The very top of the pyramid has a giant spotlight that shines straight up and can be seen from outer space.
BODIES…The Exhibition, showcases real full-bodies and organs, provides a detailed, three-dimensional vision of the human form rarely seen outside of an anatomy lab.
Jen & Joe went. The Bodies exhibit has real bodies that have been plasticized - an “embalmed body is drained of its natural fluids and injected with a polymer solution.
Various layers and parts exposed - by plantinization - so you can see and study them and also sometimes touch them. Lungs of smokers and healthy lungs, cancer, aneurisms, clogged arteries ... Dr. Oz is enough for me...
... sounded too gross for the rest of us, that's why we went to ...
Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition
The epic story of the “ship of dreams”
Actual artifacts, recovered from two and one half miles below the surface of the North Atlantic, tell the story behind the legendary Titanic’s short journey from construction and destruction ... and now ... recovery.
It was neat to learn the personal stories through artifacts and room re-creations. The exhibition takes you on a chronological journey through the story of Titanic. You walked through various rooms as the story was presented through displays. Each room would have its own sound/lighting related to what was in the room. As the story got closer to the collision with the iceberg, the rooms got colder and darker. There was a huge piece of ice to touch in the room that described how cold the water would have been ... colder than the ice because seawater freezes at a lower temperature.
There was even a large section of the ship with port holes and rivets. It took them two tries to raise it from the floor of the Atlantic.
With your entrance ticket you get a boarding pass for an actual person who was on the Titanic and gives you all sorts of information about them. I had Mrs. Edgar Joseph Meyer (Leila Saks) who was traveling with her husband to attend the funeral of her father, Andrew Saks, the well-known New York merchant and founder of Saks Department Store. At the end is a large display with all the names of the passengers: 1st through 3rd class, listing those who survived and those who perished. You look for your passenger to see if they made it - mine survived ... but I forgot to check on her husband.
We also went to see the show "Defending the Caveman" at Excalibur
It was pretty funny - commedy about the differences between men and women ... gatherers ... hunters ... how it still applies to today - it was pretty good!
At the Luxor
This casino is shaped like a pyramid and covered with black glass. The very top of the pyramid has a giant spotlight that shines straight up and can be seen from outer space.
BODIES…The Exhibition, showcases real full-bodies and organs, provides a detailed, three-dimensional vision of the human form rarely seen outside of an anatomy lab.
Jen & Joe went. The Bodies exhibit has real bodies that have been plasticized - an “embalmed body is drained of its natural fluids and injected with a polymer solution.
Various layers and parts exposed - by plantinization - so you can see and study them and also sometimes touch them. Lungs of smokers and healthy lungs, cancer, aneurisms, clogged arteries ... Dr. Oz is enough for me...
... sounded too gross for the rest of us, that's why we went to ...
Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition
The epic story of the “ship of dreams”
It was neat to learn the personal stories through artifacts and room re-creations. The exhibition takes you on a chronological journey through the story of Titanic. You walked through various rooms as the story was presented through displays. Each room would have its own sound/lighting related to what was in the room. As the story got closer to the collision with the iceberg, the rooms got colder and darker. There was a huge piece of ice to touch in the room that described how cold the water would have been ... colder than the ice because seawater freezes at a lower temperature.
There was even a large section of the ship with port holes and rivets. It took them two tries to raise it from the floor of the Atlantic.
With your entrance ticket you get a boarding pass for an actual person who was on the Titanic and gives you all sorts of information about them. I had Mrs. Edgar Joseph Meyer (Leila Saks) who was traveling with her husband to attend the funeral of her father, Andrew Saks, the well-known New York merchant and founder of Saks Department Store. At the end is a large display with all the names of the passengers: 1st through 3rd class, listing those who survived and those who perished. You look for your passenger to see if they made it - mine survived ... but I forgot to check on her husband.
We also went to see the show "Defending the Caveman" at Excalibur
Here's a picture of Excalibur at night - it was really pretty ... all castle-like.
PAUSE for a commercial break ... we're finally heading east ... that's why I'm catching up on all the blog posts ...
next post ... food glorious food ...
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