DAY TWO - December 25, 2000
Merry Christmas! I had a tough time sleeping, but I enjoyed looking out the window at our gorgeous view every time I woke up. I got up and closed the drapes at about 5:30am so the sun wouldn't blind us in the morning. Dan was up early and making noise so I kicked him out of the room and went back to sleep. (I tend to be a bit grumpy in the morning). What seemed like 2 minutes later, Dan was back in the room with a bagel and apple juice from the Orchid Lounge downstairs. He told me that it was 11am and he'd been gone for 2 hours.
[Dan Says]: At about 8 or 8:30 am, I realized my brain was going too much to sleep any longer, and I was getting hungry, so I got up. To allow Sonya some extra sleep, I quietly showered and dressed, then left the room to explore the resort that Christmas morning.
Right near the elevators on the casino level is the Orchid Lounge, which in the morning serves coffee (including espresso drinks), muffins, bagels, pastries, and juice in small expensive bottles. I got a cranberry bagel and a latte, and sat down for breakfast. Even though a sign nearby proudly announced the serving of Starbucks coffee, the quality was less than what I typically get at Starbucks. I decided to try out the Kona Café the following morning.
Finishing breakfast, I set out to explore parts of the hotel that I had not previously seen. If you walk past the expansive registration desk, you'll find a hallway to the Four Seasons lobby area. This was almost completely deserted that morning - mostly hallways with displays of overpriced clothing.
There was an unlocked door out to the Four Seasons pool area. The amoebae-shaped pool was attractively surrounded with palm trees and fake rocks, but it did not look any nicer than the pools on the other side of the locked gates used by the Mandalay Bay commoners.
Next, I returned to Mandalay Bay to see what of the pool area was open. It was only 9:30, and there were already people in the hot tub. I dipped y hand in the pool, and found it comfortable. While not quite warm, I would not have minded jumping in, though it would have been chilly climbing out in the balmy winter air. The lazy river was a different story. The icy water chilled my hand to the bones.
The surf on the famed Mandalay Beach was absolutely flat, and there was no sand near the water's edge, just plastic drain slats. There is also a second unheated pool, closed for the winter.
I went back in, and decided to give the Video Poker Reel Deal another shot. I figure if I play a little VP every day, sooner or later I'll get my Royal. But not this time- my $20 gradually wore down to nothing.
At 10 am the Event Tickets counter opened. There was a sign advertising Lance Burton, Master Magician. Since I had reserved a ticket for Lance, I got in line, hoping to save a trip to the Monte Carlo to pick up a good seat. As the people ahead of me agonized over what seats to pick for REO Speedwagon, Journey, and Andrea Bocelli (thankfully not all the same night), I asked questions for the man behind me in line, who was interested in taking his family to see the Blue Man Group at Luxor.
He wanted to know if the show would be appropriate for his 8 and 10-year-olds. I told him that while I had seen the production in Boston and not Vegas, my understanding was that the two productions are nearly identical - music, color and physical humor that makes the show a live cartoon, and nothing objectionable for kids other than a lot of playing with food.
I finally got up to the ticket counter. The very nice woman was able to see my reservation on her computer, but not print a ticket. With a call to her counterpart at Monte Carlo, she learned that the tickets had been pre-printed. I'd have to pick it up in person at Monte Carlo. [end of Dan's Comments]
I got showered and dressed and we headed off to the Shark Reef exhibit. Our coupon book came with 2 complimentary admissions to the exhibit. There were LOTS of families and kids in line. The $13.95 price tag for this didn't seem to concern anyone in line.
I had seen the exhibit not long after it opened on my trip in September. There were a few new things including some green pythons and more fish and sharks in the tank.
[Dan Says]: Included in the admission price are two-foot "sticks" that allow you enter the number posted next to an exhibit, and hear a description of the exhibit by holding the stick to your ear like a telephone. This allows everyone to enjoy the attraction in his or her own way. Sonya is a big fan of these. I am not. While Sonya got to hear all kinds of background information about the exhibits, I was able to relax and enjoy the fascinating animals without chatter in my head.
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Just after going through the first "tunnel" through the shark tank, I decided to take a quick bathroom break while Dan shot some video. I went into the ladies room and into a stall only to hear some strange noises. Not those kinds of noises, sicko! There was a soundtrack of "underwater" sounds being piped into the bathroom. Splashes, gurgles, bubbles and whale sounds. I thought it was amusing enough to make sure that Dan made a trip to the men's room to find out if they got the same soundtrack. They did. :)
Click here for Shark Reef Video - 1 minute 41 seconds - 4.2mb
 Sonya pets a shark! |
One of the hilights of this visit for me was the ability to pet a tiger shark. I was also able to touch some of the other animals in the touch tank like the Southern Manta Ray, Sea Cucumber, Sea Urchin and Hermit Crab, but the hilight was the shark. (I'm pretty sure it was a zebra shark) I've touched the rays at the Monterey Bay aquarium, but I'm a big fan of sharks and having a baby one swim through my fingers was a great experience. For an enthusiast like myself, I think that alone is worth the $14 admission. |
Our plan had been to use our two-for-one taco coupon at the Border Grill's taqueria, but it was closed for the Christmas Holiday. Instead we got some overpriced sandwiches at Kona Coffee and took them to the room. Our total for that meal of 2 pre-made sandwiches and 2 Snapple drinks was $17.70. Too much, in my opinion.
Dan headed off on the tram to Excalibur and the walk to Monte Carlo to pick up his ticket for Lance Burton. I rested up after lunch and went downstairs for some gambling. I had seen the 50-play video poker earlier and was dying to give it a try. Even at $0.05, it's a cool $12.50 per pull for max coins. Of course you end up always getting something from each draw, but it's often not enough. After quickly going through most of my $50 I slowed down to one coin per hand cutting the cost down to $2.50 per hand, but I hate not playing max coins. I managed to get a few four of a kinds on one hand and went back to max coins, but it was too far out of my budget and I moved down to a 5-play machine for about 45 minutes.
[Dan
Says]:Rather than driving, I thought it would be more interesting to take the
Mandalay Bay-Excalibur tram.
It would be appropriate for this tram to run one more resort to New York New York. At least one person compared the tram to a New York subway as they packed on. By the time I got to the door, the tram was packed solid. "Forget it," I thought, and waited for the next tram.
When I did get on, it was nearly as crowded as the first. When we stopped at Luxor, a few people got off, but there were still more waiting at the Luxor station than there was room in the car.
Most people got off at Excalibur, leaving plenty of room for the final leg of the trip, about 100 feet to the corner of Tropicana and the Strip.
From the tram station I walked quickly through the New York New York casino, and out to the sidewalk over to Monte Carlo. The Lance Burton Theater is right there when you enter the Casino from the Strip. Unfortunately, it was Christmas - the show was dark and the box office was closed. The woman in the Lance Burton Magic shop next door told me I could get my ticket at the main lobby, which unfortunately meant walking the entire length of the casino to the lobby by the porte cochere in the back.
After getting my ticket I started looking for a blackjack game. I sat down at a $5 face-up six-deck game with surrender allowed. I bought in at $40 and left with $75 by the time the deck finished. I know that some people think I play blackjack for ridiculously short periods, but I prefer to win. Who but someone in casino management would argue that I should play until the casino edge catches up with me?
I met up with Dan upstairs and we got ready to head out to Fremont Street Experience to see the Christmas show.
We left Mandalay Bay around 6:30. Driving past the Bellagio on the freeway, the sign looked funny. Looking closer we noticed that the sign for the art gallery was torn in the wind and the bright lights were showing from behind half of the sign. I guess it was really windy the day before.
We parked in the Fremont Street Garage. Dan went into Fitzgeralds to get the parking validated while I checked out the street vendors. I noticed that there were a few more vagrants on FSE than I'd noticed in recent years. There was one really drunk guy giving tours of the block to hapless tourists. Poor things. At one point he started talking to me and I just walked away. I'm pretty sure he continued to talk to where I had been standing for 3 or 4 more minutes before he noticed I was gone.
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 The Gold Spike |
 The El Cortez |
Click here for Christmas on Fremont Street Video - 1 minute 06 seconds - 2.7mb
We saw the 7pm Christmas show which was the same one from 2 years before. I love to see the kids enjoy the show but my heart wasn't into it this time. We hung around a little after the show to take some pictures of the lights. After that we headed back to the car and began the trek to find Ethel M's Cactus Gardens.
Unfortunately we only had a general idea of where we were going and how to get there and the map we had was a horrible one that assumed that you wouldn't leave the Strip, the Boulder Highway or the freeways. We ended up driving back and forth on Sunset looking for it. We finally figured out that the intersection of Sunset Road, Sunset Road, Sunset Way and Mountain Vista was probably pretty close to home. A few wrong turns and I saw lights and knew we were there.
We pulled into a very dark parking lot with only one other car. I saw a couple standing on the road and the building was all dark. We parked and decided to venture forth and explore until security told us to leave or we hit a locked fence. We ended up finding neither. What we did find was a quaint cactus garden that was well lit with multi-colored Christmas lights. I really loved the small cactuses (cacti?) that were decorated in bunches. I also enjoyed seeing the barrel cactus lit up. I had hoped the store would be open so we could buy a gift for our new neighbor who was home feeding our cats and taking care of things at home, but everything was locked up tight. I guess I should have expected it would be at 8pm on Christmas night.
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[Dan Says]: Though it was very cold out, we were well dressed, and it was very quiet and peaceful. The cactus garden was a great departure from the noise a bustle of the Strip.
About 4-5 more cars pulled up as we were exploring the gardens. It was cute and I hope to go back sometime (especially now that we know how to get there!) when the factory is open for the tour and shopping. It place was quite cute.
Click here for Ethel M Cactus Garden Video - 31 seconds - 1.3mb
We realized that we could probably get to Sam's Town to see the laser show and check out the new remodel. I wanted to rush to be there at the top of the hour, not thinking that the hour was 9pm and the show wasn't going to be until 10pm. Oops! We played some $0.05 video poker while we waited for the show. Dan hit 4 10's for 400 coins on a Bonus Poker machine and cashed out.
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Click here for Sam's Town Sunset Stampede Video - 1 minute 16 seconds - 3.1mb
We explored around a little bit. The casino still looks very much like the old Sam's Town. The casino has some new carpet and the gaming areas are rearranged somewhat. I thought the new buffet was lovely although it was too late to eat there. I like that it's right off the atrium. Dan and I had such a nice dinner at the itallian place there on our last visit that I just like the idea of another restaurant where I can eat with a view of the atrium. With single deck blackjack, 100x odds on craps, good slots and VP, cheap rooms, and good food I think it's a nice alternative for a gaming vacation. Now that they've added the movie theaters, I can see taking a trip there without a rental car and just spending 2-3 days at Sam's Town without ever making the venture to the Strip. I wouldn't recommend it for everyone, but it would be a nice getaway… but I'm getting side tracked.
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We left Sam's Town at about 10:15 and headed out to Sunset by the airport to take some pictures. I've been working on some ideas for a redesign of my site and I wanted some new graphics. I can't wait to see the pictures we took with the film camera. I think some are really good. We headed down Eastern hoping for a better, fenceless view of the strip, but ended up trying to get back to our hotel on Russell Road, which started to take us into the airport… not where we wanted to be. We got turned around and managed to find our way back into Mandalay Bay and to the self-park garage. |
As
we took the elevator down to the 1st floor we could hear the music at Rumjungle.
That place was really loud and quite busy for Christmas. (The headless Lenin
statue was decorated for Christmas with a big Santa hat on the top of his neck.
I thought it was sort of funny.)We
got some sodas at the newsstand again and headed up to the room. We called room
service for dinner at 11:30. I ordered a teriyaki chicken and broccoli dish
and Dan got a Mojave Burger with guacamole and jack cheese or something. Both
were excellent and cost about $25 for the two of us. We looked at lights and
watched a little TV until about 1:45 and time for bed.
