USA 09/10 – Las Vegas Day 4 – New Year’s Day

This morning started at 9:30am for Pip and I, with Ed only ringing to check on our status at the allocated time (unlike yesterday). We got ready and headed out to the Strip to look for some breakfast. We were heading towards the Adventuredome, a now fairly dated (but still fun) theme park at the also dated Circus Circus. Along the way, we stopped at Paris to get some food – Mon Ami Gabi was the choice – and we sat on the terrace at the base of the Eiffel tower to eat. While it was cold outside, the very much abundant heaters did a fair job of burning through bottles of gas to keep us warm.

Paris on the Strip

One interesting element of breakfast was, as strange as it sounds, a visit to the restrooms. While not technically part of the restaurant, the restrooms here were inside the Paris casino, and hence had a parisian theme. Instead of ‘elevator music’ accompaniment, the restrooms were filled with the sounds of “lessons in French to assist with being seductive while at the Paris casino”. Phrases that they were teaching involved things like: “That dress looks great on you… but it would look better on my bedroom floor”; “Do you believe in love at first sight, or do you want me to walk past you again?”; and “I can’t remember my cell phone number. Can I call you to see what comes up?”. Although I can’t confirm that the same phrases were being taught in the female restrooms, it was certainly hilarious for the males.

Overall breakfast was nice, but we were soon back on the way towards Circus Circus. About half-way along the Strip we came across the Fashion Show Mall, where we stopped for a quick bout of shopping. After walking each row of shops once, and purchasing a few things along the way (which we had to carry for the remainder of the journey mind you), we were back on the Strip heading north. It was surprising, however, that we had still not found an AT&T mobile phone sim card anywhere as of yet. For what I believe is the USA’s biggest mobile phone network, they make it pretty hard to become a customer.

Coffee in a bowl?

The long walk came to a conclusion as we finally reached Circus Circus, ducking in through the casino to escape the chill outside. As we made our through the gaming machines, we realised just how dated this casino really was – and how little the casino management cared about upkeep of their facilities. We hoped that the theme park attached was in better condition, but when we finally reached it we found that in many cases, the care had been just as bad. Regardless, we spent a bit of time here riding on the (all indoor) double-loop, double-corkscrew rollercoaster, and the giant flume ride that sprayed more water onto the windows than actually on to the riders. It was good fun, although we were more scared for our lives due to poor maintenance rather than the rides themselves. We ate lunch here, but did so on the floor, as tables and chairs were very (very) hard to come by. We hoped that we would not end up with food poisoning, but seemed to pull up OK.

We left the theme park before too long (skipping many rides that looked even more untrustworthy), and decided to catch a taxi for the return trip home – considering how long it had taken us to get this far up the Strip prior to riding the rides. The traffic was shocking on the Strip, so once the taxi driver had worked this out and navigated away from the jams, things flowed relatively well. Arriving at the hotel, we headed for the rooms for a short relax before heading back out later that night.

Splash down!

Pip and I hit the shops briefly, then we tried to find a place for diner tonight – our last night in Vegas. We decided on P.F. Chang’s, a very nice chinese restaurant inside the Planet Hollywood casino. Unfortunately there was a gigantic line here for tables, and the next available booking time was a little too late – 9pm. Instead, we made our way onto the standby list and waited the prescribed time before checking back in. A small amount of money was donated to the casino in this time, but then we were inside P.F. Chang’s having a great meal (as our last one in the city).

Dinner was relatively uneventful, and afterwards we decided to blow a few more dollars on the machines. Pip had wanted to play a few rounds of roulette, but after discovering the minimum bet on this occasion was $10, she soon changed her mind. After all the games, Pip had won lots, but lost a lot of it again, only breaking even; Ed had won in excess of 100 free spins playing one line at one dollar; while Scott had lost most of what he had put into the machine originally. We decided to not have too much of a late night due to the relatively early start again tomorrow in order to catch the flight to Denver, Colorado.

Check out the photos, although there are relatively few of them, here; or (and/or) take a look at the photo mash-up below!

About the Author

Scott

Web designer, graphic designer, coder, scripter, photographer, musician, performer, entrepreneur (and the list goes on) based in Adelaide, South Australia. Scott loves to experiment with new ideas, and OnSno.com is his creative dumping ground.