We stayed at Bally's, which is a nice hotel and casino, although not the newest or most fancy. This is appealing because it also means it is cheap. It doesn't have a theme like many of the other hotels do, but it is affiliated with and connected to Paris, so if you want some cheeziness you can walk to Paris through a walkway that features a phony Parisien cobble-stone "street" lined with little shops. I stayed in a room with Andrea and Katie, my often mentioned sister and our cousin.
Here is a shot of the hotel.
This was taken when we were walking around the strip on Saturday. Notice that we are holding GAP bags. Yes, we travelled all the way to Las Vegas only to shop at the same boring store that we have in N.D. There was a good sale though!
I took this photo in the Bellagio. I love the whimsical balloons! The last and only time I was in Vegas before this trip was in the middle of December. The Bellagio had the most impressive Christmas decorations, so I am not suprised to see something like this there!One night the whole group went to the "old strip", also known as Fremont Street. I was excited because I had never been to that part of the city before. We were trying to arrange our taxi transportation when my uncle Steve made arrangements for us and a large strech SUV limousine pulled up! It was pretty fun.
This is a photo of Fremont Street.
This photo was taken at the Egyptian and pyramid themed Luxor. We were comparing that statue to the way Andrea's dog Jake sits. Haha, we are so clever and touristy.
We had a few cocktails in our room every night to defray our costs. . .
On Sunday we spent the morning at an outlet mall. I love outlet mall shopping, and yes, I know that they stores generally just carry lower quality merchandise manufactured specifically for the outlet stores. I still think its fun. At one point I realized that most of what I bought was the same color and also the same color as the shirts I was wearing.
I took this photo with my "nightime" setting on my camera. It turned out OK! I haven't yet mentioned that it was hot! Every day it was near or slightly over 100 degrees. It felt pretty good, actually. There is no humidity, and my hair was like the hair of a different person! The last time I was in Vegas it was cool and I wore a sweatshirt most of the time so it was fun to be able to use the swimming pool at the hotel. We spent a few hours there on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I used mass quantities of sunblock and avoided burning except for some angry red streaks on my chest where my swimming suit top shifted during the day and a big red blotch on my back, in the area I can't reach myself, where I tried to get by with only using the sunblock that comes in an aerosole can. (I have learned my lesson in the past that this product doesn't cut it for me but yet I tried again!)
Here we are, minus the grandmas and my aunt and uncle, Cindy and Steve, who live in Fresno, CA, and have their own pool and aren't impressed by the opportunity to drink (wayyyyy) overpriced drinks at a pool in 100+ heat. Notice my hair. If you have nothing better to do go back to my posts about my family's trip to Mexico in January and notice that it is almost three times the size in the humidity of MX! So crazy. . .Truly, the heat wasn't prohibitive. Also, there are these misting sprinklers, similar to outdoor heaters that many restuarants and bars in colder climates have on their smoking patios.
On Sunday night we went to the theatrical version of Disney's "The Lion King". It was excellent. When the animated movie came out in 1994 it became an instant favorite movie of mine. I have it on dvd but haven't watched it for several years. As soon as the opening African chant started I was instantly enchanted the way I was the first time I saw the movie. It really is an intense story, if you think about it.
In middle and high school English classes, non-book loving students inevitably ask "Why do we have to read this? What good will reading this do me?" (not me, of course! Reading literature was one of my favorite parts of school!) I heard my own English teachers repeat often "This story has a universal theme." I hope everyone knows the plot of "The Lion King", where there is a favored brother (Mufasa) who is the king and the second in line brother (Scar). When Simba is born Scar realizes that his chances of being king are reduced so he orchstrates a plan to kill both Mufasa and Simba. Poor little Simba survives, unknown to Scar, but blames himself for his fathers death and is afraid to return home to claim his rightful place as the king. Meanwhile, while Simba is hiding from his problems, Scar is bringing ruin to the kingdom with his incompetence. Simba gets a wakeup call and comes to terms with his pain and returns to get revenge on Scar. Remember the theme from "MacBeth", that amibtion uncontrolled ambition (and especially murderous levels of ambition!) will lead to that person's downfall? The same thing happens to Scar. And of course, stories about favored brothers (and sisters) are rampant in literature, popular culture, and in biblical tales, as are stories of prodigal children who eventually return to face their challenges or shame. Although Disney movies always have lessons, The Lion King went beyond the usual princessy subject matter.
And of course, the music was so good! We had the cd back in the 1994. (I'm sure it is still at the farm and I must find it!) and hearing it again in the musical reminded me how much I liked most if it. I also had the piano book of the score. Hahaha. And the animals were so cute! Andrea and I had stuffed animals (she had Nala and I had Simba) and I still have it at the farm. Maybe I will change Allan's name to Simba. . .Hmmm. . .no. . .it is too dignified. . .Aaaah. . .anyway the theatrical production was very good and I would recommend it. The costumes were unique and the portrayal of animals was creative. The singing was very good-these performers were definitely at the top of the Broadway world.
It was a good trip. I will close by stating that I hope I don't see a slot machine for a very long time and if I do I hope I don't have any cash in my possession at the time.
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