chuckography

A $5 Misunderstanding....

So, I'm walking along The Strip in Las Vegas a week ago, admiring the different street performers in costume.

There's a Fat Elvis and an Early Elvis; there are several Batman (but no Robin), a couple Michael Jackson and Spiderman as well as Mr. Spock.

I remember back in the 1980s when I was here on official state of Missouri business.

No, really. It WAS.

They arranged to have state travel directors pose with two VERY tall showgirls.

These two ladies reminded me of that so I was telling them the story and $5 was mentioned.

I wondered why they would pay ME money.

Hey. Turns out that's what THEY wanted me to pay to have them pose with me.

Later that evening, I'm standing at the top of the Eiffel Tower, watching the lights come on in Sin City.

Wow.

What a sight.

I went even higher further up the strip at the Stratosphere.

The water fountain show at the Bellagio is free and offered every half hour at night.

It lasts about 4-5 minutes.

Draws quite a crowd.

I also rented a car and made a 24-hour side-trip to Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon.

They had not changed much since I was last there but Vegas was completely different.

I spent my last night in town in the old downtown section, on Fremont Street.

In the elegant Golden Nugget.

I don't gamble nor lay around in the sun but I was impressed with their pool.

Even at night.

As an added attraction to the giant aquarium, there's a water slide "tube" that shoots you through, among all the fish and several SHARKS. Yikes.

Then I stepped outside to do the Fremont Street Experience.

This is an entire 4-block long part of the street covered by a huge, curved LED screen that pulsed with lights, sound and action.

On the hour, the other lights dimmed and there was an overhead salute to a major rock & roll band such as Bon Jovi and Queen.

Dazzling.

I guess the downtown merchants knew they had to come up with something compelling to compete with the glitzy glamour along The Strip.

Combined, it made for a wonderfully different few days.

As I turned in my rental car, I was reminded that "Elvis has NOT left the building."

(Click twice on the pictures to see amazing details.)

I saw many people lugging huge SLR cameras with equipment bags slung over their shoulder.

My Canon S90 - as usual - was up to the task.

Vegas is an interesting vacation (for a few days) if you don't give all your money to the casinos.

Guess how they pay for all that glitz.

Labels: Bellagio, Caesar's Palace, Eiffel Tower Experience, Elvis has left the building, Fremont Street Experience, Golden Nugget, gondoliers, Luxor, Paris, Sin City, Stratosphere, The Tropicana, Venetian

posted by chuckography @ 12:31 PM