Vegas New Years!

Kathryn wrote the start of this and I finished it so there may be some weird perspective changes. Apologies in advance.

Our first full day in Las Vegas started with a sleep in in preparation for a late night.  We wanted to get out of Harrah’s and see some of the other hotels and casinos nearby so we caught the Monorail to the other end of the strip.  After getting off the monorail at the maze-like MGM Grand we went past New York, New York and into Excalibur which is like a medieval castle with neon lights.  We got lunch of deep fried chicken at Popeye’s and what Rob thinks it was possibly the best Pepsi he has ever had.  We are still usually only eating two meals a day as the serving sizes are so big we just don’t get hungry enough to have a third.

The intention was to go to the Titanic exhibit in the Luxor hotel but we got distracted by the Roulette table.  We cashed in $50, hoping that would last us a while then found out that it was a minimum bet of $10 each time.  Our strategy was to place a few dollars across  a few different numbers and hope for the best.  We even took a few chances and bid on odds and evens and sections they were divided into.  At $30 up we thought we were doing really well and said if we doubled our money we would cash out, then we hit a losing streak and went back down to only breaking even.  Rob boldly played two bids of $10 each on the last third and the middle column on that row and joked that if it landed on one of three numbers were would be in the money.  That $20 bet was lucky because one of our three numbers came up and we ended up with $100 in chips in front of us.

As agreed we cashed out and used our winnings to buy tickets for the Titanic exhibition, inside the Luxor casino.

The Luxor is shaped like a Pyramid and even on the inside its shape is very obvious.  The rooms open onto terraces that look down into the lobby and casino and all the internal structure, eateries and shops have Egyptian decorations.  Outside there are several sphinxes and other statues.  

Before we entered the Titanic exhibit our photos was taken against a mock-up of the prow of the Titanic.  The exhibit takes you through the building and design of the Titanic and compared it to other ships that were in operation at the same time.  It highlights the huge differences in accommodations between First and Third class even though it was considered to be more luxurious for all passengers than the standard ship of its time.  Highlights of the exhibit are the recreation of the grand staircase, the chunk of ice, listening to the ocean while walking along the promenade deck and seeing the large section of the Titanic which has been preserved.

We caught the monorail from the MGM back to Harrah’s where we had a message on our phone from the tour guide.  He still hadn’t let us know where to meet them that night so we rang back but could only leave another message.  Next we went across the road to the Cesar Forum Shops.  The Forum is absolutely huge and full of shops I have never heard of before.  We took an escalator that spiralled up around a statue and a fountain to the third floor where the ceiling is domed and painted to look like the sky outside, which they even tinted and darkened for the change between night and day.  In Vegas they really know how to commit to a theme!

A lot of the shops were a bit out of our price range but we wandered through anyway and kept an eye out for sale racks.  Luckily Victoria Secrets was having one of their semi-annual sales and I was able to get a bargain there.  We also hit the Gap and took photos of one of the shops that looked more like a night club with music and lights.

After shopping we went back to Harrah’s and left a message for the tour guide to let him know we would be in our room for the rest of the day if he wanted to call or come by so that we could meet up with the rest of the tour.  David came by and we were finally able to check into our Contiki tour with two hours to go before we were due to meet up for dinner.

Dinner was at the Flavors buffet in Harrah’s hotel and we were able to meet a few people from the tour.  It seems our group was made up of mainly Australians with a few Kiwis, some Canadians and other nationalities.  After dinner the group took a bus to the Luxor hotel where we went into our club for the evening, LAX hosted by Ice-T and Coco.   

By the time we got there LAX was well underway, as shown by the substantial queue outside. Luckily our promotor Chris had hooked us all up with VIP access so after a brief wait we were in and up the stairs. LAX is split out over a few levels around the main floor and with the lights was quite a spectacle. The best part? We had an open bar until midnight, giving us a couple of hours to ramp up into the New Year’s countdown.

After sinking a few Whisky Drys each we pulled together a group and headed out onto the dance floor. I was pleasantly surprised by the music mix as there was a good mix of the new and the classic, and come eleven o’clock the dance floor was pumping. By then most of the Contiki group had spread out and the group we were hanging out with got invited upstairs into the VIP area. While it was good to watch what was happening from another level, the best fun was down on the dance floor so after a while we headed back down.

Pretty soon we were building up to the countdown, and having had a few drinks we were both in a great mood. The final countdown was immense, and at midnight the whole club erupted in an explosion of noise and colour.

From here there isn’t much to say. We danced and drank, and once we’d had enough we walked our way back down the strip back to the hotel to crash. The streets were packed with people and police on horseback, and in retrospect it would have been a much more interesting trip had we just hired a limo. Despite that, this was easily the best New Year’s that I’ve ever had. Thank you Vegas!