What to do in Vegas?

[LFugate]

2nd day - drove out to the Hoover Dam. We walked out on the new Pat Tillman/Mike O'Callaghan bridge to get a good shot of the dam. Talk about the heeby jeebies, that will give you max pucker factor. We couldn't get over how high that bridge is, but the view was awesome. Kind of freaky though when you can feel the bridge move when semis drive by. Spent half the day out there and the rest of that day walking the strip checking out the casinos and shops.

[LFugate]

3rd day - drove out to Red Canyon. We drove the 18 mile loop and stopped at all the pulloffs. Fantastic views out here also. We couldn't get over the amount of people running the loop, hiking, and climbing the cliffs. This area gets lots of use. Well worth the short trip from town. Half a day there and back to the strip for more walking.

[LFugate]

4th day - this was supposed to be the beginning of the conference, but it got pushed back one day. Darn the bad luck Went to the Gold and Silver Pawn Shop (Pawn Stars) about 9:45 and there was no line. The store was packed though. I was really expecting to be disappointed with this place, but I wasn't in the least. It was about the size I imagined it would be. You don't see the garage area because they keep that area shut off. We got to see quite a few items that were featured on the show. We were in there maybe 20 minutes and they announced we had 10 minutes left because they were getting ready to shoot an episode. That was fine with us since we were almost done anyway. Only guy from the show we saw was the security guard. We hung out until they ran us out hoping to see the other guys, no luck though. They don't let anyone stay inside during filming.
We left there and went to see the UFC training center. This is the location they shoot the Ultimate Fighter TV show. No show was being filmed, so the place was empty. On a side note, we did get to see Ken Shamrock signing autographs in the Mirage. He was one of the original UFC fighters. Very cool!
Spent some more time driving around Vegas and then back to the strip for more walking.

5th day- first day of conference. Wifey goofed off hitting the shops while I worked, traitor, lol. Got off work and we went to the Terry Fator show. He is a ventriloquist who won the first Americas Got Talent TV show. Great show! He kept it clean, but had us laughing like crazy.

6th day - more conference. After work we went and saw the Cirque show Mystere. This was just ok in my book. Sort of a trumped up circus. The wife enjoyed this a lot more than me.

7th day - more walking on the trip after work. Really getting sick of the dirtballs handing out the cards with the scantily clad female escorts at this point. Nothing wrong with scantily clad women, but these jokers are annoying, lol. Rode the gondola's in the Venetian. Touristy, but fun.

8th day - last day of conference. Only half day of work Sick of the strip, not going back on the last day there. Our plane was leaving at 11:30 PM so we decided to hit some of the shops off the strip. Visited a really cool antique on Las Vegas Blvd south of the strip.

Biggest disappointment was that my son and daughter-in-law had to work so couldn't drive down from Salt Lake City. Looks like I won't see them for another year at least.


We had a great time. Thanks to all for the suggestions. If we had more time we would have done more of them.

[LFugate]

More pics:

#1 Near Dam
#2 Lake Mead
#3 Dam from the side

[LFugate]

#1 Bridge, if you look close you can see people walking across.
#2 Bellagio Fountain Show
#3 The strip from a distance

[MightyMike]

Heeby Jeebies about the roller coaster? Then you gotta try the bunjie cord thingy where they launch you off of the top of the tower Wife and I haven't been there for a while. We like Freemont street for the atmosphere. As was mentioned, almost all casinos have their oen thing to attract you inside. The mall at Ceasars with the fountain show, Pirate ship at Treasure Island. Flower garden at the Mirage (I think). Circus acts at Cricus Circus. we were lucky enough to do Hoover dam when they still took you down inside. Sad that isn't available anymore. Sam's town is another place to check out. Can maybe find more info at Vegas.com. Sure you'll have a good time, just not enough of it!!

[Rebel702]

Glad you had a great time. Too bad your son & DIL could not join you. The dirtbags have been a scorn for decades. ACLU & courts keep the city, county and casinos from chasing them out of town. Never had that problem when the mob ran the place! Nice pics, hope you have a chance to visit again.

Jim