I've never been a beach person - nor much of a water person for that matter - there are only lakes and rivers in the land-locked Prairies scoured out of the ground by the glacial action of the last ice age and the meltwaters of the Rocky Mountains .
But, I think I could be... Place name links like Carolina Beach, NC go to Wikipedia. Place name links like Carolina Beach use the local tourism or government website.
| 2013.05.04 |
Los Angeles to Las Vegas |
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Sticking to form, we dawdled over morning coffee and the newspapers. Had to take Jake to his weekend home while we were gone, and a sad good-bye to him for me, only one of us to return. Packed my collected "stuff" into the trunk of the Cabrio, still had to carry our overnight bags in the back seat, good thing I acquired frugally. Then into the heat we set off, for more heat in the desert ahead, my home for the last four-plus months home receding behind us.
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We've already been part-way on this route, to Calico Ghost Town, so we have a pretty fair idea of what it will be like; hot, mostly flat, and shades of brown, but still sublime beauty. There's a little bit of terrain to tax cooling systems and brakes, but not for us. |
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Zzyzx Road
will take you to Zzyzx , the setting for a movie . | |
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| No time for Zzyzx though, we have some elevation to cover. | |
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Oops, camera set wrong all this way. | |
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In Nevada now | |
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and casinos | |
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40 miles later... | |
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Our lodging | |
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Castle-y! | |
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with rail transit | |
Now we're here, time to hit The Strip . Our prime mission is to get to a buffet that isn't crazy-expensive. Cheap Vegas buffets are history now, but we're people with a buffet theme to uphold.
our lodging lit |
on The Strip | |
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Bring us your... | |
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Hard Rock Cafe |
oh, Paris ahead! | |
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not Art? | |
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Art? | |
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| Lately Vegas has taken to recreating bits of Europe, to class-up the joint.
The Venetian, below, is the most diligent attempt. | |
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| Bright flashing lights, crowds, traffic, music - The Strip is meant to be frenetic. | |
Canals outside | |
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main hall ceiling | |
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| The Venetian has a mall with simulated sky and clouds and daytime lighting, and a canal with gondoliers for hire. Ole! |
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Canal inside | |
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some lobby | | |
Treasure Island |
a fashion mall |
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Treasure Island pirate ship | |
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| The Vegas Strip is like a giant shopping mall, with gambling. | |
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Unfortunately computers have made slot machines slotless - machines don't take coins anymore, only bills, and only pay out in credits. So we couldn't wander around using up our collected change plugging machines here and there. :( TFS spent a buck on a VLT; I didn't bother. | |
We found our last buffet at The Flamingo - 25 bucks each, decent food, nothing special, though it was near closing time. The Strip is a good long walk but less of a street walk than being in a very large mall, albeit outdoors. Pedestrian traffic on the Strip is channelled away from and over the 8 lanes of traffic that dominate it, up and down stairs or escalators and over walkways almost every block on either side. Casinos pretty much all look alike, and weren't very busy, even on this Saturday night: an acreage of VLTs attended by not-so-happy-looking players, then the Blackjack tables with little conversation, and a few craps and roulette tables, usually the liveliest of the games. On the street young women in Little Black Dresses and often-impossible heels tottered around in groups, likely bachelorette parties of college post-graduation adventures. Hired Mexicans in matching t-shirts, some of them looking very grandmotherly, snapped business cards in their fingers to get your attention and once attained, hand you a card for a strip club or escort service. The $13 Margueritas under a tent by Caesars Palace were just part of the whole package of our Vegas night. |
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