Vegas - Day 6

Casino Royale

This was our free day after deciding to not go on a marathon 15 hour Grand Canyon tour. We returned the rental car, had a great breakfast at Blondies inside Planet Hollywood, although I just realized yesterday that's where I lost my debit card. 

The girls spent their day at the pool while Amy and I spent some time in Casino Royale where I struck it rich playing the Wizard of Oz slot machine. Amy and I had White Castles for dinner.. and I have to say they aren't quite as good as a Krystal. :-) Later we found out the girls had the Paris buffet and all you could drink. Living big...

Fremont Street Experience

If you've never been to Fremont Street... you have to go. It's called "experience" for a reason. You have the most varied population, street performers, overhead ziplines, the Golden Nugget Casino and Hotel, and the overhead Light Display, and it's the most diverse area in Vegas. 

Speaking of the light display, here's an excerpt from Wikipedia:

The central attraction is a barrel vault canopy, 90 ft (27 m) high at the peak and four blocks, or approximately 1,500 ft (460 m), in length.

While Las Vegas is known for never turning the outside casino lights off, each show begins by turning off the lights on all of the buildings, including the casinos, under the canopy. Before each show, one bidirectional street that crosses the Experience is blocked off for safety reasons.

Concerts, usually free, are also held on three stages. The venue has become a major tourist attraction for downtown Las Vegas, and is also the location of the SlotZilla zip line attraction and the city's annual New Year's Eve party, complete with fireworks on the display screen.

A section comprising one fiftieth of the total canopy equals the size of the world’s current largest electric sign. Originally, nearly 2.1 million incandescent lights were housed in the canopy. With the completion of the $17 million upgrade, more than 12 million LED lamps illuminate the overhead canopy. The new LED upgrade was designed and engineered by LG Electronics, who is also the primary corporate sponsor of the canopy. Within the canopy itself are 220 speakers powered by 550,000 watts of amplification.

There is also Slotzilla, "that is a 12-story, slot machine-inspired zip line attraction. SlotZilla offers "flyers" two levels of lines, the lower "Zipline" (77 feet up) and upper "Zoomline" (114 feet up). The lower lines travel halfway down the Fremont Street Experience pedestrian mall. The upper lines go the entire length of the mall (1,750 feet). Guests on the upper "Zoomline" travel prone, or "superhero-style." SlotZilla cost $17 million to construct and features a launch tower with over-sized dice, a martini glass, a pink flamingo, simulated video reels, a giant arm and two 37-foot-tall showgirls."

We had the pleasure of a return trip to Fremont Street after Mallory left her phone in the Golden Nugget Casino... what happens in Vegas... stays in Vegas. Except her phone and Chelsea!  :-) We finally got in bed around 2:30 AM Vegas time (5:30 AM here in Atlanta). 

The roof of Fremont street. Very cool. This video was the correct orientation on my phone... but not here. 

This is the Mirage volcano that goes off during the evening hours. We could feel the heat across the street.

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