Las Vegas Trip 2000

One of the most memorable and romantic things we did was have dinner 800 feet in the air. We dined at the Stratusphere overlooking the entire city of Las Vegas, while we rotated around in the tower. The view was amazing. The dinner was fabulous, and the service was perfect. We also had breathtaking views from the Hoover Dam. Another wonderful thing was seeing my own home state re-created 3000 miles away. The New York, New York was so detailed, that there are things you would only realize they managed to re-create if you were from here.

Quick Tips:

Decide before you travel to Las Vegas if you plan to stay within Las Vegas, or if you plan to travel to many of the outside attractions as well (such as the Hoover Dam, Area 51, and the many other "outside" things there are to do). If you intend to stay within Vegas, then you most likely don't need a car. If you intend to go "outside" then it would probably be best if you did rent a car, as most of the outside attractions are a distance.

Best Way To Get Around:

If you opt for renting a car, the best thing we found is to pick a grouping of hotels to visit that are located next to each other. You park at one hotel at one end of this "grouping" and visit the hotels, come back to the car, and move on. This way you don't find yourself across town from your car. If you don't rent a car, you can take taxis everywhere (for a decent price) or you can just utilize the fact that a large number of hotels are connected. They are connected by indoor walkways, outdoor walkways, moving sidewalks, and even trams. In most cases on the strip, you can enter one hotel and have access to 4 other hotels from that one.

Be careful of the traffic in Las Vegas, it is definitely a jog across Las Vegas Blvd. as it seems that they have their lights timed very poorly. The lights along the Blvd tend to change before you are even halfway across the street! We witnessed a total of 5 accidents in the 1 week that we stayed there...and those were only the ones we actually saw.

This buffett has everything from sushi to pasta. There is an excellent salad bar, then you go to each of the different "stations" for the type of food you want. One has all of the meats (steak, turkey, ham, etc.) another station is all italian (pasta, sauces, sausage, cheeses) another station is all seafood, cooked any which way you can imagine, then there's the fried station....everything is, you guessed it, FRIED...my favorite station is the sushi bar, then there's Chinese, German, I can keep going. But for this price and the quality of the food, you need to be there yourself! I will definitely go back!

The Hoover Dam was a very cool experience. I will say that everyone should probably go once. The one problem I had with it was, after taking the tour (which was interesting) there really is nothing else to do there. Unfortunately if you are staying in Las Vegas it is a drive...I wished there was more to do at or near the Dam to make it a little more worth the trip. Cool place to see, but a one time only trip for me.

A great, down to earth, funny and articulate magician. This performance was fantastic! I would definitely see him again. He is very memorable, probably one the best illusionist I have ever seen. He even takes a part of his show to bring the kids up on the stage to take part in some of the magic. I think what makes this show so great is that Lance Burton is very "real".

For those of you who don't know, these are the blue faced men from the Pentium commercials, and yes, they are a real group :) These guys put on the most amazing show I ever saw! A combination of art, music, humor, and whatever else you could possibly throw together in 1 show....without EVER speaking! They never utter a word, yet everyone in the audience is constantly laughing and looking all wide eyed at they stage, so they don't miss anything. If you only get to see one show ever again in your life...make it this one! I wish I could tell you more, but this group and their performance isn't even something you could describe or classify...truly amazing!!!

This is a fantastic re-creation of NY with detail that a native New Yorker could appreciate. They covered everything from the lamp posts in Cntral Park to parking meters next to the "outdoor" tables in front of the eateries. They have cobblestone pathways through the eating areas, and even covered the menus on the fake apartment doors...just like home, including "steam" rising from the subway vents!