Las Vegas Vacation Diary
Day Four: The Luxor Las Vegas, The Mandalay Bay and The Excalibur
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Breakfast as usual and then on to the Monorail down to the MGM. A long---long walk through the MGM and then over to the LUXOR the Mandalay Bay and the Excalibur, via the Tropicanna.. By the way, Tom Jones and Elton John are in town. Tom Jones is at the MGM and Elton John is playing at Caesars Palace. We saw the signs at the MGM. |
For more pictures of The MGM Grand: Las Vegas Dreaming - MGM Grand
We walked by overpass to the Tropicana and saw that they have a Titanic Exhibit. We will probably go see that after we get back from Monument Valley. I walked down the seedy side of the street much to Ken's dismay and got great shots of the Luxor sphinx and pyramid. Crossed street illegally (shame, shame) and went into the Luxor. We had taken pictures last time we were in Vega, yet we took many more. Had a drink, did the gift shops and then went through the King Tut's Tomb exhibit and we were impressed. |
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What's on the Strip?-Walking the Las Vegas Strip - Stop One Luxor and Mandalay
The Tut’s Tomb exhibit is sanctioned by the Egyptian Antiquities people and they sent a piece of one of the pyramids for the Luxor to display. It is a piece of the limestone casing, probably from the smallest one.
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They have authentic replicas of many of the objects and a "tomb" with the viewing windows so that you get a good indication of the size of the original tomb. The narrative was first rate and interesting and they let you take all the pictures you wanted, as long as you weren't using flash. Everything was well lit, so we got some great pictures. |
Big wedding parties at all the wedding chapels (Saturday). It was funny to see everyone dressed up, standing by the MacDonald’s waiting for their appointment at the chapel. All over Vegas you overhear people talking about their wedding arrangements. I think people come from all other the United States to get married here, and they bring dozens of people with them.
For more pictures of The Luxor: Las Vegas Dreaming - The Luxor
We walked across the connecting shopping mall into the Mandalay Bay. I bought a marionette of an Egyptian Queen at one of the shops. It is nicely done and very well made. They also had a Pharaoh and a Camel. When we got to the Mandalay Bay, it was like stepping into an instant weight reduction zone. Everyone was thin and glamorous. |
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They currently have a Sumo Wrestling tournament on and we saw one of the wrestlers, but didn't take a picture. I wouldn't want to offend someone who could squash you flatter than a pancake just by sitting on you.
The Mandalay Bay has an Indonesian and Singaporean architectural theme. Very crowded, and definitely the place to go for the young "in crowd". Rooms are 300+ a night on weekends. They have a surfing wave bay and a shark exhbit. We took lots of pictures of the lobby. Noticed they were setting up a wedding below the fountain cascade that is just outside the back lobby. There is a beautiful aquarium in the lobby. |
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Besides the SE Asian theme, they have used glass objects, mineral specimens and many-coloured marbles to decorate the hotel. It is very shiny and reminds me of all the marble lobbies of the hotels in Hong Kong and Singapore.
For more pictures of Mandalay Bay: Las Vegas Dreaming - Mandalay Bay
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We took the local monorail from the Mandalay Bay up to the Luxor and disembarked between the paws of the Sphinx. They we took the monorail up to the Excalibur. |
Wow, straight into family land. There were local family groups all over the place, or so it seemed to me. Excalibur has a castle and knights theme and we took pictures, but it was very dark, so I’m not too sure how they are going to come out until we get them treated in Photoshop. The cameras will collect the pixels, but the dim lighting often gives a "color" to the shot. It can be corrected, but you aren't sure until you work on it. |
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Ken liked the Excalibur, it felt homey to him, sort of like Circus Circus. I'm not too sure if I would want to stay there, it was very busy, with lots of children.
For pictures of The Excalibur: Las Vegas Dreaming - The Excalibur Hotel
The Imperial Palace, on the other hand,is filled with older adult gamblers who are serious about eating and playing the slots. Although I am sure that I need to lose weight, I look normal in the casino hallways of the Imperial Palace. It's the "Next to Mount Rushmore, you look small," effect.
Just kidding, but each hotel does seem to attract a group of like-minded people. I don’t think the Imperial Palace crowd would like the Mandalay Bay and the Mandalay Bay crowd wouldn’t like the Imperial Palace. And of course the price of the rooms is very different.
When we got back to the Imperial Palace, Ken put 5 dollars on 27 Red
at the roulette table as agreed with Bob, based on our parking spot
in the Melbourne Casino parking lot last week, and within seconds 4
Black came up. This is what happens when Bob and Ken collaborate on
gambling :-)
