Las Vegas Vacation Diary
Day Sixteen: Tropicanna and the Boardwalk Hotel
Today we went to the Tropicana. We went by Monorail to the MGM and somehow found a shortcut to the front. Didn't go through the casino. Follow the signs to the front desk and then go to the Rainforest Cafe from the Elevator Lobby. Got that? Unfortunately no "X" marks the spot and there is no treasure buried under the fountain in the Elevator Lobby. One of the bars on the way into the MGM has an aquarium of sardines. Today their was a diver cleaning the aquarium. |
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Tried to go out the exit that the Trolley stops at, the one near the Rainforest Cafe, but found it closed for construction. We were told the Trolley won't stop there until it is finished, but it could have just been something temporary.
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We walked to Walgreen’s to get some soap and body cream. Also bought an ear temperature machine, not that we had a medical emergency, I just find that medical gadgets are plentiful and relatively cheap in the US. Also, I bought a red carry bag that has Las Vegas written all over it in black. I had bought a similar one in the same material at one of the tourist shops, but this one is a different shape. They are quite stylish and I think I will use them in Melbourne. Stopped at the Grand Canyon Experience, |
Ken bought hats and I bought a carry bag as a gift that has a nice sketch of the main attractions of Las Vegas, in pastels. I haven’t seen anything else like it in Las Vegas.
Walked back to the MGM and crossed over the overpass to the Tropicana. We were met on the overpass by a Promotion’s guy with an offer for signing up for a Tropicana player card. We went in to sign up and received a free deck of Tropicana cards and a page of coupons.
There was a free show of acrobats called Flying High every hour in the centre of the casino and we watched one of the shows. The acrobats were performing under a large span stained glass window. It was quite beautiful, but I guess as the casino got older they needed something more to draw in the crowds, hence the acrobats. |
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For a picture gallery of the Tropicana: Las Vegas Dreaming - Tropicana
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The afternoon magic show, Extreme Magic with Dirk Arthur has lots of large mechanical props and tigers. We had a discount coupon from one of the free magazines that you pick up all over Vegas. The show was very good. One trick ended up with a full sized locomotive on the stage. |
For a picture gallery of the Tropicana: Las Vegas Dreaming - Tropicana
Then we had lunch at the Cafe: Hamburgers, kosher dill pickles and crisp potatoes. The Tropicana is an older casino, with a smaller casino floor, but it is well maintained. There are beautiful gardens. The Tropicana is also the home of a Las Vegas memorabilia shop and a History of Las Vegas Museum. The museum and the shop were both interesting. |
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After lunch we walked over to the Boardwalk Hotel. We heard on the news last night that they were going to tear it down in January and put up a condo community. Ken felt that we had to have more pictures and a souvenir of the casino; particularly he wanted one of the commemorative coins. So we agreed that we would see if we could win one, keeping in mind that we had bought the others we have collected on this trip. |
For a picture gallery of the Boardwalk: Las Vegas Dreaming - Boardwalk
We put in one dollar - nothing. Ken wanted to put in a another dollar, I wanted to put in a $20 or $30. My point of view was if it was a real possiblity to win one, let's do it. After all the casino wouldn’t be around the next time we came to Vegas.
Ken was flabbergasted when I put in a $5 bill. That was way too adventurous. We won points for a while and then we won a coin. Wow, we were happy!
We kept playing on the same $5 and won another coin. We were ecstatic!
We had 12 credits left and played them 3 at a time (as you must to win the coin) and won a third coin with $.25 to spare.
We now understand the euphoria that gamblers feel when they win. We walked away from the machine.
Later we came back to prove that it was a lucky streak, not a generous machine and it obligingly took our $6.00 and didn't yield another coin. We felt better, because that euphoria felt "dangerous".
We walked on up the strip to the Bellagio to see the fountains. I missed them last time we were here. We got some good pictures, and Ken took a small movie with Viva Las Vegas in the background. It was getting to be dusk and the neon shots were good so we photographed all the way back. Some of the later shots are too overdone, as it is difficult to get a good neon shot when everything is dark. |
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For a picture gallery of the Bellagio: Las Vegas Dreaming - Bellagio
We walked back to the hotel and stopped for an ice cream cone. Laundry
in the bathtub tonight. We are going downtown to see the older casinos
tomorrow. Taking the bus.