Vegas Vacation Part II
Las Vegas, NV - Once again, Las Vegas did not disappoint on Day two of our trip. Our day was book ended by thrill rides, the first being the roller coaster at the New York, New York casino. After that little adventure we proceeded to get lost in three consecutive casinos, one of which I’m not even sure what its name was. We rode a tram and then toured the Liberace museum which has (and I’m not kidding) the world’s largest rhinestone on display worth $50,000 and a piano once played by Brahms himself.
We stopped at lunch for the world famous In-n-Out burger joint, where, oddly enough, we came in right before the entire rookie class of the Houston Rockets NBA basketball team. They were tall.
From there we took a side trip to Red Rock Canyon, but not before trying to use the bathroom at a Walgreens and a Burger King, but were both closed. (What are the odds!?) We then took a scenic drive through some hills and stopped to ponder things at a bench at 5,000 feet altitude.
Among the things we pondered were:
a) How would you know if your nose smelled funny?
b) Water conservation
c) Pints, ounces, and quarts and the endless amount of confusion about how many are in what
d) Desert floral fauna
After that we stopped at a place called Bonnie Springs and stared at some horses. After the sun had set, we headed back to Vegas and headed downtown to see something called the Fremont Street Experience, which is hard to describe. It is basically the largest big screen in the world (two blocks long) horizontally stretched out over your head covering the whole street. It’s amazing, really.
After a quick dinner, we headed to something called the Stratosphere, which is the largest tower in Las Vegas AND the tallest building west of the Mississippi. (1,149 feet). At the very top of this building, on the spire , is a zero gravity thrill ride that shoots you straight to the top of the spire at 4 G’s before letting you freefall for about a second before stopping you. At one point, you and whoever is on the ride with you are the highest things in Las Vegas. Check that, you and the people around you are highest things in the western United States. It is a heart-stopping, but unlike other rides, this ride was incredibly euphoric and terrifying because the odd sense of feeling like you were really, truly flying. You couldn’t see any of the mechanisms holding you up so for one brief zero-G moment, it felt like you were disconnected from the earth. Then you come plummeting back to the earth.
The odd thing about the ride is that it travels so fast and so powerfully, and so awe-inspiringly high, that no one screams…and I mean no one. It is the most bizarre and wonderful thrill ride I have ever been on. I think people (like Donna) try to scream but the intensity and quickness leaves no time for such nonsense.
After our hearts stopped palpitating and the symptoms of my mild stroke subsided, we headed back to the hotel with the top down. ( I highly recommend convertibles for anyone who’s thinking of hitting up Vegas.)
Tomorrow a trip to Hoover Dam, and…believe it or not…Area 51. Dum dum duuuuuuum!
That’s the story of my life…
We stopped at lunch for the world famous In-n-Out burger joint, where, oddly enough, we came in right before the entire rookie class of the Houston Rockets NBA basketball team. They were tall.
From there we took a side trip to Red Rock Canyon, but not before trying to use the bathroom at a Walgreens and a Burger King, but were both closed. (What are the odds!?) We then took a scenic drive through some hills and stopped to ponder things at a bench at 5,000 feet altitude.
Among the things we pondered were:
a) How would you know if your nose smelled funny?
b) Water conservation
c) Pints, ounces, and quarts and the endless amount of confusion about how many are in what
d) Desert floral fauna
After that we stopped at a place called Bonnie Springs and stared at some horses. After the sun had set, we headed back to Vegas and headed downtown to see something called the Fremont Street Experience, which is hard to describe. It is basically the largest big screen in the world (two blocks long) horizontally stretched out over your head covering the whole street. It’s amazing, really.
After a quick dinner, we headed to something called the Stratosphere, which is the largest tower in Las Vegas AND the tallest building west of the Mississippi. (1,149 feet). At the very top of this building, on the spire , is a zero gravity thrill ride that shoots you straight to the top of the spire at 4 G’s before letting you freefall for about a second before stopping you. At one point, you and whoever is on the ride with you are the highest things in Las Vegas. Check that, you and the people around you are highest things in the western United States. It is a heart-stopping, but unlike other rides, this ride was incredibly euphoric and terrifying because the odd sense of feeling like you were really, truly flying. You couldn’t see any of the mechanisms holding you up so for one brief zero-G moment, it felt like you were disconnected from the earth. Then you come plummeting back to the earth.
The odd thing about the ride is that it travels so fast and so powerfully, and so awe-inspiringly high, that no one screams…and I mean no one. It is the most bizarre and wonderful thrill ride I have ever been on. I think people (like Donna) try to scream but the intensity and quickness leaves no time for such nonsense.
After our hearts stopped palpitating and the symptoms of my mild stroke subsided, we headed back to the hotel with the top down. ( I highly recommend convertibles for anyone who’s thinking of hitting up Vegas.)
Tomorrow a trip to Hoover Dam, and…believe it or not…Area 51. Dum dum duuuuuuum!
That’s the story of my life…
posted by Winston A. Hall at 1:02 AM
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