I can’t go to a picnic, party, hair appointment, business meeting, or even the local farmer’s market without somebody mentioning that they are either thinking about going to, just coming back from, or making their reservations for Las Vegas, Nevada.
Friends, neighbors, family members, hair stylists…it doesn’t matter who. Everyone in the world, at one time or another in their lives, is destined to find themselves in the middle of the desert, blinded by the lights, lured by the glitz, shows, hotels, and casinos.
With all the recent talk about Vegas, I couldn't help remembering our trip a couple of years ago when I had to travel there on business. I groaned when I found out. My husband perked up. Neither of us had any interest in gambling. However, he was always interested in visiting Vegas to experience first-hand the buzz of the strip. I, on the other hand, was more interested in venturing out of the city limits and hiking in beautiful Red Rock Canyon. The Eclectic Writer readers may remember my pictures from this hike, captured in a photo album located on the left column of this blog. Feel free to revisit the adventure.
We compromised. He would sightsee while I attended meetings; and then we would stay through the weekend and take in the natural landscapes, maybe even a show.
Our hotel was the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino, right in the heart of
Most interestingly, however, were the lions who lived right there in the hotel! Of course, as I gazed at these wild felines I couldn’t help picturing that roaring MGM “pussycat” who greeted me at the beginning of the studio’s movies.
When my husband arrived he took care of his sightseeing while I took care of business. He took the monorail through the city and visited other sites and hotels. He got his thrills riding the rollercoaster at the New York, New York hotel and was thrilled to see the Star Trek exhibit and an exhibition about the human body.
When our together time finally came and I hung up my suit for the last time, we donned our hiking boots and had a wonderful time in
We were fortunate to get tickets to see the Cirque du Soleil performance of Ka! Both of us are big Cirque fans and have seen a few performances on the east coast. The show was a highlight of our trip. From the moment we waited in line to go into the theatre the experience was memorable - costumed actors began their performances before we even walked through the doors, assuming their characters and interacting with ticket holders.
At the end of our trip, though we still don’t like casinos, we did like the MGM Grand Hotel. Since my children keep insisting they, too, would like to visit Vegas I think the MGM Grand will top our list of hotels to stay at, given the wide variety of things to do unrelated to gambling.
This is a TravelingMom dedicated post.
