The wife and I were discussing how to spend a quiet, relaxing, low-key vacation. We came up with seeing Metallica in Las Vegas!
We stayed at Park MGM (formerly known as the Monte Carlo). This is a solid mid-tier hotel, and the only Strip hotel that is completely non-smoking. After walking through Park MGM, then going through any other casino, you can certainly tell the difference. It has three pools for your lounging pleasure, and the pool bar, Veranda, was not terribly overpriced. Well, no more than any other Las Vegas restaurant. I recommend the Cobb salad.
Here is our oasis on the seventh floor. Nothing too fancy, but certainly enough for our needs. We tried not to think about the wet spot on the floor and were optimistic that it was an attempt by the cleaning lady to remove a stain. For the most part, it was quiet, and the most noise we heard was when we were leaving the hotel at 5:00 AM to catch a flight home and a pack of bros was on their way back to their room. Living their best lives.
A nice thing about Park MGM is that is has a tram that runs between it and Bellagio. Bellagio (which I have stayed before) is a must see for me whenever I'm in Las Vegas. Unfortunately, the F1 observation building is right in front of the fountains, and no one is allowed to be on the sidewalk in front for months while they are there. For that reason alone, I hate F1. Instead of the front-on picture, I have this one off to the side, but it's just as nice. And on the center left of the picture, the robot boat is doing whatever robot boats do.
The Bellagio Conservatory never disappoints. It's currently autumn, and even though Las Vegas probably doesn't have any trees whose leaves change color, deciduous trees from other parts of the countries are well represented.
What also doesn't disappoint is the Dale Chihuly sculpture in the lobby. The Internet tells me that the sculpture cost $10 million when it was constructed and installed 1998, and its name is "Fiori di Como" ("Flowers of Como"). If you are a Dale Chihuly fan, there is a museum of his work in St. Petersburg, Florida, and it is well worth seeing.
Continuing up The Strip, our walk took us to and through The Forum Shops of Caesars Palace. In the background is the guitar tower of the Hard Rock Hotel which is replacing The Mirage, which was one of my favorite casinos. If you ever walked through the atrium and casino, you probably remember the tropical scent pumped into the building. You can apparently buy the scent at AromaRetail.com, though I can't vouch for it.
Continuing on my hodge podge of Las Vegas photos, our evening ended over at Rio to see The Empire Strips Back, a burlesque parody of Star Wars. Entertaining it was (Yoda-speak). I don't think the storm troopers on the stage were the same ones on the movie, though perhaps a future sequel will add stripping storm troopers. You never know. I would say they couldn't make Star Wars movies worse than they've become, but we all know that's not true.
We have reached the whole point of this blog post! I would apologize, but you've loved every minute of it. Our Uber driver took use on a street or two I had never been down to get us from Park MGM to The Venetian for dinner, skillfully avoiding an idiot driver on the way. I have only stayed once at Venetian, but I can remember the experience of seeing the hall from the front desk to the casino - absolutely amazing. And the floor looks like something from Qbert.
I'll skip any more interior of the hotel and get to The Sphere.
The opening visual of the concert glides over a field and to a cemetery, and the quality of the images made me feel like I was actually moving.
And this one, gliding through a red-tinted ruin after a flood. So cool.
And a giant monster rises from the water and lurks over you while fending off missile-firing jets, then turns to the Las Vegas skyline. The Sphere continues to impress.
Such a great time, and the band sounded great as well. Congratulations to Metallicaon a fantastic show.
Alas, it was time to leave. As we left the concert, it was raining, the first time I had seen rain in my eleven trips. And it rained all night. After the 3 1/2 hours of sleep we got, we caught a 5:00 AM taxi to McCarren (I will always call it that). As we were enjoying gobs of food in the Capital One lounge, everyone's phones went off alerting us to a flash flood warning due to the rain. I'm sure many peoples' travel was affected, but we were able to leave Las Vegas on time. Well, almost one time - the cart that pushes the plane back from the gate broke. It was the only delay on our American Airlines flights that day, but we got home the same day.
Adios Las Vegas! Until I see you again.
