I am going to back track just a bit. After we left Flagstaff and before we got to Hoover Dam, we were only planning to stop for potty breaks. But then I saw it! It was a sign advertising the "Roadkill Cafe"!
We were actually travelling on I-40. But the old Route 66 goes along with it in some places and veers off in some places. This was one of the places where it veers off to go through some small towns. The Roadkill Cafe is in Seligman, Arizona. I told Denver that I have always heard jokes about the Roadkill Cafe, but never knew it actually exists! I had to see it!! (When I returned to work this week, I was telling them about finding the Roadkill Cafe, and one of the guys said that he saw one here in Texas, but I forget what town he said it was in). Anyway. I got pix of the cafe sign (no, we didn't eat there) and we saw a giftshop for "Historic Route 66", so of course I had to go there.
Anyway, that is just an example of many little detours we took, following whims along the way.
We had left home on Friday, and with visiting my parents and all the side trips, we finally arrived in Vegas about 3:00 in the afternoon on Tuesday. We had already travelled about 1200 miles and seen all sorts of odd and wonderful things.
We had planned to stay at the Luxor Hotel in Vegas, and we did. For one night anyway. Our room was on the 7th floor of the pyramid. That was cool. The hotel is very beautiful, as you would expect it to be. But everyone who works there seemed to be snobs. We are from Texas for gawd's sakes! We are used to simple politeness like saying good morning when you meet someone. Everyone there would look at us like we were from Mars or something when we spoke to them. Even when I couldn't find the elevator to get up to the room they acted as though I was putting them out for asking for directions!
The Pharoah's Pheast is a buffet they have. $16.95 each for all-you-can-eat. Denevr said it was too high, but I insisted, because I thought it would be great. OK< so this time he was right and I was wrong. The salad bar part was fantastic. But once you get past the salads it was crap! They had a variety of meats, that had all sat on the buffet long enough to be hard as sun-dried leather. I couldn't chew any of it! And I have good teeth, so it wasn't me! They have one vegetable of the day and some boiled potatoes. Get real! One reason I like buffets is for the variety of everything you get. Normally, a buffet will have all sorts of Vegetables. And I do love Veggies! But nothing! The deserts were even better than the salad . But if I pay that much I want more than just salad and dessert! Like more Veggies!!!
The casino at the Luxor was nice. It was big and the slots paid off fairly well. I took a set amount to gamble with and had doubled my money in the first 2 hours. And had fun doing it!
The room was really nice, and we thought we would get at least a good half-night's sleep before wandering around Vegas the next day. BUT NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! We had only been sleeping a couple of hours when we were awakened by a loud banging on the door and shouts of "Let me in! Open this door now!!!!" We waited a minute, then being the brave (OR is it stupid?) soul that I am, I opened the door. The banging was not on our door at all. But it was at the next room. This really large guy was banging to beat all!
I quickly ducked back into the room and told Denver what was going on. Then apparently whoever was in the room finally opened the door. We heard him slam the door so hard it is a wonder it didn't break! But I guess it bounced back open, cause he slammed it about three more times. Then there was such a racket in that room! I swear it sounded like he was throwing someone against the walls!
After a couple of minutes, the noise finally stopped. We gradually drifted back to sleep. BUT!! About an hour later the fire alarm began to go off in the hotel. We thought maybe the place was on fire (wouldn't you?) So we got dressed just in time for an announcement over the PA system to not panic, and stay in our rooms. the cause of the alarm was being investigated. Denver got undressed and went back to bed. But I felt restless. So I went out into the hall. In the pyramid all the halls are on the inside of the building over-looking the lobby and the casino. So here I was at about 4:30 in the morning with 20 or 30 strangers all hanging over the rail trying to see if anything is going on 7 stories below.
Then the alarm starts to go off again! One woman commented that if they weren't going to let us sleep, they should at least let us all win a nice fat jackpot!
I finally returned to the room and lay down (fully clothed, just in case). But at 7:00 we were still not sleeping well, so we left in search of another hotel. The staff's response when asked about the alarms? "Oh, we couldn't find a reason. Probably some kids playing around set it off." But you could tell they didn't really give a fig about anyone not sleeping.
I picked a hotel at random. We ended up going to the Key Largo. This was much more our speed! Located about 2 blocks off the Strip, it is smaller and quieter. Not so fancy that they have to charge a fortune, but with many amenities comparable to the bigger hotels. The people who work there were all very friendly and helpful. Our room was not fancy, but it had a wetbar and a refrigerator. The Key Largo is only 3 stories tall. We stayed on the third floor could look down into the courtyard. The hotel is built on a square with rooms on 3 of the 4 sides, and a courtyard in the middle. They have a very nice pool and jakuzzi in this area, as well as three pretty fountains and lots of trees. They have their own casino and restaurant. All on a much smaller scale than the Luxor.
The restaurant there had excellent food at very affordable prices. While there, we never paid more than $5 each for a meal. And got more food than we could possibly eat! For example...I ordered spaghetti which was all you could eat for $3.99. They brought out a huge platter! It was about the size of 2 dinner plates put together. It was piled high with spaghetti. I ate and ate and ate and ate. But I never made a dent in it there was so much! I think a family of five could have eaten off that one plate and come away satisfied!!
Of course I tried out their slot machines. The first night I stayed a little ahead, but not much. the next night was to be our last in Vegas, so I knew how much I had brought, figuring I would lose it anyway, so I kept feeding the machine until I only had five cents left. But it still took a while! I played slots for hours before I lost it all. And I had fun doing it! I figured that was all that mattered anyway! But you probably think I'm crazy just like all my friends do!! I don't think that was too bad, considering I played for 3 days on $60.
Meanwhile, we also got out to see the sights. We drove down the Strip 4 times. First I took still pix up one side then down the other. Then I videotaped up one side and down the other. We never did make it out to "The Fremont Street Experience". That is the one with the cover over the street and the light show. (had to save something for next time!)
I insisted we had to go to the Liberace Museum. I always loved the way he played! The museum contains all his big elaborate costumes and jewelry. Also many of the antiques he owned, including candleabras and chandeliers of course. They have a section with many of his cars on display and lots of pianos. They had a guy who had won a Liberace-sound-alike contest who played piano for us in true Liberace style!! It was great!
That was for me! Then for Denver, we went to the Las Vegas Hilton to see the "Star Trek Experience". It was cool. They have a section of the hotel that is decorated as though you are on board a starship. From the ceiling there hangs large models of the Enterpise in a couple of its incarnations and a Klingon Bird of Prey. There are people there dressed like Klingons and such. One guy was dressed like a borg and when you talk to him he stays right in character. One guy acted as though he was trying to get him to let his guard down and slide out of character, but he never did!
Even the casino at the Las Vegas Hilton is decorated in this way. I had taken lots of pix in the other part but when we entered the casino I quit and was looking at the slots. Not playing, just looking. Denver was walking around with the video camera filming their model of the warp core drive which is in the casino. He got in trouble. We are just hicks from Texas. Who knew they would be touchy about people taking pix in the casino? We sure didn't! Anyway. We got of there then. I swear I can't take that man anywhere!! LOL!!
We talked about seeing some shows there. But we couldn't agree on what to go see, so ended up not seeing any of them. We did both want to see the pirate ship in action in front of the Treasure Island hotel. But they had it all torn up working on it. They are totally revamping it to include mermaids and stuff. I was disappointed. But he wasn't! He is in construction. I swear, don't ever travel with a man who works in construction! He got excited over the weirdest things! He filmed the guys working on the ships! For 30 minutes he filmed them working on the ships! So now every time I watch the tape of our trip, I'll have to watch them working on the stupid ships! He's very lucky that I love him!! LOL!!
Anyway, that is the highlights of our stay in Vegas. Maybe tomorrow I will tell you about our trip home and our visit to Tombstone, Arizona!
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