We thought getting up that we didn't have much in the schedule for the day but we, as always, were wrong and had plenty that we got done. But also as always, we weren't up until about 10am. We spent two hours in the morning predominantly putzing around. I struggled to get Jess's computer to upload my pictures to the blog while Jess read some internet funnies outload. We do finished off the honey buns we'd gotten last night for breakfast and I had widely taken two burritos out of the fridge early in the morning on a pee run so they were already close to room temperature. At 12:00pm we started out, dressed and ready to mostly explore. We took a quick look first at the hotel directly across the street from us, Excaliber. It was totally awesome inside, looked almost like how Universal Studios decorated their interiors, but it was very small. Compared to how.lost Jess and I have gotten in every other hotel we've wandered iinto, this was a piece of cake. It did, however, have a really cool pedestrian moving sidewalk that took you all the way into the building from basically the skywalk so that was pretty sweet! Props to them for that! They didn't have one going out but that makes sense. They want you inside the casino, not leaving it.
After that minor detour we walked across the other street to New York, New York! Having been to New York many times in our life we were excited to discover what select and aesthetic parts of New York they had elected to display. The skywalk led right to the second floor of Hershey's Chocolate World which was exactly where we wanted to be! The store, both floors, we're wall to wall Hershey's products, but the first floor has a slushy/milkshake stand where I seriously debated buying one of the milkshakes. It came in a collectible plastic mason jar cup, and I am a freak about collectible cups, but we decided we didn't wanna carry it around all day and elected to see about getting it on the way back. We did not make our way back.
We wandered out into the casino and followed the signs to the Big Apple Coaster and Arcade and went up the escalator towards it. We checked the prices and found out it opened at 1:00. We were only a half hour off so that have us the perfect amount of time to eat our burritos! We headed outside and found a nice table in the warmth but also the shade to relax and enjoy. We had, obviously, already done so much. We'd saw our first pigeon of the trip there and agreed that was a very New York experience to have. We finished our burritos just after 1pm so wandered back through the casino to the escalator. We were in a line for all of one minute to purchase tickets, which were $17 each, though the line they had set up was prepared for a significantly larger crowd. I bet they usually have tons of people for this thong, but as of now we were one of a handful of riders there at the opening for the day.
We wandered through the arcade until we arrived at a series of lockers that were set up right beside the start of the official roller coaster line (which was also empty). We found out we couldn't go on with our purse, which makes sense, and had to part with a precious $1 to rent it. All things considered, $1 was super cheap compared to typical Vegas prices, but I suppose they really don't want people sneaking bags and such on the ride. We got the locker and headed basically right to the start of the ride and waited a weird amount of.time before boarding the cart that was sitting right in front of us. We guessed maybe they needed to wait a certain amount of time for the cleaning chemicals they used to 'take effect'. The stuff smelled strong and made my arm hurt actually because it smelled exactly like what they use to wipe your arm down before giving you a shot. Weird.
Once on the ride took you WAY up into the sky. Jess and I couldn't believe we were still going up as we got a view of everything! On the way up I remembered my hoop earrings and quickly pulled them off to prevent them ripping a hole in my.ear if they got caught on anything. Just as I finished that we tipped over the edge and were soaring through the New York themed buildings and wizzing over the Las Vegas strip. It was a bumpy ride and I had to hold my mask on, but it was fast and fun and certainly long enough I felt to feel like it was worth it. We were a touch woozy getting off, but not actually.motion sick so we were good to go continuing on through the hotel. We passed through the restaurant area on our way towards an exit and it was very nicely decorated! Dark, as casino areas tend to be, but the floor was made out to be a street with fake and real buildings themed like genuine New York shops. It was a very nice walk through and I say they really outdid themselves!
Outside we popped into the casino across the street, the ..., just to take a peak at the interior. Fairly standard, nothing really themed, but elegant and well designed to be sure! Just not our kinda thing! We crossed the street then to the M&M building which boasted four floors of M&M's and it delivered! We saw the wall of M&M's on the second floor and the M&M race car on the fourth. I was tempted to purchase a blanket there but decided I really didn't need it and we just explored. I liked the way each floor was set up, very well designed with a good flow, and of course one just loves being surrounded by chocolate! We were there about 39 minutes, taking it all in, before we began the walk to Paris. Having also been to Paris before we were again excited to see the featured features. The walk was about 15 minutes from where we were, but we knew it well and had no problems on the way.
Outside, Paris is all tall, memorable structures like the Eiffle Tower and Arch Dr Triumph but inside is very much just a French historic/cafe district vibe. The bottom of the Eiffel Tower protrudes through the ceiling in three places to give the feel of being under the Eiffle Tower, whmuch I guess technically you are. The ceiling, like The Venetian, is designed to look like a sky but rather than morning, Paris is themed to look like dusk. This is likely because while The Venetian had that theme exclusively for their shopping center, Paris has this them over their shops and casino, and casinos are always meant to be dimly lit. We tried to check out a Paris shop but it was closed so we wandered around looking for the ticket booth for the top of the Eiffel Tower. We almost ended up in Bally's, a connecting hotel, before we found a mad which pointed us in the right direction. At the booth the man told us the ride opens at 4pm, but they just got word the elevator isn't working and they don't know if it will be up at all for the day. He also told us the price is $27 per person, but there is a student discount. Jess's student ID was back at the hotel and mine was several thousand miles away in Florida because I hadn't taken it with me. Still, the tower was down, and given we had ridden to the top of the actual Eiffle Tower for $9.50 each we decided to pass for now and check some other things out. We decided to see if the Linq High Roller, which I keep calling the Vegas Eye much to Jessica's chagrin, was open and worth doing.
When we'd been walking into Paris we'd stopped by a bar directly under the Eiffel Tower to see if they had an Eiffel Tower collectable cup. We couldn't explain why, we just had the feeling they would and we were right! They had a HUGE Eiffle Tower cup but it was hidden completely from view so no wonder we didn't see anyone with it! How could anyone find it!? We told the bartender we'd come back on the way out to get it and we meant it, so back we came on the way out with money in hand. It was $32 for the drink, four shots of vodka mixed with your choice of slushee margarita, pina colada, or strawberry (which we went with) and the cup. Steep but considering we paid $39 for the drink at Sugar Factory and didn't even get a cup this seemed great to us! We got the drink and brought a crowd with us apparently cause a line magically formed behind us. My bet is they saw this cool cup that isn't displayed for the first time and wanted it too, cause who wouldn't?
We left Paris and followed a sign that said High Roller inside the Flamingo where we got immediately lost and somehow ended up in Margaritaville. We finally got out of there and located the Linq hotel but turned right down something out friend Heather told us is the Linq Promenade! It's a nice street off the strip that's themed like Boston with plenty of restaurants and shops. We liked into a candy store to take a peek and looked at all the menus to see if we wanted anything. We were still slurping down our strawberry vodka slushee and were starting to get hungry. At the end of the street we got to the Linq High Roller where we discovered tickets were $34 per person. Since we had access to the Orlando Eye for $5 every Monday we decided it wasn't worth it and went back up there street. We stopped for a break on a bench and finished our slurpiarita before popping into one of those tacky Vegas shops to look around. Jess got a little sick-feeling here and say down outside while I kept looking around. I wasn't tipsy really, but my shoulders all of a sudden really hurt so I joined Jessica outside for a break also. We were up pretty shortly afterwards though and back to our journey forward.
We made a plan to hit Paris again to see if that shop was open yet and check out this All You Can Eat Pasta deal at Bally's. On the way though we remembered something Heather had put On the list she have us about there being a Flamingo habitat at The Flamingo that was free to visit so we made a stop in the Flamingo and followed signs that said Habitat which we presumed to be the way to the pink birds. We were correct and in no time we had exited to an outside area where 7 or 8 flamingos were wandering around! It was a large area with plenty of space but all the flamingos seemed to be interested in being around one mini waterfall area with lots of grass and space. The other areas were populated by other birds, all of which were very pretty and sweet looking, and enormous up I fish of all colours! There was a great flamingos fountain and a wonderful large waterfall where we were asked to take someone's picture for them and I went full photographer mode taking all the angles in and getting like a dozen shots. The woman seemed very grateful and we were happy to help! See spent a half hour or more there enjoying the fish and the birds before we headed back to our mission towards Paris. We'd were very glad for having made the stop though, as we love free experiences! They're our favourite!
We hit Bally's first and found the restaurant was open so we swing back to Paris, saw the shop was still closed, and tried to make a plan. We weren't hungry enough for plates of pasta just then, and we were getting our free dinner at the hotel when we got back (which had to be before 8 and it was already 5pm) but would we come back tomorrow? We decided we would check with the restaurant and see if they were open tomorrow and what hours and decide from there. They were open so we agreed we would spend tomorrow morning relaxing and recouping, then come back tomorrow at 4pm for lunch, then finally we would do some gambling in the evening, which We hadn't done at all since arriving. This doesn't seem like a difficult plan but it actually took a great deal of deliberation because we can't ever decide on anything quickly. Jess says it's because we're Libras.
We were still hungry though and had plans on the list left to do so we walked a ways to Panda Express and got a roughly $9 bowl of chow mien and orange chicken. It's the best. That in hand we crossed the street to The Bellagio to watch the fountain show. We'd forgotten water, however, so Jess headed back to Paris to fill up our empty Eiffel Tower cup with water while I found a spot in one of the nooks off the sidewalk to watch. It wasn't hard though as the streets of Vegas are fairly empty and no one was around for the half-hourly fountain show. I was worried Jess wasn't going to make it for the 6pm show but just as it started I saw her running back from across the street and down to me. The show only lasted a minute and I wondered if sending Jess to get water was stupid as we could have just gone after the show, but we decided to sit down (yes, on the ground) and eat our meal while we waited for the 6:30pm show. All the shows are different so we wanted to see a second one to compare!
The wait was the perfect length for us to enjoy our food and chit chat and before we knew it the next show was starting! We picked the perfect time as it had just changed from sunset to a dark dusk and we got to see all the lights of The Bellagio turn on during the show! It was perfect! With that checked off the list we skedaddled back to our hotel at a brisk pace, suddenly unsure if dinner went until 7pm or 8pm and wanting our free meal (whether we are it or not). We did make a quick stop at the Cosmopolitan to cut through to the pedestrian skywalk and got to see the fabulous chandelier in the center! It was HUGE and glitzy and exactly the thing I want in my house. You know, someday. Butt we trooped on and we arrived around 7pm and the Trop 'n Go was still hopping so we realized it was until 8pm and got in line. We did so just in time as a crowd of people joined behind us and were grateful for our timing cause people take forever to order at this place. I don't get it, you look at the menu the whole time you're in line, it's everywhere, how do you not know still up at the front!? Jess and I were prepared though, with ID's out and orders ready. Took us maybe a minute. It's not hard people.
We arrived around 7pm and the Trop 'n Go was still hopping so we realized it was until 8pm and got in line. We did so just in time as a crowd of people joined behind us and were grateful gor.Our timing cause people take forever to order at this place. I don't get it, you look at the menu the whole time you're in line, it's everywhere, how do you not know still up at the front!? Jess and I were prepared though, with ID's out and orders ready. Took us maybe a minute. It's not hard people.
We ordered the chicken fingers for $16 and tater tots for $8, bringing our order again to $26.01 with tax! Food came quickly and we were back up in the room on no time, watching some PBS special on cats of Asia and Africa as we are and drank some of our cider. We only have two days left and still plenty of alcohol so we realized we need to start chugging some of that before we go. We ended the night with one cider and two Four Locos left to go. Not impossible to drink, more manageable for us now. as we drank and are we heard a slew of no king going on outside and looked to see about 20 cars with eyewitnesses on going slow and honking up the street. A few had flags of red, blue, and yellow on their cars but we couldn't Google anything to do with that flag and some kind of protest or parade so I guess it'll remain a mystery! We'd watched a couple different things on TV, flipping to anything that seemed interesting. We watched quite a bit of American Ninja Warrior which is good, cause these people are basically peak dominant apex predators, but I always feel like they're just a little too intense and competitive. I always feel like single-person sports need some kind of team atmosphere because you end up being to hard on yourself and don't learn how to lose gracefully or cheer on others. Not that everyone was like on the show, just some folks and I tend to think it has to do with the setup of the sport. Regardless we watched that, Pawn Stars, and just general crap TV as we finished our meal and drinks and went to bed around 12:45pm.
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