Today was about being in Vegas, seeing the new resorts and revisiting some older ones to see what changes have occurred since our last visit.

This was our first visit to Wynn. Opened in 2005, at a cost of 2.7 billion dollars, we were impressed by the opulence.
Real flowers decorated the entire place. It was breathtaking.

Brilliance abounds inside our breathtaking Conservatory & Botanical Gardens. The attention to detail is astounding. The passionate display of nature in all its awe-evoking glory - quite simply, sensational! Let your imagination wander as you assume a leisurely stroll amongst rare natural finds selected distinctively for Bellagio from all over the world.

The Cosmopolitan's Chandelier Bar gets our vote as the most gorgeous.
These Madame Tussaud's wax figures of the Blue Man Group, at the Monte Carlo, are as close as we came to seeing a show. However, we have seen them perform on previous Vegas trips and they are fun.
At NY, NY we discovered the interesting new store called Stupidiotic (Stoo-pid-ee-ah-dick) a trademark brand of this, that, what and why not. The inventory was diverse and I found myself laughing at this item. That's all there really is to say.
The Hershey's Chocolate World is always a treat to peek into. Chocolate covered bacon anyone?

When we entered the MGM Grand, we were given tickets to watch a soon-to-be released television show for us to review. Television City is billed as a world-class consumer research facility, offering focus groups, one-on-one interviews, surveys and a wide range of testing technologies for clients in all industries. We were shown the show Life in Pieces, a comedy about one family told through the separate stories of its various family members. The stars are pretty big: Dianne Wiest, James Brolin, Colin Hanks and faces you know whose names you probably don't. We were asked to rate the show and the commercials that we watched of other upcoming shows. This opportunity was a welcomed one. We got to sit in a cool room and watch TV. Just what we needed at that time of our Vegas hike.
Dinner was at Hexx's patio on the Las Vegas Strip. We spent a leisurely meal recapping our exciting three days in Nevada. Vegas surprised us, in a good way. It was a great desert escape.

Okay, a visit to the Neon Museum ranks really high, if not the highest, on our list of the coolest things we have ever done in Vegas. This is truly a do not miss experience (thank you Karen B for the suggestion).

Also known as the Neon Boneyard, this is a history of Vegas told through its signage.  It is home to some of the most treasured and world-famous signs of Las Vegas – Caesars Palace, Binion's Horseshoe, the Golden Nugget and the Stardust.

Each sign in the collection has a unique story about who created it, what inspired it, where and when it was made, and how it fits into the development of Las Vegas and the city's rich history.  Changes and trends in design and technology are also illustrated in the pieces that range from the 1930s to the present day.
We took the 7:30 evening tour so that as the sun went down, the signs truly came alive. This was indescribably incredible.






There were many history lessons told on this hour long tour. One I found incredibly interesting was regarding the Moulin Rouge Hotel described as, "The Vegas Hotspot That Broke All the Rules". It was America’s first interracial casino and helped end segregation on the Strip. It proved that the only color that mattered was green. There is so much more that could be said about this. Wow.




Dating from the early 30s, this was the oldest sign in the collection. The first of such establishment owned by a woman.


The Stardust holds fond memories for me. As a child we would stay there and in college, during spring break, rooms were $20. What a deal for us girls on a budget.
This is the newest sign. The Riviera (colloquially, "the Riv") is a closed hotel and casino on the Las Vegas Strip, which operated from April 1955 to May 2015. It is owned by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, which plans to demolish it to make way for convention and meeting facilities.

The old La Concha lobby, the museum's ticket office and gift shop, is an example of Paul Revere Williams’ work (he was the first certified African-American architect west of the Mississippi), as he moved away from more traditional architectural styles to embrace Modernism.  A popular name for this type of architecture is “Googie,” which describes a style that references a time when the United States was enthusiastically anticipating the future.
There is absolutely no way I can fully give this experience the justice it deserves. It was truly Vegas in its finest and we were so excited that we were able to do this tour.

Breakfast was at the groovy Jerry's Casino, north of downtown. Since 1964, this has been a family owned place and we were promised that our meal would be wonderful.

The recommendation was extremely accurate. Great service and quite possibly the best Belgian Waffle we have ever eaten. We are now fans of Jerry's Nugget!

Wanting to venture beyond the neon, and even though we have been here a few times before, we headed to the Hoover Dam. This concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, on the border between the U.S. states of Arizona and Nevada, was constructed between 1931 and 1936. Its construction was the result of a massive effort involving thousands of workers and cost over one hundred lives.


On the way back into town, I saw this building from the freeway and knew instantly who the architect was and that I needed to see it up close. The Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health, opened in 2010, and was designed by world-renowned architect, Frank Gehry. Another one of those cool Vegas discoveries that continue to impress.
We ended our day on Fremont Street at the Fremont Street Experience (FSE), the second most famous street after the Las Vegas Strip. Prior to the construction of the FSE, the western end of Fremont Street was the picture of Las Vegas that was included in virtually every television show and movie that wanted to display the lights of Las Vegas. The abundance of neon signs earned the street the nickname of Glitter Gulch.

How perfect that we saw an 'Elvis' at the Experience since the 1964 Elvis Presley film Viva Las Vegas featured nighttime footage of Fremont Street during the opening credits.
The most incredible attraction of the FSE is its barrel vault canopy (90 ft high and four blocks in length) that has enveloped this historic street. The underside of the canopy projects a light show— the world's largest and most spectacular. We stumbled upon the pageant and it was pretty mind-blowing. Interestingly, Las Vegas is known for never turning the outside casino lights off. Each show begins by turning off the lights on all of the buildings, including the casinos, under the canopy. This was something we had never seen before. Wow. The venue has become a major tourist attraction for downtown Las Vegas and we're so glad we discovered it. ¡Viva Las Vegas!

This is the first time we have returned to Las Vegas in almost a decade, and boy has it changed. We found that we are delighting in all our discoveries and one that we totally dug was the Polaroid Museum.

The Polaroid Museum Project perfectly marries Polaroid's past with the future of photography. Polaroid founder, Edwin Land, was instrumental in creating and molding the concepts of instant and collaborative sharing through the celebrated Polaroid camera and photo. Decades later, it's clear that Land couldn't have been more on target when he decided to revolutionize the modern imaging industry by making photos quick, easy, and accessible to all. 

We think we both had this camera! This place was several things to me: a museum, a history lesson, an art gallery and a huge flashback. We found it incredible- a Las Vegas 'must'.

One of the best things to do in this town is people watch! It is truly an unforgettable view of humanity.


As the temperatures lower slightly (91° at 10 PM) the lights illuminate. The combination is intoxicating. Las Vegas is at its most beautiful when the neon is a profusion of color.