Day 8 - Flagstaff to Las Vegas

The bags did not have to be collected until 7.30am this morning and we did the same as the previous morning for breakfast. The first stop on the way to Las Vegas was a route 66 village called Seligman. This was almost totally dependent on tourism and therefore provided free hot drinks and had some interesting shops. The next stop was in Laughlin near Las Vegas. It could be described as a ‘poor Vegas’ as the principle is the same (just not as big).Geoff had a buffet restaurant planned called Grand Buffet in Edgewater Hotel and casino for anyone interested and most people were keen to try it following the success of the last one. This was $9.99 +tax and the food was more than adequate. There was so much choice and the tables were cleared constantly. From here we travelled to Vegas. The one issue that is worth mentioning is the travel on this day. Following 9/11 no buses or trucks are allowed to cross the Hoover Dam from Arizona into Nevada and because of this our journey time increased by a few hours. I believe that Thomas Cook could arrange for the bus to drop the tour group off at the Arizona side of the Dam and then to complete the long journey without the guests on the bus. This would allow the group to spend a few hours at the Dam and visitor’s centre while the bus did the journey to the Nevada side of the Dam. It seemed a shame to travel all that way and not have the opportunity to see Hoover Dam. Okay moan over. Geoff had told us on the way into Las Vegas that the service at the hotel was not as high as the other places on the tour and this showed in the length of time for the bags to get to the rooms. Having been to Las Vegas earlier that year we were very keen to go straight out and needed our bags to get changed. There was an optional tour of the strip that night for $30 and we opted out as we were already orientated and knew what we wanted to do. For a first time traveller, this tour would be very good. Some of the places the tour went would not have been our first choice for the time available, we felt there would have been more interesting shows etc elsewhere. Personal preferences are all different though. After a phone call to chase our bags and a quick change we were ready to head out. Following a taxi journey to the strip we soon found that the cheapest and quickest way to the main hotels and casinos in a taxi was via Las Vegas Boulevard. There was a nearby Deuce public bus and most of the group used this service although it did not get great reviews as the buses were so busy. We went to the Cheesecake Factory in Caesars Palace Forum Shops for dinner which was great. The portions are large and the prices reasonable. They have the biggest choice of cheesecake ever (obviously). From here we went to a little known bar in the Bellagio called Fontana and if you request a balcony seat it overlooks the fountains on the opposite side of the water to the street. It is rarely crowded and has excellent and uninterrupted views of the fountains. The drinks prices reflect the exclusive access and a glass of wine cost from $9 +tax. For Brit’s the prices are not too bad though. From there we visited Treasure Island (TI) to see the Sirens show which is very good albeit tacky and pointless. After visiting some more places we decided to head back to the hotel and take a look around downtown. We got back for the last Freemont Experience at 12am and were a little disappointed with the whole place. After visiting most of the casinos in Freemont Street, the Golden Nugget was by far the best and we found a much better atmosphere on the strip. Many people claim the best odds in Las Vegas Casinos are downtown and there are more local people compared with the strip which mainly attracts tourists. We were looking forward to Las Vegas as we had enjoyed it previously. There were two different experiences as we stayed in the MGM Grand Signature Suites the first time and I don’t think we would have wanted to return had we stayed downtown on that occasion. After gambling (and inevitably loosing) we decided to get some sleep ready for the next day.