At our beside-the-pool meeting, we decided to go to the Rainforest Café in the MGM hotel for lunch then do some shopping at the Planet Hollywood Hotel. We had come close to eating at the Rainforest Café at Downtown Disney in Disney World when we holidayed there over ten years ago. At that time, there was a 2 hour wait to get in so we never made it beyond the entranceway. I took some pictures then we hunted down a place that served faster food.
This time we walked right into the restaurant. The jungle decor was fantastic and we had a great time watching the little ones in awe of animatronic elephants and monkeys. Large aquariums dotted the place so we were never without visual stimulation. Another bonus was souvenir, flashing margarita glasses.
After lunch we browsed the shop and I discovered they had 100% rayon Hawaiian shirts. These are Glen's favourites so we chose two since they were the cheapest I had ever seen. After that we headed to the Planet Hollywood hotel.
The last time we were in Vegas, we walked by the construction of this hotel on our way to the Aladdin hotel shops. Little did we know it was out with the old and in with the new and the Aladdin was demolished (but not it's tourism website). When we entered the shopping area, it was definitely déja vu. The Aladdin-themed concourse was still there with its Moroccan decor and hourly rainstorm.
Meg wanted to check out the Betty Page store so Glen and I sat on the rocks surrounding a pond. Glen carried the Rainforest Café bag with the flashing glasses and had several people comment on his parcel. One couple also remarked that the Betty Page store was good because it didn't use animal products. Glen pointed to their leather sandals as they walked away. I guess people don't realize when they are being hypocritical.
Gambling was next on our agenda and since we had loyalty cards for the Sahara, we headed back there to fritter our money away. Meg and Mike play machines which reward you with video games as well as money (at one point Meg turned 15 cents into $32) whereas Glen and I play video poker. We agreed to meet at the Nascar Café for before dinner drinks and that's when we first beheld the phenomenon of men trying to consume a six pound burrito with dollops of sour cream and guacamole. It was not a pretty sight and no man who tried, succeeded although the first guy we saw did very well. We cheered them on but neither Glen nor Mike were up for the challenge. Too much food!
We dined in the hotel's steakhouse restaurant, the House of Lords. Not sure how that title relates to the Saharan desert theme but the decor was definitely Moroccan. We sat in a booth shaped like half an onion dome and had a great meal (good food and inexpensive). It was a place where you could imagine the Rat Pack eating and in fact, they did. The walls of the Sahara are decorated with old black and white photos of Sinatra, Lewis, Martin, Elvis, and The Beatles.
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