We met them and had a big breakfast at America of omelettes, french toast, and a BLT (me, of course). I declared afterwards that there was such a thing as too much bacon but the others scoffed at this. We said our farewells to Tim and Ed (I hope we can meet them again in Vegas as we had so much fun together) then headed to the pool to relax before our shopping spree.
Okay, it wasn't really a spree but it did take several hours. First, we took the monorail to Harrah's then walked to the Venetian. It was very hot (42ºC or 107ºF) so we tried to stay inside as much as possible but we were headed to Fashion Show so had to cross Las Vegas Blvd at the Wynn Resort. I practised the waterfall photography technique my sister, Lynda, taught me at the hotel's fountain (see photo).
Fashion Show Mall looks like the flying saucers in the movie, Men in Black. It's described as one of the largest malls in the world with 250 stores, but West Edmonton Mall beats it hands down. WEM is no longer the largest mall in the world (it lost that title in 2004), but is in the top ten. Still, Fashion Show Mall is huge. Fortunately, Meg knew where she was going as they had explored the mall the last time they were in Vegas. Mike had bought a watch there and wanted to replace it.
The flying saucer is called The Cloud and at night becomes a movie screen. During the winter, the mall has snow storms which helps set the mood for Santa and his performers on the mall's fashion runway.
After buying the watch, we walked from the mall to Treasure Island, now branded as TI. When Glen first visited Vegas, there was a pirate show in the lagoon and the skull and crossbones are still part of the TI experience but the show is now called The Sirens of TI and features scantily-clad woman. Here we caught the tram to Mirage. A short, hot ride.
Mirage has a tropical paradise inside with beautifully arranged floral bouquets. It was also cool. We walked through the casino on our way to Caesars Palace where Meg wanted to have lunch at the Gordon Ramsay Pub and Grill.
Caesars Palace is another old Vegas hotel. The original towers were built in 1966 and like the Flamingo and Tropicana, its owners were accused of dealing with organized crime. The hotel changed hands many times and finally merged with Harrah's Entertainment. It has also added to its original layout. In 1992, it built the Forum Shops at Caesars to provide high-end shopping to The Strip. In 2000, it closed its Circus Maximus Showroom and rebuilt it to house Celine Dion's show. Now called The Colosseum, it even looks like the one in Rome.
Gordon Ramsay Pub and Grill is a modern British pub-style restaurant where the staff where punk fashions with lots of safety pins and spiky studs. There are 36 beers on tap and over 60 bottled beers. A beer sommelier helped Meg and Mike choose their beverages but Glen and I weren't thinking straight so chose an American beer. The heat was affecting me so I opted for a chilled shrimp salad then a summer baby vegetable salad. My body was craving vegetables and water. Meg forced me to drink a full glass which was one of the hardest things for me to do. Meanwhile, she had Mac n' Cheese made with three cheeses and black truffles. It was fantastic!
We stopped at the Pandora shop on our way to the Flamingo. My friend, Wendy, had given me a bracelet for Christmas and I wanted to add some Vegas charms. Meg and I checked them out while Glen and Mike explored a store with TV memorabilia and antiques. I ended up with three charms--a die, a lucky shamrock (Wendy is of Irish descent so it was appropriate), and a bag of money. I thought it might help me win big but that was a fond hope.
There was a letterbox hidden at the Flamingo so we decided to explore their wildlife habitat (with flamingos) and see if we could find it. Unfortunately, Meg reacted badly to the heat so she and Mike bailed soon after seeing the turtles. We weren't far behind as a wedding prevented us hunting for the box. We ended up on the same monorail train as Meg and Mike so walked back to NYNY with them.
I was not up for supper but still joined the others at the Nine Fine Irishmen and we were seated upstairs. I had a bowl of Colcannon soup (potatoes, cabbage, and leeks) and Guninness. Our table was in a good spot as the entertainment began downstairs and it was loud. The band played many songs we knew and even had an Irish stepdancer performing.
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