Viva Last Vegas–Our Final Fling In Freemont Street.

“And now…. ” as the late great Frank Sinatra was oft heard to warble “….. the end is near, and we must face the final curtain” …. for tomorrow we must sadly leave Last Vegas and return happily to Wolverhampton…..

But not,  before going out with a mahoooooosively mahoooosive bang in Freemont Street!!  We started with a proper “last supper” at The Golden Gate as recommended by Charlene (our Valley of Fire Guide), opting for a round of their world famous 99c shrimp cocktails …… nom, nom, nom ….. followed by meat loaf, mash and really, really thick gravy, with a humongous side of mahooosive onion rings  ….. nom, nom, nom, nom, but no dessert as we were stuffed to our very rafters!!!!

And then …..  we went out into Freemont Street to see and hear the live bands playing on three giant stages positioned along the street, walk amongst a multitude of Elvis’s as they went about their nightly duties, see all the dancing girls  AND finally see the mahooosive light shows they have every hour on the hour on a humungous  LED video screen canopy that covers the whole of the street …… something we had deliberately saved until our last night ….

OMG, OMG, OMG …….. it did not disappoint!

We just lay on the floor, legs and arms akimbo, and looked up ….. at eight o’clock we saw The Doors, at nine o’clock we saw Bon Jovi and then at ten o’clock we saw Queen, the show we that had really been waiting for  …….. OMG!

It was all too, too, too, too wonderful for words  …… the sounds, the lights and the atmosphere …

WHAT A WAY TO END OUR HOLIDAY OF A LIFETIME HOLIDAY OF A LIFETIME!!!!!!!!!

America and Last Vegas we LOVE you ……

And as to what our joint fortune telling reading said about a possible return ……. well that would be telling!!!

But Viva, Viva, Viva, Viva  Last Vegas !

Viva Last Vegas …. And Avast Me Hearties

We must have walked past The Treasure Island Resort almost every day …. and never once ventured in, to be frank and robustly honest, we thought it might be a teensy weensy bit trashy  …. but yesterday, it “won” Darrell’s last minute, visit of choice before sadly we fly back home …..

His argument was convincing, he said that he had a very spooky, Derek Acorah type of feeling in his water that if we didn’t go we might always wonder “what if” ….. and he also thought that Nigel might rather like all the swashbuckling piratey stuff.

Well,  all I can say is that there was definitely something in Darrell’s water.…… Treasure Island was indeed most BRILLIANT! They had cowboy and pirate stuff!  Our favourite bar/restaurant was Gilley’s …… which had a Bucking Bronco … one of Nigel’s all time things to do on his bucket list…..

…he did 45.8 seconds …… we were sooooooooooooooooooo proud!

Gilley’s is, as you can see from the picture above is also famed for its World Famous Bikini Bull Riding ….. however Nigel did not enter that category for his 45.8 seconds ….. thank goodness. And, the aforementioned bull riding in garments of a scanty type nature would obviously not have had anything to do with Darrell’s argument to come …. the little tinker!

We had a most fabulous time, we got listen to some proper “Country” music …. one of the things we really wanted to do ……and get to do some boot scootin’ on the line dance floor …… Darrell amazed us all with his grapevines, kick ball changes and cross ball struts,  who’d have believed it?

We ended the perfect day and evening with Darrell having his fortune told ….. oh my life …..he was told to … “Try to cultivate a red haired person.   Therein lies a great deal of happiness for you”  ……and his lucky numbers are …. 1, 6, 26, 32, 36 and 39.  All I can say is - look out all uncultivated red haired people, Darrell is looking for one of you!

Viva Last Vegas–Keeping The Best ‘Till Last …..

Yesterday,  we booked a Pink Jeep trip to The Valley Of Fire …..

………. we didn’t know what to expect ……

….. but we were all totally, totally blown away by it all ….. there were tears, there was laughter and there was a whole lot of awe and wonder …… we definitely saved the best till last!!! OMG!

Our guide was Charlene and there was NOTHING she didn’t know about the native Anasazi people, their history, their culture and their legends and stories, she held us spellbound and in the palm of her hand for the whole day.

She took us to The Lost City Museum first, where we were able to see a replica of a house where the Anasazi people would have once have lived. We read everything there was to read in the museum ….

……. even Nigel had a go, he needed to sound out  some of the bigger words, but he was so totally entranced and thirsting to know more, like a damp sponge!

And then ……  we went into the Desert and The Valley of Fire ….. OMG, OMG……

It was HOT, VERY HOT – 100 degrees,  but we had remembered to bring lots and lots of water …. I think mine was all perspired out of me as soon as I swallowed it!

It was sooooooooo amazing …..

…. with every twist …..

….. and turn of the road …..

…… round each new corner ….

There was something wonderful new to see ….

…….something so beautiful ……

…….it would make us gasp ……

and take our breath away ….

….. we just wish we could be more poetical.

….. our pictures just don’t do it any justice …. and don’t really show you just how mahooooosively mahoooosive everything was …. as there was just nothing to compare things too.It was just too, too, too, too ……… for words!

Especially the heart in the sandstone, we took turns to sit in it and contemplate for a while, to reflect on our holiday of a lifetime holiday, and how very fortunate we are ……. and to make  a wish.

Charlene played us “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” when we went into a particularly stunning valley called Rainbow Vista because of all the colours in the rocks and now whenever we hear the song we will immediately be taken back to The Valley of Fire …….and our WONDERFUL day …… the most bestest one of our entire holiday, rolled into one!

Charlene also recommended a restaurant to us in Freemont Street ...... but more of that in a day or two!

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Viva Last Vegas ….Nigel Meets Jaws…

Our holiday of a lifetime holiday in glorious and most wonderful Las Vegas is sadly drawing nigh  ….

….. so the final things we choose to do now, before we sadly start to pack, and the things we decide to leave until we come back have had to be debated robustly, at times becoming quite heated… each one of us putting our arguments for and against a venue/destination with a fervent vigour and not a little table thumping, usually over a cocktail, or two, or three!!!

Yesterday Nigel presented his hypothesis as to why we should go to the Shark Reek at the Mandalay Hotel (which is joined to our hotel via a series of escalators and walkways) very concisely and with extreme succinctness  …..

He said that if Andy was with us, it wouldn’t have been one of the last places we would have visited ….. it would have been the first, and in that respect we had been very, very remiss! …… It was an argument, we couldn’t/wouldn’t even challenge …… so to Shark Reef we ventured. 

Despite being desperate to see the sharks, it was in fact the jelly fish that stole Nigel’s heart ….. “They are so graceful and ethereal and of an out of this world type nature, a little bit spooky and a little bit rock and roll! ” he declared …. however on this one rare occasion he wasn’t desperately desperate to dive into the tank and be at one with them, as is his usual mantra …..

…… but, he would never ever completely rule out swimming unprotected with sharks or octopuses  ….. what is he like?