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Vegas Day 5

♪♫Blinded by the light♫♫♪ (everyone knows that song right?) Well, that's what I woke up to today.


The sun was showing her face peaking up over the mountains so brightly. Taking pictures out of a window just doesn't do it justice.




It would be a little cooler outside today...only 61° so we would be layering the clothes and jackets for the most part.


We decided to go cheap for breakfast today and head over to McDonalds just down the road. I had gift cards to use up.


I swear I thought last time we were here you could actually walk through the Brooklyn Bridge. Now you can't.




Some construction was going on in this area so McDonalds is tucked back in this corner. No worries, our sniffers led the way there.



We would find that everyone on the block had the same idea we did and man was it crowded. Everything here has turned to kiosk and I have to say I absolutely hate using them. There were only a few tables in the area but we would discover that there was a second floor with more seating. You would also find the restrooms up there as well. The kids snagged a seat for us as we waited forever for our food. Karl thought he was special because he ordered after us and got his food way before us. He let me in on his secret...he has the McDonald's app on his phone which gives him priority? I've never heard of that.


Our seats facing down below:


It would cost us $34 for our breakfast and much cheaper than "going out to eat" at a sit down restaurant...of course not as healthy but who's doing healthy this vacation anyhow?


The kids were excited about "What are we doing today?" and I honestly had no idea or plans other than to just walk the strip and check everything out. I know last time we were here everything was so pretty and decorated in all the Christmas decor. So, that was my plan.


We headed out and hit the strip taking pictures along the way.



First up was the Paris hotel. I think last time we were here we didn't even go inside so I knew I wanted to explore a little more here.




Inside was really cool looking and they had the sky ceilings in here like at the Miracle Miles shops. We really liked the inside of this hotel.





It really reminded me of our New York New York hotel when "walking the streets".





They had a pretty cool store with robots made of car parts. We were so fascinated by this.




What a beautiful ceiling!



Like I said before, there's Welcome to Las Vegas signed everywhere.



We headed outside and down the street (not the strip) along the back way toward the High Roller. We thought since we had made it this far we might as well go for a ride on it. I was kinda amazed how the "scenery" changed once you walk a block off the main strip. It didn't look like the greatest place to be walking in...just saying.


Along the way we started seeing a bunch of Tesla's going up and down the street. I've never seen so many. We would finally make it down a ways to find out why...a charging station.



The High Roller:




Once we made it to the High Roller there was...you guessed it, a kiosk to purchase tickets. Ugh! After going through all the prompts, I would find that it would cost $33 PER PERSON! What the heck. Now I do a lot of research prior to going anywhere and make a spreadsheet with costs and my research said it was only $18 per person. Did they hike the price up for Christmas?


After much discussion, we decided to wait on this. Sakari really wanted to ride at night and of course her suggestion was let's do it now in the day and then come back at night and do it again. Um no little one, we will not. If your preference is to ride at night, then we are not riding now. I'm not paying that price twice.


So, we headed down a walkway in the area and it was really nice. The hubby said he wouldn't mind staying in this area in the future. We were able to find multiple restaurants and many of them offered breakfast. We decided that we would have to come back one morning for breakfast. So many options.





Well we were right next to the Flamingo hotel and I thought it was a great opportunity to visit the flamingos.




The good thing about visiting here is that it is FREE! Yes free! One of the few things still left in Vegas that you can do and not have to pay to get in.


We walked around the grounds and viewed all the flamingo's, ducks, fish and waterfalls. It is so pretty here.





We also seen several hummingbirds. They were gorgeous! I guess there's multiple species that visit there.







Now here's some honking big fish! There were a lot of them (and a lot bigger than the one in this picture but it was so hard to get a good picture with the glare)





The Flamingo was one of the options I had to stay at this time around. Maybe next time.





Across the street was Caesars Palace.



We continued on down the road to the Venetian Hotel. I don't think we actually went inside this hotel when we were here last either and just admired it from outside with the gondolas.




Along the way this handrail caught our eye. It had 4 rings in the middle of each section and I had to take a picture of it. We have several Audi's and my kids do too and that's the Audi symbol. LOL Of course I immediately sent a picture to my son.



This road caught my eye too...talk about feeling drunk....I wonder what it's like trying to drive it after a few drinks....whoa



The gondola rides outside. That pretty water making me, again, wish I was somewhere nice and warm in the Caribbean.






Inside had plenty of murals...and more sky ceilings.




There's that Welcome to Las Vegas sign again...





Well whaddayaknow...they have gondola rides inside too!





We stopped in most of the art shops and admired what we couldn't afford to buy. Some of the stores even had pictures of the "Rich and Famous" superstars that came there to purchase items.



We decided we needed a little snack and there was a bright pink ice cream shop that was just calling our names! It was so cute!




Well I knew exactly what I needed, eh hem, I mean wanted: a peanut butter sundae! This would cost us $23.98 for 2 of them. The kids decided to buy their own. Alrighty then. Ok by me.






Sakari navigated to a store with organic items like candles, hand made stationery, wall art and other home items. They had a lot of neat items. Sakari found some wonderful smelling candles that she loved and had to buy.




Heading back outside. This floor was freaky to walk on.





A few hotel pictures.




Heading to the Palazzo hotel:






Still continuing down the road and we were now at the Wynn:





Inside we would find.....the actual place that Sakari was wanting to go with all the flowers and Christmas decorations!! I remember now!












This is the place I remember having the neat bar downstairs with the umbrella's on the ceiling and they move by turning and going up and down and the only curving escalator I've ever seen:







We crossed the street over to the Fashion Mall




There were some rainbow stairs here...just like they had when we stayed in Isla Mujeres Mexico. On the other side was more painted steps.




Pictures of where we had been across the street already.




Treasure Island:





So sad to see the Mirage go:





They were working on this building and Sakari noticed that the windows were fake.




Some random photos...




Well at this point we were worn out and decided to use our bus passes to catch a ride back to the hotel.


Ok, time to find a show for the night since there wasn't much excitement for the kids today. I checked the availability for the Michael Jackson show and man were they expensive! I would have to wait for another day when I could get the cheaper seats darnit.


So I ask Sakari "Have you ever heard of Tape Face?" She let out a squeal and said "Oh my gosh I know Tape Face and have watched him online!!! Is he here????" I told her advertisements for him here in Vegas were everywhere not only now but last time we were here too. I had no idea who he was but her excitement about the possibility of seeing him in person told me everything I needed to know about what show I was booking tonight. The great thing was it was also at MGM Grand across the street from us. We would have some time to rest and then not have to walk far tonight.


We were killing time watching tv and Karl turned me onto a show called "Alone". I had never heard of it but it was like, back in my day, Survivor. Well, we ended up hooked on the show and watched it every night after that during our stay.


Our show was at 7:30pm and the cost was $49/each which equals out to be $269.60 PLUS the $10 each popcorn that we HAD to have at every show.