After breakfast, we jumped in the car and set off down to the iconic 'Welcome to Las Vegas' sign a couple of miles down the Strip. The famous landmark is so popular for tourists taking photos there that there is a small car park right next to it specifically for visiting the welcome sign. Today, as on other days over the past week, the visitors were also there to place or view the tributes to the 58 people killed at the nearby Mandalay Bay hotel. Very moving and poignant visit.
We then made our way back up the Strip to do the Virtuals and see the other surreal sights. Apart from the one small car park I just mentioned, it’s not easy to just park and jump out the car so Mark dropped me off and drove around the block to pick me up again a few minutes later.
After doing this twice it was obvious it was more trouble than it was worth so he took the car back to the hotel and walked down to meet me.
By this time we were ready for a cuppa. We made our way to coffee shop and bought a coffee and muffin each – a bargain at a mere $17! The muffins were about $3.50 each, a bit cheaper than the nearby Starbucks where they were about $4.50 each but somewhat more expensive than the $1.29 we’d paid in Alamo yesterday.
The touristy part of Las Vegas is totally tacky with its replica Eiffel tower, Sphinxes, Venice and what have you but there is something very likeable about it. It’s as though it knows it’s tacky but doesn’t take itself seriously and The Strip is stunning with its palm trees, rich blue sky and neat road borders. It’s kind of how we were expecting Los Angeles to be, but wasn’t.
Having visited all the Virtuals within walking distance, we took to the car to drive around some of the other Virtuals before ending up at the Stratosphere. The Stratosphere Tower is the tallest free-standing observation tower in the United States, and the second tallest in the Western Hemisphere, surpassed only by the CN Tower in Toronto, Ontario. The parking for the tower is at the Stratosphere hotel and to our surprise it was free of charge.
We paid the $20 entry fee each and whizzed up in the lift to the observation decks.
As expected, the view is very impressive.
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