ok, now it's time for some actual vegas pics

i have to say i wasn't incredibly impressed with vegas, especially during the day. unless you want to drink, spend ridiculous amounts of money shopping, or act like a fool it's not the town for you. it certainly is great for entertainment i'll give them that, but if we didn't have family there i probably would never go back.

one of the days we were there aunt el took alice and matt and i got a room at the mirage. why did we stay there? well there is a little cirque du solei show there called LOVE that we wanted to see. it was incredible. and you don't need to waste your money on the closer, more expensive seats either. the "cheap" seats had the best view in my opinion. anywhere else and you'd miss things that were going on unless you were constantly moving your head. it was definitely the best $250 we spent the whole trip.

we also went to see a titanic exhibit at the tropicana. at the beginning of the exhibit you are given a boarding pass for one of the actual passengers of the titanic. it included lots of info on that person including what class they traveled, who was with them, where they were from, etc. at the end you're supposed to find your passengers name on the large list and see if he/she survived (i'm happy to report that both matt and i did. matt's person was one of the rare 3rd class males that survived). it was neat to see all kinds of artifacts from that great ship. the most interesting part was getting to see the personal items they traced back to certain people, the best being a clarinet from one of the men in the band.

our last night there matt and i and a bunch of his cousins went downtown for the night. the locals tend to bypass the strip and head downtown to fremont street and the older casinos and bars. there are still lots of tourists, but it certainly has a different feel than the strip. we hit a few bars, had fun, had drinks, watched the light show, saw some really bad live music, and i won 4,528 pennies. heh. i only played the penny slots and up until that night i was down $3. luckily i'm smart enough to walk away when i'm on a roll. it certainly ended up being a night to remember.

the bellagio and caesars palace.


the entrance to the bellagio.






the botanical garden at the bellagio.


the paris hotel.


the only good thing matt and i had at dinner our night at the mirage, strawberry shortcake.


she was so tuckered out.