Starling Travel

My sister wanted to go to Las Vegas for her birthday. We are always up for a trip to Vegas, so we readily agreed. It turned out to be a very busy trip, and at one point at The Forum Shops at Caesar’s Palace, I realized I was tired. I sat by the fountain and took it all in.

This is what I saw:

Next time your vacation is starting to take over and the activities become more tiring than enjoyable, let yourself just sit. Relax and enjoy the surroundings. You don’t need to be doing something every minute of every vacation. Sometimes the best times are the times when you think you’re doing nothing.

Via: Pick Me! » Zen Moment at Caesar’s Palace

Wil Wheaton played in the World Series of Poker and documented his trip to Vegas from Los Angeles.

• WWdN: In Exile: like a skillet full of oil spits rattling on the burner.

I love what he says about a drive to Las Vegas:

“As my friend Ryan observed last week, the drive from Los Angeles to Vegas is ‘the perfect length for a mini-roadtrip, long enough to feel you’re actually getting somewhere, short enough that nobody gets restless in the car.'”

A drive to Vegas from SLC is the same. It’s the perfect roadtrip distance.

If you have a craving for a roadtrip, read this story from Wil Wheaton. You’ll almost feel like you took the trip yourself.

Warning: If the title of this entry or the thought of pubic hair bothers you, then you probably shouldn’t click on the link or video.

Min Jung has been sent to Las Vegas to review the show, Love, at the Mirage. It’s Cirque du Soliel’s newest show in which they dance and contort to the psychedelic stylings of the Beatles. I’m actually really interested in the show, so I enjoyed reading about her trials and tribulations to just get her own reservation at the Mirage.

• MinJungKim.com – Braindump v 5.0 » I’m in Vegas, Bitches.

• MinJungKim.com – Braindump v 5.0 » Love – The Cirque Show by the Beatles

She also took a moment to videotape her experiences. Despite all her problems, she has a great room overlooking Caesar’s Palace, Paris Las Vegas and The Rio Hotel. I usually end up with the room overlooking the I-15 freeway.

I’ve found that any time I’ve been “sent” somewhere by a company, that I’ve had trouble with reservations. Most times, when I have made the reservations on my own, I don’t have trouble. It was probably not The Mirage’s fault that they couldn’t find Min Jung’s reservation, but it shouldn’t have taken them so much time to figure it out and they definitely shouldn’t have put her in a dirty room. Sounds like her trip to Zumanity made it all worthwhile, though.

She also has a photoset from her trip on Flicker:

• Min Jung Kim – Vegas 06.06 – a photoset on Flickr

Where: Las Vegas, Nevada

The Mirage Hotel: 3400 Las Vegas Blvd S, Las Vegas, NV 89109 Google Map

The Official Mirage Hotel Website

The Beatles LOVE by Cirque du Soleil: Showing at The Mirage Hotel 3400 Las Vegas Blvd S, Las Vegas, NV 89109 Google Map

The Official The Beatles LOVE Website

Cost: $69 – $150 Depending on seating

Zumanity – Another side of Cirque du Soleil: Showing at the New York, New York Hotel 3790 S. Las Vegas Blvd. Las Vegas, NV 89109 Google Map

The Official Zumanity Website

Cost: $69 – $129 Depending on seating

The Baccarat Bar at The Bellagio Hotel: 3600 S. Las Vegas Blvd. Las Vegas, NV 89109 Google Map

The Official Bellagio Hotel Website

Lan Bui lives in Orange County, California. The four hour drive from the OC to Las Vegas, Nevada has been condensed into this short, one-minute film.

• Video of the Moment: Orange County to Las Vegas in 1 minute

I love the drive from California to Las Vegas. It’s a quick drive and there is Barstow to stop at along the way. If you are trapped at work, take the minute to download this video and enjoy it.

Schlomo Rabinowitz went to Las Vegas and stayed at the New York New York hotel. He got footage of the casino. Every time I’ve tried to take pictures or video in ANY casino, they have stopped me. Good job getting all that “forbidden” footage!

• Echoplex Park: Hey, Let’s Go To Las Vegas!

He doesn’t seem to enjoy the Vegas experience quite as much as I do. I love the New York New York hotel. He kept asking what burrough he was in. I wanted to scream at the screen, “You’re in Central Park!” I guess he doesn’t like the imaginary version of New York quite as much as the real one.

On the way from San Diego from Las Vegas, we passed lots of motorcycles. Groups of five to eight riders were making their way from California to Vegas. We stopped for gas in Barstow. While Mike gassed up the Beetle, I ran to the bathrooms located outside the store. There was a big sign on the men’s bathroom, “Out of Order.” The women’s bathroom was occupied.

I danced my little “I should have stopped in Victorville” dance while I waited for the women’s bathroom. When the door finally opened a burly biker walked out. He blushed a bright shade of red and jerked his head toward the sign on the men’s bathroom. He bashfully walked away and let me use the bathroom.

He left the toilet seat up.

Last year at this time, we camped at Lake Mead in Nevada. We usually go there several times a year, but last year was the first time we had ever gone there so early in the spring. We were pleasantly surprised at how different the experience was.

The nearly monotone landscape was alive with color. I had never before seen so much pink in Nevada that wasn’t powered by neon. It was too early for bats, but we did enjoy the landscape. The campground was nearly full of snowbirds camping in Nevada for the winter, but they mostly stayed in their huge motorhomes. We were lucky to get a campsite so near Boulder Beach.

There is a little trail that runs along the area. It’s beautiful to see at this time of year and the Nevada sun hasn’t gotten to the raging heat that it does later in the season.

It’s pretty obvious that this trail was made before the lake got to such unprecedented lows. This trail used to be along the lakeshore, now it’s about a half mile from the lake. It’s still worth the walk, though.

This is the perfect time of year for a quick camping trip down at Lake Mead. The plants are bursting with flowers and the campgrounds are full, but quiet and enjoyable.

Where: Lake Mead Boulder Beach Campsite: 420 Lakeshore Rd, Boulder City, NV 89005 Google Map Phone: (702) 293-2540

Lake Mead National Recreation Area – Camping

Not too long ago, I did a story about Pottery World just outside of Las Vegas, Nevada.

Starling Travel » Small Pleasures Week: Pottery and Patio World

At the time, I took some video of this fountain. Unfortunately, it was filmed “sideways” and I didn’t have the correct software to rotate it. Thanks to what I learned at SXSW, I have finally been able to remaster this 29 second video for your viewing pleasure.

When I filmed this video, it felt like light itself was spilling over the sides of the fountain. The chilly wind whipped around my hair, smelling like dirt and rain. In the background, the owners of Pottery World were playing Mexican music and I felt so at peace. Pottery World was truly a visit of small pleasures that week in Las Vegas.

Where: Google Local – Sloan, Nevada

With cryptic promotion like this fuzzy Q advertisement, Avenue Q didn’t have a chance. It wasn’t like Wynn didn’t support the Broadway show, it’s that the advertisement was so mysterious that the typical Las Vegas tourist didn’t have time to solve the puzzle. What went through my head was, “Hmm, that taxi is covered with orange fur. What IS Avenue Q? Must be some strip show.” It IS Vegas, afterall. Most of the shows there ARE burlesque. How was I supposed to know that it was an acclaimed Broadway show with… um… raunchy puppets?

• ABC News: ‘Avenue Q’ Closing in Las Vegas

The Avenue Q show at the Wynn hotel is closing to make way for Spamalot, another musical hit from the Monty Python guys. There are so many musicals that came from Broadway in Las Vegas that it bothers me a little bit. Las Vegas isn’t the western Broadway. Las Vegas is its own animal with the ability to create its own live entertainment. They don’t need to borrow from New York. What works in New York, might not work in Vegas, as so aptly demonstrated by Avenue Q.

I wish the casino owners of Las Vegas would stop trying to be a cheap imitation of New York and let the city be a great version of itself. Las Vegas has what New York and Broadway could never have. Ironically, if Avenue Q had been a strange and fuzzy strip show, it probably wouldn’t be replaced with Spamalot right now.

I have gone to Las Vegas so many times that it is in my dreams often. The geography of Dreamland Vegas is very different from the real thing, however. Dreamland Vegas has an ocean where the Desert Inn Golf Course is and there are some small Hawaiian huts that surround the ocean (complete with waves and a tide). In Dreamland, I have always wanted to stay in those little Hawaiian huts, but we have never splurged on them. I feel a little deprived that I have never been able to stay there.

I think someone has been picking through my Dreamland Vegas, because they have created this ocean for me, although it’s not located where the Desert Inn Golf Course is. It’s a lot further away from the Strip, located about halfway between Las Vegas and Lake Mead. It’s called the Lake Las Vegas Resort.

This man-made lake was formed when they completed a dam in 1991. It took three years for the lake to fully develop from the Las Vegas Wash, but once the lake was completed, they built a Mediterranean-style resort, complete with an imitation Italian township.

They don’t have gambling at the Lake Las Vegas Resort, they have GAMING. You don’t have to feel guilty about gaming, do you? Instead you can feel guilty about the shopping and dining and feel proud of your kayaking, swimming, hiking and biking around the local trails.

I’ve never stayed at the Lake Las Vegas Resort, but it’s a far cry from the Hawaiian huts that I imagined in my Dreamland Vegas. I’ve driven past Lake Las Vegas on the way to Lake Mead many times and at a camping fee of $10 a night at Lake Mead, I have a hard time justifying the cost of Lake Las Vegas at $129 – $999 a night.

Where: 1600 Lake Las Vegas Pkwy. Henderson, NV 89011 Google Map Phone: 1-800-564-1603