Starling Travel

We made reservations to stay at the Luxor Hotel, but when we arrived, I was heartbroken. They were tearing out everything I loved in the hotel and it was all blocked off by big walls. It was 1996.

They had already removed the Nile River Ride on the lower level and were constructing a huge registration desk right at the front of the pyramid (where it should have been in the first place). I had been looking forward to riding the Nile River Ride again, but it wasn’t going to be. If I had known, I would have taken a bunch of pictures the previous time.

Large portions of the attractions level were quartered off. The Manhattan Buffet was gone and a transformation was overtaking the big city skyline. I’m so glad I took this photo with my beloved 110 camera. It was the last time I was going to see that little King Kong on the top of the Empire State Building in the Luxor. Sure, the “building” is still there, but it is painted to look like a building from Egypt instead of New York.

The Millennium Cafe was intact. Little did I know that it was going to become a La Salsa. I like the foot long margaritas and the Mexican food, but I still miss the “Cafe Eighties” feel of the Millennium Cafe.

They didn’t ruin everything. The view from my hotel room on the twentieth floor was still spectacular. The pool looked inviting as ever. It is the one facet of the Luxor Hotel that has changed little over the years.

You can see more photos from my 1996 stay at the Luxor Hotel here:

• Flickr: Luxor Hotel Remodel 1996

The Luxor Hotel has gone through yet ANOTHER renovation this year and I talk about it here:

• Starling Travel » Open Letter to The Luxor Hotel and Casino

What used to be my favorite hotel in Las Vegas has dwindled down to just another casino. It makes me sad and I wish for its glory days of the Nineties.

When we were in California last February, we were able to visit Star Trek The Tour. It is currently at the Queen Mary and is destined to travel to 40 U.S. cities, but we couldn’t be sure Salt Lake City was on the list, so we saw it while it was in California.

Star Trek The Tour is a collection of the props, sets and costumes from all the Star Trek television shows and movies. The coolest part was the staff allowed us all to take as many pictures and video as we wanted. I took so many pictures that I could fill the screen with them all. Here a couple of highlights:

When you first walk into the place, the Guardian of Forever is there to greet you. They let you walk up to and jump through it all you want. It’s awesome!

There were dozens of these exhibits with props from the original series. I loved how much attention to detail they gave them. Some of them were labeled as props, but repainted. Others were in original condition. If they were replicas, it said so on the little card.

Here is Captain Picard’s office with his desk and even a photo from Deanna and Riker’s wedding. It was fun so see all of the sets from television in real life.

You can see ALL of the photos I took here:

• Star Trek The Tour - a photoset on Flickr

At the end of the tour, you go through a Star Trek Experience. It was a lot of fun and this video doesn’t really do it justice:

Download this video for your iPod

The experience leads you out into the gift shop. If you think that it’s just ordinary Star Trek paraphernalia, then you would be mistaken. I bought my Starfleet Academy school ring there and I haven’t been able to find anything like it anywhere else. Not even The Star Trek Experience in Las Vegas has them.

Ssandart got video in the Borg Simulator. Since these kind of rides make me motion sick, I avoided them. Looks like they were pretty cool, though. Skip to the 2:06 minute mark to see the video of the simulator:

Here’s a commercial for Star Trek The Tour on YouTube:

A special thank you to Wil Wheaton for announcing this on his blog:

• WWdN: In Exile: announcement two of four (collect them all!)

I wouldn’t have known about this if I hadn’t read it in his blog, so I’m so glad I was able to play with all the fun at Star Trek The Tour!

Dear Luxor Hotel,

I used to really love you, but the Luxor has really gone downhill. Despite all the renovations, I really don’t want to step into a casino with Carrot Top with top billing and EVERY casino has a strip show. Advertising yours (Fantasy) just makes you look pathetic.

You keep sending me these “offers,” but they aren’t appealing in the least. If you don’t have a good show to draw me in (in all honesty, your shows are scaring me away), and you don’t have anything else to draw me in, then the price of the room needs to draw me in and I can beat your price at the Las Vegas Hilton or Imperial Palace every time. Barry Manilow and “Dealer-tainers” are just as scary as 3 Redneck Tenors, but I pay MUCH MUCH less for the room.

Seriously, the Luxor hotel used to be my FAVORITE hotel. I’ve written about it online many times:

• Starling Travel » Small Pleasures Week: The Luxor Atrium
• Starling Travel » The King Tut Exhibit
• Starling Travel » Luxor Hotel SWAG
• Starling Fitness » The Perfect Run
• Pick Me! » You’re Going Out of Town Again?!
• Pick Me! » Confession of a Security Guard
• Pick Me! » What Has Happened To My Luxor Hotel?

I didn’t realize how many times I had written about the Luxor until I looked it up. I even went so far as to call it my “beloved Luxor Hotel.”

I’ve visited since the “new pulse” was installed. Stripping the hotel of the theme was kind of silly, but I understand that you’re trying to make it upscale. A lot of casinos are trying to play down their kid-friendly aspects right now. Of course, that doesn’t explain Ronn Lucas and his puppets. I understand what you’re trying to do, but there is NO WAY that you’ll be able to be upscale if you don’t draw in some better entertainment. And by the way, paying stars to come dance at your nightclub doesn’t count as entertainment.

And don’t even get me started about the billboards plastered on the side of the pyramid. Anubis himself might have come to take down that Absolut bottle if the wind storm hadn’t gotten to it first. Adidas? Since when are you a sports bar? Aren’t you embarrassed that Google Maps shows you with half a sign advertising Motorola from InterOp plastered on your beautiful, black pyramid? You should be.

When your advertising isn’t merely unappealing, it’s downright insulting. For example, take the Valentines Day offer you sent in February 2008. Here was the offer:

• Complimentary admission for two to Cathouse: This is your restaurant where women in lingerie serve you food right? I noticed you didn’t offer me a dinner there, just admission so I don’t have to pay the cover charge. Do you really think women in lingerie feeding my husband food is romantic? What kind of Valentines Day do YOU celebrate?

• 2 for 1 Admission to Fantasy: THE STRIP SHOW? What kind of couple goes to a strip show on Valentines Day? Not only that, you expect my husband to pay for himself and I get in FREE? Wow… thanks for the offer… I’m so underwhelmed.

• Chocolate Covered Strawberries (from in-room dining): That sounds nice, I guess…

• Complimentary admission for 2 to Nuture The Spa: I don’t care what you call it. Nuture The Spa is just a hotel gym with a massage therapist or two. I’ve been there. I know. I love to exercise there, but your admission doesn’t include the cost of a massage, so really all you’re offering me are a few treadmills and a hot soak in a tub. Admission to your spa should ALWAYS be free.

• Complimentary Deluxe Tower Room Upgrade (based on availability): Have you not figured out yet that the coolest part of staying at the Luxor Hotel is the room in the pyramid with the fun, slanty walls? I don’t WANT to stay in the tower, but if I did, I would be pretty underwhelmed with the lack of promise that “based on availability” gives me.

Really? Is this really the best Valentines Day offer you could make me? Mike and I were in Vegas right before Valentines Day. A really good offer might have made us stay a couple of days longer at YOUR hotel. Instead, you insulted everything about the holiday.

Every time we drive past the Luxor now, my heart aches for what you used to be. How much longer until you dismantle whatever is left of cool that you had? Please, please, please fire the advertising company that you have hired. If you are doing this in-house, STOP IT and hire a good advertising agency. I would hate for the Luxor to suffer the fate of The Sands, Stardust and so many other great casinos that couldn’t compete in this market. You deserve so much more than a burst of fireworks and a carefully timed implosion.

Best,
Laura Moncur

I have been enjoying The Smart Show on my iPhone for months. I just now realized that I probably should share it with you. Here is episode one for your enjoyment.

If you think that visiting the Fluff Festival just outside of Boston is a strange way to travel, you haven’t seen anything yet. Follow these guys around while they enjoy the free continental breakfast at Holiday Inn Express and travel across the country. As of today, they have over 48 episodes for you to enjoy on YouTube or on your iPod or iPhone.

Enjoy traveling across the United States with The Smart Show!

Teendrama took an interesting fieldtrip to see the Lego Skyscraper:

• teendrama.com - fieldtrip to the lego skyscraper

There are many pictures on their site showing all the detail.

You can also see lots of different Lego Skyscrapers on Flickr:

• Flicker Search: Lego Skyscraper

You can see it here:

Storefront for Art and Architecture (thru Nov 24) 97 Kenmare Street, Lafayette, NYC Tuesday - Saturday 11:00AM - 6:00PM Closed Sunday and Monday.

Ward and Andrea Jenkins moved to Portland this year and they are enthralled with their new home town. You can read about their enthusiasm here:

• The Ward-O-Matic: Portland’s calling

Portland has been a gas stop on the way for Mt. Hood for me, so it’s inviting to hear what a newly transplanted family thinks about the place.

“It’s been so easy to love this new city of mine, with what seems to be TONS of things to do with kids in tow. We just recently checked out the Oaks Amusement Park this past Friday, and, even though it wasn’t like good ol’ Six Flags Over Georgia (Monster Plantation, anyone?), it still had the wonder and awe that only old skool rides can make for summer memories. They even had a roller rink, which I SWEAR had the exact smell of the 1970’s — they should somehow bottle it up and sell it on the street corners of America. I’d buy it. Ava and Ezra were loving the kiddie rides, all of which bordered on the “carny” side. In fact, the entire park screamed CARNY — they just never left town. (The park’s been a staple of SE Portland since 1905!) It was the perfect ending to a great summer.”

Ward has been a faithful lover of Atlanta, but it looks like Portland has won his heart. Welcome to the Wild West, Ward!

I love reading about other people’s travels. Jesse Stay was nice enough to share his trip to Yellowstone and Jackson Hole with us:

• Yellowstone, Jackson Hole Trip by Stay N’ Alive - Technology, Business, Religion, and Rants From the Life of Jesse Stay

You can see the photos from his trip here:

• Picasa Web Albums - Jesse - 2007-08 Yello…

Yellowstone Park is one of my favorite places to visit. I love to see what other people experience when they go there. Never in my many visits have I seen a buffalo get this near Old Faithful. That was a once in a lifetime shot, Jesse!

Why has it taken me so long to find out about the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame? I have yet to visit, but the next trip to the northwest is taking me straight to it! Here are some photos on Flickr:

• Flickr: Search - Science Fiction Museum

This photo is my favorite. Kelly_pwn had to stitch together two photos to get it all in one picture, so it looks wonderful!

The Science Fiction Museum is in the legendary Frank Gehry building right next to the Space Needle. The Space Needle was yet another symbol of the future that didn’t come, how apt.

My whole life, I looked forward to the future that science fiction promised me. Only now am I surprised at what has come and what hasn’t. Sure, I don’t have a flying car, but I CAN eat freeze dried food all day if I want. I think I’ll stop dreaming for a future that may never come and just be happy to reminisce about a future that is somehow in my past.

Where:

The Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame
325 5th Avenue North, Seattle, WA 98109
Google Map

Summer Hours:
Open Daily 10:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m

Download this video for your iPod

We took a break on the long drive to Billings and stopped at Prairie Dog Town. We were surprised to see that it’s nicely inhabited. The prairie dogs and bunnies were shy, but willing to hold still for many pictures.

I have no idea what they were eating. I was zooming in on them with a 10X zoom, so I wasn’t nearly as close to them as it appears.

I remember Prairie Dog Town being hot and too much walking when I visited it as a child. I remember not even being able to see the prairie dogs because every time I would see one, they would pop back into their holes. Now, I realize it was because I was a noisy kid, who screamed every time she saw one. Now that I’ve learned to be still and quiet, I am able to see the prairie dogs I was never able to see as a child.

For More Information:

Greycliff Prairie Dog Town State Park - Montana FWP

Josh Leo took a trip to Europe and had a one day layover in Budapest. He saw the sites and shares them with us here:

He visited Saint Stephen’s Basilica, the tallest building in Budapest, by mandate. He lets you experience the difficulty of climbing its stairs to get to the top.

• Saint Stephen’s Basilica - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

He also relaxed in the warm baths at the Széchenyi Thermal Baths.

• Thermal Baths Széchenyi - Contact Information

He ended his day showing the well-lit splendor of their architecture. Enjoy this wonderful day in Budapest.