Monday, April 30 – We left the MH at the Boulder City Elks under Bella's watchful eye and headed to the Marriott Spring Hill Suites Hotel on the Strip in Vegas. Our daughter, Carrie, travels extensively in her job and has an abundance of hotel points. She's offered us a free room in Vegas to “party the night away” and not have to worry about driving. An offer we couldn't refuse!
Can't believe these rooms go for this price. Amazing.
Very different bathroom arrangement. Left door to the lav area; right door shower area.
We arrived at the hotel for an early check-in and even got to have a hot breakfast at the complimentary breakfast bar. After delivering our luggage to the room, we headed to the Strip for some sightseeing.
We did have one “eye-opening” experience in the Paris Las Vegas Hotel. Wanting an adult beverage, we sat at the bar to play video poker and each ordered a Bourbon and Ginger Ale. $18.00! That was our most expensive two drink bar bill ever!
The closest we will ever get to the Eiffel Tower…Paris Las Vegas
The hotel was a couple blocks off the Strip so we took the advice of fellow bloggers, Kevin and Ruth, and drove the car to one of the hotels on the Strip that offered Valet parking. For the price of a $2 tip to the valet, we parked right in the thick of the Vegas experience. What a great way to solve the parking problem in a big city!
We did a little gambling or should we call it a contribution to the Vegas economy. We limit our playing to $20 each. We didn't even gamble away that much because we were too busy sightseeing.
This place is amazing.
Just look at the colors.
New York, New York. WOW!
The Cosmopolitan had the most unique bars.
That is a bar on the other side of those lights.
Luxor Hotel/Casino in the background.
With Marsha's recent bout with an aching back and hip, we kept the sightseeing to a half day. We returned to the hotel by mid-afternoon to rest up for tonight's visit to Downtown Vegas and the Freemont Light Show.
WOW! What a wonderful time we had in Downtown. We enjoyed this way more than our visit to the Strip this morning. It is much easier to walk on the covered street than having to use the elevated people bridges on the Strip.
The casinos aren't as large and glitzy as they are on the Strip, but they are so close to each other, it was like being in one huge casino anyway.
The overhead light and laser show begins at dark and is every hour on the hour. There are different themes for each show and they are utterly AMAZING!!! There was American Pie, Bon Jovi, Kiss, and others.
American Pie by Don McLean. "Peace Out!"
A generation lost in space.
Bon Jovi melody.
There were also street entertainers, music and of course, the ever popular “people watching.” You see everything imaginable here.
Guess whose favorite street entertainers these were. Marsha is not sure what there entertainment "specialty" is. 
We vacationed here over 30-years ago and remember the 99¢ shrimp cocktails at the Four Queens Casino.
Wonder why they hid the price in amongst the higher priced items.
After an enjoyable night on Freemont Street we headed back to the Strip to see the million lights and enjoy the Strip at night. It sure takes Hoover Dam's power plants to help light this city. Another WOW and AMAZING sight!
We even drove out to the end of the Strip to get our picture taken at the famous Welcome to Vegas sign. Another memory from our last time here. Sure wish we had pictures from that trip to show.
We were just like a couple of kids. We stayed out W - A – Y too late, but we must practice the City Motto......”What happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas.” We'll leave it to your imagination!
We slept in a little the next morning, enjoyed the complimentary breakfast and returned to the Strip to finish our sightseeing. We used the Cesar Palace Valet Parking and enjoyed seeing this area of the Strip.
Our two favorite Hotels were the beautiful Italian/Roman architecture of Cesar's Palace and the Venetian. We thought the Venetian, with the gondolas floating down the indoor river, and the amazing architecture and artwork, was our number one favorite.
Venetian lobby.
This is inside the building.
The ceiling was GORGEOUS.
This is Paul's favorite view of the ceiling.
Outside of Caesar's Palace.
Marsha traveled to Italy with our daughter, Carrie, a few years back. Both these hotels gave her so many great flashbacks. She loved it.
This was one HUGE difference between our first visit and now…the traffic. The main drag had SIX lanes going one way and four the other. No wonder there are pedestrian walkways going over most of the streets.
If you plan to visit Vegas, do not miss Downtown. We enjoyed it much more than the Strip. If you want to see more photos of our visit to Las Vegas, just click here.
Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y 'all back real soon. Have a great day!
