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Old 13 Nov 17, 10:07 PM  
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clochette
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Let's Do Vegas! 15-21 October. Day 3 Shopping and Fremont Street

We were awake before 5 again this morning - what's going on? Inspite of being so tired we just couldn't get back to sleep so I was all for getting up and heading out. After all who wants to be spending time in the hotel? However, Gary did point out that maybe it was a little early, so we chilled for a while just reading and planning the day. I spent a little time catching up with DDs via What's App, sending a photo or two to make them jealous. We (or rather I) decided we would go outlet shopping this morning. We were going to take an uber but as we had plenty of time I did a little research and discovered we could get there on the bus that runs up and down the Strip. There are two main ones - the Deuce which stops at all the hotels on the Strip but doesn't go as far as the outlets and the SDX which is more of an express service and only stops at certain hotels, the Bellagio luckily being one of them. Well, it doesn't actually stop at the hotel, but you know what I mean. The SDX also goes as far as the Premium Outlets South so that's where we were going! You buy the tickets in advance from a machine at the bus stop - $6 dollars for two hours unlimited travel or $8 for 24 hours which we obviously went for. (Does anybody go for the 2 hour one I wonder?)

I was ready to go out ages before Gary, who seemed to want to take things at a slow pace this morning, but eventually the need for coffee got him moving and we headed out about 8.50. We got as far as the Patisserie near the bottom of the Spa Tower, where we stopped for a latte, an Americano and a chocolate and almond croissant. 9 am is clearly not the time to be ordering breakfast as it was very busy and the servers here were some of the slowest I have seen in the US. However, we finally got our stuff ($17.05) and ate it at a little table overlooking the pool, while we watched the world go by. I enjoyed mine but the coffee was a bit too weak for Gary; he needs a good strong brew to get him going in the morning!

The world's biggest chocolate fountain apparently outside Jean Philippe patisserie

Breakfast!

Our view whilst eating breakfast - nice!

We were finished by 9.40 and headed out to find the bus stop, via the casino because we had not spent any money gambling yet, so we had to change that. $2 and about 30 seconds later, we had rectified that omission (last of the big spenders here!) and were on our way again.

Last of the big spenders!

We found the bus stop no problem and got our tickets. I tried to pay with our Thomas Cook card but it was declined so Gary just paid on his credit card. I thought at first that I had put the wrong pin number in but I checked and I hadn't. Then I realised that when it asked whether I was using a credit or debit card, I should have said credit because I believe all non US cards are classed as credit cards. Anyway, the bus came a couple of minutes after and we were on our way.

We got to the outlets at about 10.25 so it took about 20 minutes in all. The first shop we saw was Columbia which pleased Gary as he was looking for a new coat. Last time he was in the US in 2010 (such a long time ago now!) he bought a walking coat which was an absolute bargain at something like $60 reduced from $300. He didn't find such a good bargain today but he did find a coat he liked. As it was only the first shop, he decided to think about it.

A very interesting picture of the Shopping Mall

We had a good wander but we didn't find much to interest us to be honest. I was tempted by a Vera Bradley bag but I didn't really, really want it so I put it back and I also considered a couple of nice evening dresses what with the party season being almost upon us. In fact, I don't know why I didn't get one of the dresses - I wish I had now but it's a bit far to go back. However, my main aim was to buy some new skechers , as my trusty pair were - past their best is the best way to describe them I think! It was buy one pair, get one half price, so I bought a trainer type pair and some black leather ones that I can wear for work - my feet will be so grateful. They cost me $85. Whilst we were in the shop there was a lady looking at the shoes that I bought. She really liked them but her husband obviously didn't and kept trying to move her further down the aisle to look at some different ones. I couldn't resist saying that I liked them too but I wish I hadn't as it almost caused a domestic in the middle of the shop, with her calling her husband a male chauvinist pig and other people's husbands let them choose their own shoes etc. Gary sloped off at this point to avoid being dragged into the row. Thanks for the support!

Gary bought himself a new polo shirt from Under Armour. He does a lot of walking and climbing and has a lot of their base layer stuff. It was about $40 so just over half of the full price. I collected about three more sachets of moisturiser, but I turned down the eye treatment this time. You could start to take these things personally. I used to think I didn't look too bad for my age, but I'm obviously a wreck - lol!

Gary was a bit peckish by now, though I wasn't that hungry so he got a cream cheese and onion pretzel and a large Pepsi ($8). Of course, as soon as he started to eat it I decided I was hungry after all. Gary said to go back and get myself a pretzel but I only wanted a little taste... and maybe a little bit more... oh and a bit more! In the end, Gary had to get himself another one. What can I say? It was very tasty. We happened to be sitting outside the Bose shop while we were eating, so Gary went in to look for some sort of speaker thingy that you play music from your phone through (not a very technical explanation - sorry!) He found some but wasn't sure whether they were good value or not, so he checked amazon UK and they are actually cheaper at home so he didn't bother. Next we went back to Columbia so Gary could get the coat he had been thinking about ($88) and that was it! Not a huge haul at all but I had my skechers so I was happy. Now if DD2 had been with us, we certainly wouldn't have got away so lightly!

When we went to catch the bus, logic told us to cross the road to the stop opposite the one we got off at, which seemed to make sense to us. However, there was nobody waiting there but there were lots of people at the stop where we got off so we asked where we needed to go. Apparently, the bus went back to the Strip a different way and didn't pass the outlets. We had to get on the bus on the outlets side of the road and go to the next stop, which was the end of the line and transfer there, so that's what we did. Gary pointed out that the bus conductor was carrying a gun; he thought it was a glock 15, but he wasn't going to ask! When we got to the bus station, the conductor told us which bay we needed so we all traipsed over there, waited for 5 minutes and proceeded to get back on the same bus we had just got off! Not sure what that was all about.

We were back in our room by about 1.45 so we headed down to the pool to soak up some sun. The pool area at the Bellagio is just beautiful and the main pool is huge, probably 2 or 3 times as long as most hotel pools that we are used to. Although there are no slides or anything for children, it's only 3 feet deep the entire length of the pool so it would be safe for children. They also have lifeguards on duty. In addition to the main pool, there are four other small ones, one with a fountain in the middle. As you may have guessed, I really liked the pool area. I also liked the fact that the sun loungers didn't tip up when you sat on the end of them like they usually do - the number of times I have embarrassed myself on holiday! The pool cafe was closed for the season but they had a couple of bars open. Gary indulged in a gin and tonic and I had a bottle of highly expensive water. I can't remember exactly how much they were but it was around $20! Not a cheap bar!






The beautiful pool - very relaxing!

We stayed by the pool for a couple of hours and then we went back to the room to get ready for our evening out. As we had 24 hour passes for the bus, we decided that tonight would be a good night to visit Fremont Street. We left the room about 6.30 and just missed the SDX. We could have made it if we had been prepared to take our lives in our hands crossing the road but I have to confess that the traffic scared me to death; I was never sure which direction the cars were coming from - and as for this turning right on the red light, I'll just never get the hang of that. The next bus that came along was the Deuce, so we caught that rather than wait for the next SDX. They really aren't joking when they say they stop at every hotel - it took absolutely ages and the traffic didn't help. At least it gave us time to look at the northern end of the strip. I have to say, I wasn't over impressed with what we saw. I think the southern end is much prettier (although it was dark and we couldn't see too well though that may have been a plus!)

We finally made it to Fremont Street at around 7.30. What can I say about Fremont Street? It reminded me of Blackpool on speed! It was very loud, very brash and really rather tacky (apologies if it’s your favourite place). We had been recommended a couple of restaurants by our guide yesterday. The first one was Heart Attack Grill which we wanted to see for curiosity's sake but certainly didn't want to eat there. For those of you who don't know about it, the food portions are heart attack inducing in both their size and their fat and grease content. The waitresses wear nurses' uniform and the drinks are served in an iv bag and drip. If you don't finish your food the waitresses spank you! (Maybe this will explain why I wasn't keen to eat there).



Fremont Street!


The other restaurant our guide recommended was a Thai restaurant called, unoriginally, le Thai. We found it fairly easily but there was a really long wait - over an hour. We ummed and aahed a bit but decided that we would wait. The hostess offered to text us when a table was ready until she realised we didn't have a US cell phone so she told us to come back at 8.45 and that it would be worth the wait. As we were leaving, we bumped into the English couple from our tour yesterday - it's a small world after all! They, too, were going on the guide's recommendation but they decided not to wait. We had a quick chat and then parted ways. We had a wander around, just taking things in, or trying to. We went in the Golden Nugget Casino to see the world's largest gold nugget - huge, but it didn't look real to me and we had a wander to see if we could find the bus stop for the SDX rather than the Deuce. We found the stop along with a really helpful employee who gave us a map of the bus network and told us we could use our tickets on any of the Las Vegas buses, not just the Deuce and the SDX.


The Golden Nugget Casino

The biggest golden nugget in the world

We spent a little while admiring the nerve of the people on the zip wires, particularly the girl who got stuck halfway along. She was dangling there for quite a while before somebody came out and rescued her by pulling her along the wire. I did wonder whether she would get another go and if she would be brave enough to take it if she did! We also spent a while watching two little boys drumming. They were absolutely amazing - so talented - but I felt a little bit sorry for them as they could have only been about 5 or so and looked rather bewildered by everything (a bit like us really - lol.)

One of the many entertainers

By now it was time to go back to le Thai. We had a really helpful waiter called Michael. I have a seafood allergy which just happened to come up when Gary was deciding whether or not he wanted the shrimps. Michael was quite concerned as fish oil is used in almost all Thai cooking, including the coconut soup we were going to share as a starter. Although I am not allergic to fish per se and have eaten Thai food in the UK, Michael went off to chat with the chef who recommended I stick with the vegan options just to be on the safe side - with meat added! So we shared spring rolls as a starter and then I had pad see ewe noodles with chicken and Gary had three colour curry with chicken. They give you the choice of how hot to have it between one and five. I went for an embarrassingly non spicy one but Gary went for the full five as he loves his spicy food. Neither of us could finish, even though it was absolutely delicious - maybe we should have skipped the starter! It came to $60 with drinks (sorry didn't write down what we had but it would have been some sort of Thai beer for Gary and a soft drink for me) and tip. We left a big tip as Michael had been so helpful.

We decided that we had sent enough of Downtown Las Vegas so we got the SDX back to the Strip, arriving back at about 10pm. I'm glad we went to Fremont Street to experience it for ourselves but I'm not sure I would rush back. I'm also glad we went at night as I think it would be quite sad during the day without all the bright lights to provide some glitz - but maybe I'm wrong. Deciding that 10pm was far too soon to head back to the room, even for me (I'm quite an early bird at home) we went in search of another recommendation from our guide - the Yard House. This is in the Linq Promenade and is a sports bar that has over 130 different beers, so Gary just had to try it. I wasn't quite so keen but I really liked it when we got there. It was fairly quiet when we arrived. In fact there was hardly anybody in (unlike later in the week when we visit again) but the atmosphere was nice and the bar staff were friendly. We sat at the bar and the barman gave Gary a couple of samples so he could decide what to have He went with something called banger in the end and I had Arizona peach. I'm not a big beer drinker at home but this was lovely and refreshing and you could really taste the peach. I would definitely recommend it. The bill came to $15.43 plus tip.


The Yard House

I know it's probably too small to read, but all these are beers!

I was really starting to flag by now and drinking a pint of beer hadn't helped so we went back to the room, arriving back about 12.20, still not a late night for Las Vegas I suppose but not too bad for me, particularly as we had been awake since 5. I think Gary watched TV for a while but I was out like a light.

Read Day 1 here:

www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=1053972

Read Day 2 here
www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=1054355

Read Day 4 here
https://DIBB.in/12957775

Edited at 06:50 PM.
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Old 14 Nov 17, 06:04 PM  
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Pussycat Doll
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Sounds like a good day. Fremont St is a bit intense I think!
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Old 14 Nov 17, 09:28 PM  
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clochette
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Yes, it is certainly an experience isn't it? Something to be experienced in small doses I think!
Thanks for reading along
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Old 15 Nov 17, 09:25 PM  
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tinkerbell59a
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Another great day
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Tinks!
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Old 16 Nov 17, 12:48 PM  
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Rockycat
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I'm really enjoying your report so far, looking forward to reading the rest.
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Old 16 Nov 17, 09:53 PM  
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clochette
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Originally Posted by tinkerbell59a View Post
Another great day
Yes, it was a great day. Thanks for reading along
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Old 16 Nov 17, 09:55 PM  
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clochette
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Originally Posted by Rockycat View Post
I'm really enjoying your report so far, looking forward to reading the rest.
Glad you're enjoying it. Thanks for reading along.
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Old 16 Nov 17, 11:27 PM  
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Another great day, thanks for sharing. I agree Fremont St can be a bit intense.
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Old 17 Nov 17, 08:11 AM  
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clochette
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Originally Posted by JoS View Post
Another great day, thanks for sharing. I agree Fremont St can be a bit intense.
Yes, manic is a good word for it I think. Thanks for reading along.
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