Las Vegas Tips (Page 2)

Sheesh, man, it's only a marathon. Not like I'm racing or anything.

Right now I'm debating whether to rent a car. Other than back and forth to the airport (cheap shuttle), looks like the longest walk we'll have is to the Rio for P&T. That's *only* two miles, and it's the day after the mary.

'Course if we had a car we could drive to Red Rocks and Hoover Dam...

There you bear. Now...go try some of that gellato. Its Fab-O!

What the hell is gelato? Does it come in wahoo flavor?

I don't think you want it in Wahoo flavor. I don't think wahoo tastes very good.

Gellato is italian ice cream. So to say. Ligher than ice cream as we know it, kinda like sherbert...but all kinds of flavors. Very good. They have a chocolate fountain in there from ceiling to floor too...very cool.

Any drawback to having a car on the Strip? Other than traffic?

looks like all of the hotels/casinos have free parking...

Oh! You dont need a car...wait, are you driving to Hoover or anything? I've taken cabs when I've been there. Well, you have to run so maybe a car is fine, but there is a lot of traffic.

Ok, blabbering. You can do without a car, but it will probably cost the same as cabbin' it and save your legs.

We walked pretty much everywhere we went.  The walk to the Rio from the Tropicana may run a little long, about 2 miles according to maps.google.com. Not long by marathon standards, but the Rio is off the strip and it looks like a pretty boring walk.  As far as other travel, we took the Monorail to a couple shows.  I took the bus to the outlet mall.

Traffic looked to be a bee-otch.  If you're not planning on going out to Hoover Dam on your own, I wouldn't waste the money on a rental car.  But then again, MY legs didn't run a marathon on my vacation!

I don't think so. Maybe he ended up staying in his cave and eating honey. 

Not much on the trip, just the race report from said trip.

bts

Whoa! Didn't know my fans were anticipating a follow-up!

Overall, a great trip, one of the best marathon trips we've been on, but it was expensive even with our penny-pinching ways. Here's the wrap-up:

Lodging: we stayed at the Tropicana, booked the room at an average rate of $70 per night (remembering that Saturdays are ~$140  ). When we got there they had us in a smoking room, so we paid $10/night for a bigger non-smoking room in a more convenient Island Tower, and were really glad we did. Room was huge, nice, clean, and very convenient to the street, whereas the other room would have involved a lengthy walk through the casino and then some. For the price, this was a great decision on our part. Not the fanciest hotel and casino, but only a short tram ride to Mandalay Bay where the race started and finished, and a LOT cheaper than the surrounding hotels.

Shows: We bought Penn and Teller tickets online before we left, then went to the discount ticket office (in the Coke building) and bought cheap tickets to Follies Bergiere just to get a taste of the traditional Vegas extravaganza. Follies was OK and everything I expected, lots of gourgeous boobs showgirls, but the best part was this juggler/comedian who came out for about 20 minutes in the middle of the show. The cheap seats weren't that great, way in the back of the theater, but they were adequate.

Penn and Teller were pretty cool, really enjoyed that show, also thought it was neat that they hang around the lobby after to sign autographs and pose for pictures.

Dining: Friday night we went to Alladin's for their buffet, which wasn't that cheap (~$25) but OK, comparable to the better casino buffets around here. Then on Monday, we went to the Rio for P&T and hit their buffet. Man, what a difference. Much better selection, quality, everything, for about the same price as Aladdin's. Based on that, I would avoid Alladin's and hit everything that is as good as or better than Rio's.

Saturday night was the night before the marathon so we took it easy and safe with pasta dishes at Maggianno's. First time I had been to this chain, food is comparable to Macaroni Grill, maybe a little better than Olive Garden, but (at least in LV) overpriced.

Sunday night, post marathon, we didn't feel like paying another $25 each for a buffet, so we went right up the street to Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville, where I pigged out on the Volcano Nachos.

Despite hearing stories of $12 hamburgers outside the casinos, we found plenty of cheap fast food up and down the Strip. Even found a Chipotles.

Sightseeing:  the first two days we spent walking the strip, going in and out the casinos and their related shopping malls and attractions. Plenty to see and do for free, I think we managed to do most of it, but really did way too much walking for the days before the marathon. Essentially we walked from the Tropicano to the Fashion Show Mall and back each day ( 4 miles round trip in a straight line), but did so through the casinos, probably covered 8+ miles each day. Plus we ran the Santa Clause 5K the day before the marathon. WAY too much walking.

Cheapos that we are, we found the transit busses on the Strip to be safe, convenient and a lot faster than walking. We rode the bus as far as Fremont street for our 5K Saturday, no problems at all. Never had to wait more than 5 minutes for a bus to get to the stop.

We planned on going to Hoover Dam Monday, after looking at tour busses charging $45 per head we decided to rent a car (~$55 for two days), drove to the dam on Monday, to our show at the Rio Monday night and then to Red Rocks on Tuesday before catching our flights. The dam and Red Rocks were OK, nothing overly stunning, but I guess I'd recommend them as "must do" things if you're spending time in Vegas.

Overall, as I said, a great trip, a great marathon given the new race director and the new course. Certainly would recommend it to anyone looking to do a marathon in the future.

Glad to hear you had a good time (and that you made it to one of the traditional shows).  For whatever reason I've always liked them better than some of the A listers.  And it's not just for the outfits (and I swear).  Showgirls of Magic is so cheesy it's hilarious.

bts

Got plenty of honey too, but that part we'll just leave in Vegas.