Las Vegas; Thursday, 06 April, 2023

Of course having an earlyish night with the time differences and the effects of spending half the previous day just sitting on a plane, meant I woke up at 4am wide awake with clearly no way of getting back to sleep, so instead I spent a little time planning the day and then had a little explore of the hotel and casino (given everything is open 24/7) before finding somewhere open for an early breakfast.

A little later on I headed out of the hotel and across the road to pick up the Deuce bus to head south down the strip to the world famous Welcome to Las Vegas sign, thinking that at 9am it would be relatively quiet – that turned out not to be true with a large number of people already queuing to have their photos taken in front of it, though in reality with a carefully aimed selfie you can take one from the side without needing to queue.

From the sign I hopped back on the Deuce and rode it north all the way up the strip to the Downtown area where some of the older casino’s are located before heading back South again taking in the views of the different resorts along the way with their increasingly bonkers creations – a full Egyptian pyramid and obelisk, recreation of Manhattan, a half sized Eiffel Tower and even a recreation of part of Venice, complete with gondolas!

The hotel complexes are so large that it pays to sit on the driver side of the bus and take the views across the six lane road as any closer means you cant make out everything – so to get the full range of all the resorts I turned round at the South Transit Centre and headed back North again, completing the full set of all the resorts and complexes.

Back up in Downtown I went for a little wander over to the former post office and courthouse, which in the 1950s was the setting for some of the countries hearings into organised crime in the US – the court has long since relocated to newer premises, but the building – now a national monument – has been turned into the National Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement, or more catchily the Mob Museum. I spent a good time looking round the museum and taking in the exhibits – some a little more macabre that the others (the actual wall, complete with bullet holes, where seven mobsters were killed by rival mobsters in the St Valentine’s day massacre anyone?)

Having looked round the museum I headed the short distance down to Fremont Street, the heart of Downtown Las Vegas and where many of the original Casinos are located – before the larger resorts were built down on the strip. Fremont Street is now fully pedestrianised so it makes for a pleasant space to wander around, especially as a high roof has been added to protect visitors from the elements (mostly the harsh desert sun), and act as a giant screen for displays and shows.

After taking in Fremont Street I hopped back on the Deuce and headed back towards the strip, hopping off around the Mirage to grab a very late lunch, or at that point a slightly early dinner, and then have a wander around part of the strip by foot before heading back to the hotel to freshen up.

Once the sun had set and the lights had come on I headed back out of the hotel and over to the Bellagio to take in the fountain displays which go off every 15-30 minutes, before heading back to the hotel for a well earned early night given the 4am wake up.