17th - 20th March - Las Vegas

Very bumpy flight from Dallas Fort Worth to Las Vegas for the last 30 minutes as we skirted some electrical storms. Good lightening show out the window of the plane. Our bags were delayed for about an hour at Las Vegas so we occupied ourselves watching people on the slot machines and watching the huge advertising screens showing what shows were on in Las Vegas at present. Once we picked up our bags we caught a shuttle bus to our hotel - The Casino Royale - after dropping off others at their hotels. It was like a mini tour of the Las Vegas Casinos, great way to have a look around the lights of the strip. Ended up getting to bed around 1am.
18th Woke and had small breakfast of porridge then headed out onto the strip. After a couple of hours we stopped for second breakfast of ham, eggs, sausage and tortilla at a little Mexican restaurant, we declined the breakfast Margaritta or Bloody Mary that was offered. Walked to Tropicana and then caught local CAT (Citizen Area Transit) bus into the suburban area looking for a thrift store to get a wedding dress. No Luck, found where the shop used to be but it had closed down a couple of months previous. Missed a few buses and time was running out so we caught a monorail to the Sahara in the hope of having lunch. By the time we arrived there we didn't have much time left before the wedding so had to forgo lunch to find the Graceland Wedding Chapel. After an hour of walking and 4 blisters later we found the Chapel. You can view the pictures here http://www.dotphoto.com/GuestViewAlbum.asp?AID=5159405
Username Graceland Password DCHAR
The wedding was a hoot. As you can see from some of the photos we got to sing with Elvis.
After the wedding we decided to check out downtown las vegas, the old part you see in old Elvis Presley and James Bond movies. We then caught a bus back to the Sahara and the lines for dinner were excessive so we ended up catching the Monorail back to our hotel and had dinner next door at Denny's.
19th Had a good nights sleep and headed back to the Sahara for their breakfast buffet, but by the time we arrived they had already started the lunch buffet, so we took our time over brunch and left thoroughly stuffed. We caught the monorail back to the other end of the strip at MGM grand and headed to Mandalay Bay which is the last Casino on the strip. We made our way slowly back through the Luxor, Excalibur, New York New York and so on down the strip. Lots of interesting exhibitions etc in the casinos and lots of new shopping malls since we were here last.
20th Packed up and put our bags in the storage room. Another day hitting the strip taking photos inside The Venitian and other Casinos, as the voice on the monorail said, we travelled from Luxor to New York to Paris, Venice and the Sahara all without a passport. We had lunch at the Flamingo buffet and then headed into their gardens and pool area. An oasis in the desert with Flamingos, turtles and many birds. Cat had a little cat nap for 1/2 and hour then we wandered the strip a little more with the feeling of being Las Vegased out. We headed off to the airport in a shuttle and were glad to be away from Las Vegas. Caught our 11.10pm flight to Miami and because of the time change after our 4.5 hour flight arrived in Miami at 6am.