Episode #42: Jacob's First Trip To Vegas 2017 - 2nd of 2 Dad And Son Solo Trips

I have literally lost count how many times I have been to Las Vegas over the past 25 years and yet I still enjoy going each time I make the trip and probably not for the reason most folks take a trip out there. It seems I am attracted to the massive construction projects that continue to 'out do' the previous massive construction project. For a long time everything was about the theme of the property and the attention to detail always fascinated me, like Caesar's Palace including Caesar's Forum Shops, The New York New York, The Excalibur, The Luxor, The Cosmopolitan, Treasure Island, etc. There seems to be a changing trend from those themed approach hotels to that of more creature comfort and luxury like The Aria, The Vdara, etc. I have stayed at The Vdara several times and it is a very nice luxury hotel, however it was originally built to be apartments rather than a hotel and when you walk into the room and it is very obvious.

When we took this dad and son trip it was near the end of August 2017, he was 24 years old and it was my first trip here in the heat of the summer and it was plenty warm. I had a screenshot photo one of the days we were there showing it was 117 degrees for a number of years but cannot find it now.  Regardless if this was dry heat or not, it was hot, however we did not let that slow us down. Anyone that has traveled with me knows they will need some good walking shoes, because we are going to make some steps. The screenshot below is of my Fitbit analytics from one of those days and while it is not the normal daily step count, but you can bet by the end of each day we were pretty close to these same results.

While we were there we hit many of my favorite sights of both the newer attractions of the strip as well as some of the older areas of downtown known as the Fremont Street Experience. This section of Fremont street is no longer for vehicle use, rather for pedestrian traffic only. It is covered with the world's largest LED canopy screen that is 90 feet wide and 1375 feet long and takes up 6 city blocks  This part of town has different attractions than found on the strip and it is a part of the town that was made popular by the likes of the Rat Pack, mobsters, show girls as well as the many movies were filmed in this part of town for the iconic backdrops and scenery. There are a lot of street performers and vendors here as well. This is where we had this caricature of us as a souvenir keepsake of our trip here. 

One of the attractions that we took in was in this area of town was a first for me which was the Mob Museum. The building that houses this museum was previously the the federal courthouse as well as the main post office and was built in 1933. This museum chronicled crime from the nations beginning years throughout the history of the nation up to current crime issues and was a very interesting and informative tour.

We stayed in The Mirage Hotel during this stay and glad we did. This hotel opened in November 1989 and in December 2022 MGM sold the operating assets to Hard Rock for just over $1,ooo,ooo,ooo and will be transformed into the newest Hard Rock Casino Hotel in the spring of 2027.

The following pictures are a few of my favorites from this trip. 

This picture is from the top floor of The Forum Shops at Caesars. The lighting slowly dims to make the ceiling which is painted as the sky appears to transition from daytime to dusk to dark  then back to dawn and daylight. If you are not focusing on the change, it is so gradual, you don't even realize it is happening.

Of course while we were there, we took a drive out to Lake Mead to see and tour Boulder Dam. The dam construction began in 1930 and was originally named Hoover Dam after President Hoover which was clearly a political move by the Secretary of Interior and was renamed Boulder Dam shortly after FDR was elected to the Presidency. Then years later Harry Truman changed the name back to Hoover Dam. Politics always seem to get in the way but oftentimes make for interesting stories. This picture was taken in the base of the dam in the power house with the massive generators behind me. The picture below that is the 'new' bridge over the Colorado River as it leaves Lake Mead.

There are many amazing structures and facilities here in Las Vegas and the first time I was here was in 1999 and I stayed at the MGM Grand Hotel and was shocked as to how big this hotel is. It was built on 6.6 acres with 30 floors and has a total of 6852 rooms in this one hotel! As amazing as that is, just a few properties down the street is the Venetian Hotel which is adjoined to the Palazzo hotel has an amazing 7100 suites. While that in itself is amazing, I find the defining feature of this hotel to be that of the replica canals of Venice Italy, with the opportunity to ride a gondola INSIDE the hotel lobby of the Venetian. See the picture I took below on this trip of the canal. Like all of the other large hotels here, it is packed with stores and vendors of all kinds.

 The picture below was take of us in the common area where these two huge hotels meet.

While this was Jacob's first visit to Las Vegas, it will certainly not be his last. He went to work  for Howard Hughes at corporate office in The Woodlands in October 2022 and now works as an insurance risk manager on properties and developments for this company founded by the eccentric multi millionaire, business entrepreneur, inventer, aerospace engineer and film producer. He has already made 3 more trips there since he started this job due to ongoing and upcoming property developments.

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