Established in 1905, Las Vegas was incorporated as a city in 1911. At the close of the 20th century, Las Vegas was the most populous American city founded in that century (a distinction held by Chicago in the 19th century). The city's tolerance for various forms of adult entertainment earned it the title of Sin City and this image has made Las Vegas a popular setting for films and television programs.
We arrived in Vegas mid afternoon and just had time to settle into our lovely hotel room at Bally's, which was formerly the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino owned and operated by Caesars Entertainment.
before freshening up to join our tour rep, Allen, again for a tour of Vegas by night. Our first stop was the Vegas sign for a photo shoot,
before driving down the 'strip', with Allen pointing out the various Casinos for us to visit later on foot, on our way downtown. We saw the various 'wedding chapels'
and Oscar's
before reaching our destination, Fremont Street.
Fremont Street is now famous for it's light show but the western end of Fremont Street was the picture of Las Vegas that was included in virtually every television show and movie that wanted to display the lights of Las Vegas. The abundance of neon signs, like cowboy Vegas Vic, earned the street the nickname of Glitter Gulch. Fremont Street has featured in numerous films and videos, see here.
We had gone specifically to see the light show, something I admit I had never heard of until that night. Now I can honestly say it was my favourite part of our Las Vegas experience. MWM filmed the experience and I've uploaded the video below. It lasts about 6 minutes but is well worth watching, look out for the rocket at the end.
After our Fremont experience we were dropped off on the strip where we visited Bellagio Hotel
to see the spectacular dancing waters (click on the link to see them in motion)
and the beautiful interior
Isn't it beautiful? We came out of Bellagio to see the Eiffel Tower of Paris Hotel,
which was close to our hotel, and we decided to walk through there on our way back to our room, as it was late and we had to be up early the following morning. Paris Hotel is amazing, the painted sky looks so real as you walk through the hotel, which is decorated to look like the streets of Paris, it appears to move.
Okay, so that was our first day and evening in Las Vegas and it was time for bed. We had a helicopter ride through the Grand Canyon to look forward to in the morning, please join me for it in Wonders Of The Golden West Part 6.
