Page 16 - AAA Every Day – AAA Hudson Valley – May/June 2022

TRAVELER’S GUIDE
We stayed at the Park MGM resort which is a street level making it the second-tallest wheel in the world.
smoke-free property right next door to the T-Mobile Arena in the middle of The Strip. All of my research beforehand indicated that it would be easier than it was to arrange a shuttle to take us to the hotel, but we finally got there. The staff member who checked us in made sure we had a good view of the strip from our room since it was our first time visiting. Our room overlooked the park nestled between Park MGM
Las Vegas and New York-New York Hotel & Casino. The casino in our
hotel was not busy
when we arrived
on Wednesday but
was definitely lively
and bustling by the
weekend. The Eataly
was a resort food
court laid out like an
Italian marketplace
with options from
steak and seafood
to pasta and pizza to
cannoli and gelato.
And there also was
no shortage of wine
options.
Since we were
interested in many of
the attractions in Las
Vegas, we purchased
the Go Las Vegas
Explorer Pass
(available for two to
seven attractions).
This saved time in
ticketing at each
event, although it
did not allow us to
entirely jump the
lines. Tip: There is already a decent admission discount by purchasing a Go Las Vegas Explorer Pass, but AAA Members get additional savings through AAA Tickets.
Our first of the major attractions was the Siegfried & Roy’s Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat at the Mirage Resort. It was wonderful to be up close with the tigers and dolphins. The habitats were a quiet escape from the hustle and bustle of the casinos just a few feet away. The dolphin area had a training session every half-hour so you could see and hear the fun, playful interaction of the dolphins with their trainers. The Secret Garden with the tigers, lions and leopards was less interactive, but people were wandering the garden to answer any questions.
Next, I braved the height and took a spin on the High Roller, an observation wheel that soars 550 feet above
Located behind The Linq, the 28-cabin wheel takes 30 minutes to make one full revolution. A bird’s eye view
– literally – of the strip is only part of the fun. Fun green- screen photos and a concession stand are available before you board your cabin to get a beverage if you wish or a fun memento to take home. The wheel’s slow movement makes for a very comfortable ride to the top.
When you think of casinos from days gone by, many think of the mob and “skimming” off the top. So, what
better way to take in
Las Vegas than a tour
of the Mob Museum? Here we learned not only about the gangsters that settled Las Vegas and turned the desert oasis into a thriving destination but also about the connections the mob families had across the country and the roles they played during prohibition. We ended our tour with a stop in the basement’s Speakeasy for a bathtub gin (served in a mini bathtub) and a plate of sliders. Admission to
the Mob Museum is not required to check out the Speakeasy, as it is open to the public through an external entrance.
I could not pass up the opportunity to take a bus tour to the Hoover Dam while I was in Las Vegas. Our first stop
was Boulder City which was established to house and entertain workers brought in to build the Hoover Dam.
A quick spin by a home in Boulder City said to have belonged to the one-and-only Lucille Ball made that
stop one to remember. Lake Mead, created by the water controlled by the dam, was our next stop. The guide explained how much water levels have dropped in the last 5-7 years because of the drought and overuse of water for emerging crops of avocados and almonds. Next was the Hoover Dam and the Mike O’Callaghan–Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge. The bridge is a suspension bridge that spans the Colorado River with a magnificent view of the dam. A spectacular example of engineering and design, the dam provides 20% of all the electricity needed to power the entire city of Las Vegas. That’s a lot of power.
16 I MAY/JUNE 2022