Written by Kim
We stayed 2 nights at the Cosmopolitan on the strip. It’s a trendy hotel recently purchased by MGM. It was very nice but we missed the smoke free environment of Park MGM. We equated it to cruising Virgin vs Celebrity. A little younger and glitzier but very crowded.
Food in Vegas at the casinos is quite expensive so we took a walk across the street to the Miracle Mile Mall to have breakfast at Ocean One Grill. Breakfast was great and only $30 for us both. Yesterday we paid $22 for one omelet at Park MGM. I definitely recommend Ocean One that is right next door to Paris on the strip.
Vegas is preparing for the F1 race that will take place on Nov 21-23. It is nuts they have stands in the pond by the Bellagio fountains and all kinds of barricades and lights everywhere.
Since we cancelled Zion we decided to go to the show at The Sphere. What a cool venue but if you’re afraid of heights probably tough for you. It’s very high and steep inside.
The Sphere is located east of the Venetian. Designed by Populous, the project was announced by the Madison Square Garden Company in 2018, known then as the MSG Sphere. The project was a partnership between MSG and the Las Vegas Sands. The 18,600-seat auditorium is being marketed for its immersive video and audio capabilities, which include a 16K resolution wraparound interior LED screen, speakers with beamforming and wave field synthesis technologies, and 4D physical effects. The venue’s exterior also features 580,000 sq ft of LED displays. Sphere. The arena cost $2.3 billion (well over the original budget of $1.2 billion) making it the most expensive entertainment venue built in Las Vegas. Before the show started there were robots that talked to you.
Sphere opened on September 29, 2023, with Irish rock band, U2, beginning a 40-show residency. The show we saw a docu-film, Postcard from Earth, that opened on October 6, 2023. It was like a huge IMAX where the seats moved and views made you feel like you were flying. Below are some scenes from the film
We had a nice dinner at The Blue Ribbon in Cosmo prior to the show. And played a little after the show. Alex got a major so we went home just about even. Comps in Vegas are quite different than AC. Alex gets free rooms, some free play and a resort food credit. We canceled Zion because when you have free rooms if you don’t play some you won’t get future offers so we wanted to be sure you have free rooms when we return to go to Zion. We got very little comp $$ but our food and rooms except tips was covered so it’s all good
We stopped at Black Bear Diner for breakfast before returning our car and heading to airport.
Our flight was uneventful direct from Vegas to Charlotte. I got my $10 Dunkin in the airport.
Getting to Vegas from Myrtle isn’t so simple. Either we need to connect somewhere out of Myrtle or drive nearly 4 hours to Charlotte to go direct. The last 2 times we went to Vegas our bookings were connecting which had issues both on Spirit and American. Driving up to Charlotte is no picnic because we landed during rush hour tonight and traffic was horrible. We won’t get home tonight until 10:30 pm after leaving Vegas at 10 am – that’s a long 9 hour travel day with the 3 hour time change added. We need to think more about what is best. I know world problems! Flying has its hassles that’s why we drive a lot.
No more vacation travel until January now. We will drive to Tennessee for Thanksgiving and then to NJ for Christmas to spend time with family. In January we will head to Florida for a cruise, an Air Bnb with Stephen and the kids and the infamous Formy Open. Until then…
