Rolling the Dice

 We decided to taxi downtown to eat breakfast at The Claim Jumper restaurant at The Golden Nugget. Ricky had good memories and the food didn't disappoint.  The days of a cheap meal in Vegas seem to be over though. 

              The giant golden nugget

            Pool at The Golden Nugget Hotel

The Freemont Street Experience was happening- even in the morning. 

Ricky wanted to try his luck at the Golden Nugget and Binyon's. I enjoyed people watching. 

The showgirls were walking up and down the street greeting visitors 

One million dollars on display at Binyon's. 

I thought it would look bigger. Maybe because it's in $100 bills it shrinks it down. 

This zip line was popular and looked like fun. I wasn't quick enough to snap a picture of the folks flying overhead. 

It had been a long time since I saw a cigarette vending machine. The smoke in the casinos was a bit of a problem for me. 

The Apache Hotel at Binyon's Casino was re-opened in 2019 as a boutique hotel. Lots of history in this place.

            I spotted Elvis on Freemont St.

This Shelby truck is up for grabs at The 4 Queens casino.

                                Vegas Vic

                           Gorilla sighting

Ricky had a great time and wound up ahead when we left downtown to go back to the Strip.

Dinner at Guy Fieri's place at The Rio. My food was good.

We ate supper, Ricky played more blackjack (and won!) We had tickets to The Comedy Cellar and stayed for part of the show. Ricky wasn't entertained by the two comedians we saw, so we left before the show was over. 

                       Sights about town

Hmmmm. I forgot to get my souvenir from Hermes. 

            Bye bye Vegas! Time to go home. Thanks to Ricky's skill at blackjack we're leaving winners! 

Las Vegas

 Talk about a mood shift! We left Oahu at 9 am and landed in Vegas about 6 pm. We took a taxi over to The Aria to be overwhelmed. 

A great view from the 25th floor. It's a digitally controlled room, which took some fumbling around with before we figured it out. 

Dinner was burgers from Lola's in the food court. Ricky played a few hands of blackjack before we called it a night. 

Thoughts on Turtle Bay

 

               Early Anniversary dessert!

                    Katrina was delightful!

They made this vegetarian dish especially for me!

Turtle Bay is a beautiful resort hotel on the north shore. I loved the views of the ocean and the hiking trails. 

The Club Lounge was a great choice for food, especially for breakfast and lunch. Food prices and choices otherwise weren't that great. No egg salad sandwiches. 😭

The weather was cool and rainy during our trip. It was never warm enough for me to enjoy the pool. 

I'm glad we experienced this resort, but Ka'anapali remains my favorite Hawaiian place. 

Last Day in Turtle Bay

       Sweet Mother's Day card from Ricky.

We grabbed an early cup of coffee from Ho'olana in the lobby before going to breakfast. View of Kuilima Cove from the coffee/snack bar.

After breakfast I struck out on a hike. I foolishly didn't take my raincoat or umbrella. I got the rain forest effect. 😆

              Ferns growing out of a rock.

               I headed for the Kawela Trails.

I walked past the big stage they set up for the Palm Tree Music Festival. Lots of workers were breaking things down this morning. The ground was muddy and things were pretty messy.

                               Turtle Bay

The mud almost deterred me, but I pressed on.

I followed the horseback riders part of the way.

I hiked over to the Pill Box, a relic of WWII.

There were many concrete markers in the trees. I wondered if they were left from WWII or movie props.

Many movies and TV shows, including Lost, have used this bay for filming.

 No idea what this structure is/was for. There are two of them.

This Banyan Tree isn't nearly as big or old as the one in Lahaina, but it was still sizeable.

The roots on this tree would be easy to trip over!

One of the few chickens I spotted on this trip.

My walk was several miles, partially in the rain. I got back tired and hungry!