Pinky Spud and the Unwitting Felons on Holiday: Vegas, Baby!

Day 3: Retreat! Hell!

Broken photos?! Still??
Yeah, yeah. I'm on it.

Where even to begin? The sunrise is as good a place as any. I distinctly remember waking up in the neighborhood of 5:15 in the morning entangled in my headphones cable, turning over to investigate, and in doing so being confronted by the strangest sky. I sat up, looked straight at a rising, pumpkin-orange sun, and had the foresight to jot down the phrase “tangerine and key lime sunrise” before completely zonking out again, but not quite enough foresight to grab the camera sitting next to my bed and take a picture of it. Lame.

Once I was actually conscious breakfast proceedings began with Starbucks and Mad Zeppelin! (which was soundly won by my mom). After that victory, we high-tailed it to Mandalay Bay and their Shark Reef Aquarium. It, happily, was home to a Komodo Dragon AND a healthy Python, as well as some of the prettiest piranhas ever witnessed. The best, though, was probably the octopus just due to the fact that he was swimming all over the place. Every other octopus I’ve ever seen since I was young enough to be scared of them has always been hiding and perfectly still. This guy was goin’ crazy. [photo]

After adventures in Sharkington, we broke out the rental car (whut?!), and headed to MGM. Where there are lots of lions. Like this one. [photo] But more importantly, there is the lion habitat, which, much to my happiness, is harm-free and humane. And oh lawd are they fat and happy. I mean look at her. Can that even be comfortable unless one is totally pampered? [photo] [photo] In fact, there was so much lion-ness going around, that I became a lion! [photo]

(No. I did not purchase that hat.)

Next we parked at Paris, breezing through it and taking a shortcut through the Sugar Factory in order to get, that’s right, THE PHOTO. [photo]
Courtesy of my mom <3 So the idea is that you have a fancy holder for your lollipop, right? But even better, it comes with a little plastic case-dome-thing so that you can wrap it up and save it for later. And it’s fancy. MOVING ON.

We popped back into the Bellagio for some Cirque shopping, including some birthday presents for some of my favorite people… The best discovery of the day next to the moment I saw a book of Cirque sheet music for piano, vocals, and guitar (EEP!) was the umbrella rotunda, yet another décor choice which endeared the Bellagio to me. [photo]

Next we headed over to the vicinity of Caesar’s Palace and made the terrible decision of stopping in at Serendipity 3 for “coffee and sweets.” I would like to note that serendipity is defined as “ser•en•dip•i•ty [ser-uhn-dip-i-tee] –noun 1.an aptitude for making desirable discoveries by accident. 2.good fortune; luck: the serendipity of getting the first job she applied for” (dictionary.com). In our case, this is hardly accurate. While everything was delicious, it arrived with the kind of fanfare that can only be responded to with “oh NO.” The sundae I ordered, the ‘Lookie Lookie Gimme Cookie sundae,’ could have fed a small nation and was NOT on the “for two” part of the menu. My parents also ordered something to share, which could have fed at least a district or two. This is not to say that the presentation was not spectacular, or that the quality was poor, only that the portions were HULKING and far too much for any of us to handle. Hot damn if all of the designs for the store weren’t adorable, though. [photo]

After suffering minor cardiac arrest and getting stomach pumps, we trekked to Caesar’s Palace, which is gorgeous, but the most confusing, labyrinthine structure we’ve been in yet. There were replicas of classical works everywhere, and after questing to find our way OUT of the Forum Shops, we quested for the Apollo Belvedere copy I’d glimpsed from the car on Sunday. We found him, passing the Winged Nike of Samothrace and Caesar Augustus along the way. [photo]

But we weren’t finished yet. It was barely evening and after all this is Vegas, so heading back wasn’t on the list yet. We schlepped (our word of the day) down to a place called Rave Motion Pictures and watched Battle: Los Angeles. It was actually much better than I expected it to be. Then again, it has Michelle Rodriguez as a tough chick. And aliens. Go see it. Or at least the trailer.

And that, other than bad hotel salads, was the end of the day. Now I have to recharge my mental and physical batteries, an effort I plan on pursuing well into tomorrow next to the pool (weather-gods willing), and get ready for Cirque du Soleil’s O. Sleep tight, all.