Sin All Round

Our last day in San Fran was pretty cool, spent travelling out to Alcatraz and wandering round the island. It was a spectacular day on the water, brilliant sunshine and really calm. We took the audio tour around the prison and heard tales of attempted escapes and life as a prisoner there. Walking down the walkways between cells it was very reminiscent of scenes from 'The Green Mile'. One of the big deterrants for people to attempt escape from Alcatraz was the cold water and deadly currents. Where the currents meet and sweep you out to sea is pretty easy to spot.
Most of the buildings are closed now, and the main call house is really the only one open which is a shame, but still well worth the visit! These was even a former inmate - Bill Baker on the island doing book signing in the gift store.
After one last wander around the city we settled on an early night to get ourselves ready for Vegas. Just a short one hour flight that next morning and we were there (albeit a little late after being caught in a traffic jam on the runway getting out of San Fran.)
Well, our accommodation in Vegas is huge! Around 70 square meters at a guess. The kitchen is a little smaller than ours at home, a full lounge, bedroom with superking bed, dining room, laundry and two bathrooms!
It is a little off the strip, but a free shuttle is provided....however on our first day in true Kiwi style we decided to walk to see how far, because the shuttle finished at 10pm each night so we needed to know our way back.
About 15 minutes walk, and in 16°c it wasn't too bad. It was bloody cold the first day and we were rugged up in scarves and jackets! All of the locals have said it is very unusual to be this cold....and we swear we saw snow on the top of the mountains that surround the basin (5°c overnight).
We settled on a bit of a wander for the first afternoon heading in the general direction of the RIO where Rock of Ages has moved to. Well you would think after the length of time we spent in Vegas last time we would have learnt the trick of distances, but apparently we had forgotten and decided to walk, as it was only just behind Ceasars Palace.....Not!
Well a 20-30 minute walk later, after having to cross the freeway we were there.
Rock of Ages was absolutely fantastic just as it was last time. A lot of new cast but same lead female and lead guitarist.
We tried to get a tour after but the ushers wouldn't have a bar of it.
After the show Logan spotted the lead guitarist at the bar across from us while I was waiting in the merchandise cue and went up to say Hi. Well it ended in us having a pretty lengthy conversation with him and he gave us his card to send him photos of our production as he is quite facsinated by how the amateur productions work.
Turns out he was the lead guitarist for the show on Broadway and got asked to transfer to Vegas when it ended in NYC.
By the time we left the whole cast was there having a drink so we congratulated them on our way out.
We spent Thursday cruising around the strip and exploring all of the casino's that we didn't get a chance to explore properly last time. We finally managed to see the Volcano show at The Mirage, where it rained in the middle of the show, and the Atlantis Show at Ceasars Palace. Absolutely amazing considering they are all free, the money that must go through is mind blowing!
After musing that we never saw a single Elvis on the street last time, we saw about 6 in the space of two hours! We even saw 'Big Elvis' performing in one of the bars. We reckon he would have been around 200kg. He had a special oversized throne to sit in while he was singing.
We also had the pleasure of seeing a dude dressed as a very disheveled Marilyn Monroe and an overweight black man dressed in a bikini showgirl outfit. Logan has a special shirt made in San Fran which we had a bit of fun with.....check out our photos on Flikr!
We were always intending to have dinner one night at Gordon Ramsay BURGR, so seeing as we had no plans we headed there for dinner. We timed it quite well as we only had to cue for around 20 minutes to get in. By the time we got out the cue snaked out into the casino. My burger and truffle fries were the best I have had in the States, but Logan's fish dog was pretty average.
Needless to say by the end of Thursday we both had aching legs from the miles of walking we had done.
Friday was a little more of the same, Logan had another go at Blackjack....I got asked for ID again (about the 5th time so far), had a visit to Dicks Last Tesort for old time sake and then we settled on going to see Raiding the Rock Vault at the Tropicana. It was a fantastic journey of rock from the 60s to the 80s done concert style with an all star cast!! It included the likes of Stephanie Calvert, Andrew Freeman, Doug Aldrich and Hugh McDonald. We were lucky enough to meet them all after the show and have them sign our programme!
We are just having out last drink in Vegas and waiting for our shuttle to the airport....next stop, New Orleans!