The Second Day! (Epic End of 2018 Trip)

November 30th 2018 - The last day of November is always such an exciting day, usually because November is full of challenges and fun things to do before the year is completely through. (Yes, I realize there is a rhyme in that sentence. I'm fun like that. A Dr. Suess sort of whimsy.)

I woke up on the floor of the Las Vegas airport, and while this may sound like the beginning of a colorful comedy, this was actually the beginning of my day. I keep things interesting.

From there, I got to see the sunrise over the Nevada desert. Always a beautiful sight.

Sunrise over McCarran International Airport

In the daylight, I realized that I could actually see Mandalay Bay Resort from the airport. It was going to be a quite few hours before I could check in, so I sat in the airport for a few hours working on writing and stuff. Got up and walked around a few times, because I cannot sit still for too long.

Eventually, I couldn't take sitting around in the airport anymore, and I headed outside to find the best route into town. I thought I would be able to walk, having looked at Google maps and seeing that my hotel was only 3 miles away. I stopped and called my parents before leaving the airport parking garage, just because I wanted to talk.

Unfortunately, I couldn't see any legitimate sidewalks or pedestrian paths leaving the airport, so after having wandered the parking lots, undoubtedly drawing some suspicion from passersby, I headed back to the bus stop. The 24 hour bus pass was $5. See how painless that was, Zack?

Anyway, first I took the wrong bus in the wrong direction. A little tradition of mine. (More on that another time.) I hopped on the correct bus a few stops down and headed back. Then there was a transfer and I did a little video on how beautiful the desert is, while awaiting my next bus.

Finally, I arrived. It still wasn't time to check in yet, so I went across the street and got something to eat at McDonald's. Literally, one side of the street was high dollar resorts and stuff, the other side was McDonald's, liquor stores and discount souvenirs. I was completely famished, so I got the double Smokehouse Bacon burger meal. Probably should have stuck with just french fries for budget reasons, but YOLO.

I take pictures of almost everything.

It was about time to check in, so I headed over to Mandalay Bay and found that it was very busy. A ridiculous line of people checking in. I've never stayed in a place so huge (or fancy for that matter.) It was beautiful, but not exactly something I would do all the time.

I had overlooked the fact that I'd only paid $123 down out of the $165 total (the other $42 was the resort fee, a tax that makes me avoid hotels in places like Hawaii) and they charge a $100 deposit. Unfortunately, I was 1 cent short of all that in my bank account (more money coming soon, just running a little short these first few days.) The gentleman at the desk was very helpful and had it changed to a $50 deposit.

I went up to my room, on the 30th floor. I had a moment of confusion on the elevator, it was really clear cut though... You have to hold the room key to a sensor while pressing the button for your floor. Neat security feature, but my sleep-deprived work-stress-racked brain wasn't having any of that. I probably stood there for half a minute wondering why the elevator wouldn't work. lol

One of the pics from my room.

When I got up to my room I ended up deciding to take a nap before anything else. So, I set an alarm and flopped down on the bed and passed out. I woke shortly before the alarm (spidey sense lol) and got ready to go out and see some sights. It was about 7pm by the time I left, so my options were limited. I wanted to see the Mob Museum, Shark Reef Aquarium, Madame Tussaud's and one of the towers that gives you a good view of the city.

So, with my limited time that evening, I decided on Madame Tussaud's. Which, I discovered, was the first one opened in North America. I've already had the pleasure of visiting the Hollywood and NYC locations. I walked past the one in London, want to go back and see it someday, and the one in Sydney is definitely on the agenda.

Anyways, I took the bus up the strip and ordered a ticket online along the way. (You save money that way.)  Madame Tussaud's is housed in a rather impressive building, very Vegas in its design. A certain portion of the first floor of the exhibits was roped off for a private event, but I got to see the rest of everything. As always, it was a lot of fun!

After that, I went and walked around a little bit, trying to get some photos of the buildings and lights on the Strip at night. Then, I caught a bus back down to Mandalay Bay. I was planning on getting some more photos and videos of the outside, but all the lights were off when I got back.

So, I did some videos of the lobby and then went up and finally got some real sleep.