Vegas 22/9

If you want to go beyond the Strip there is a bus service but as we had a few different stops to make today we went for a cheap hire car. First stop was Starbucks for some breakfast, there’s one every couple of blocks over here so it’s pretty handy for a caffeine hit. Next up we went into the retail giant, a Walmart Supercentre, where we had to get a couple of bits and pieces, including another piece of luggage for the trip home. Our main use of the car though was to drive to the Neon Museum, a not for profit organisation who have a collection of neon and illuminated signs, starting from the 1940’s through to a couple of decades ago. They rely on donations to restore the signage back to its original glory. The local government is supportive and rents the land that they use for 1c a year. They rely on the casinos to donate the signs and one of the main manufacturers to relocate the signs. Some of these signs are so massive it costs a great deal to transport them to the ‘boneyard’. So called because the signs are spread out everywhere in varying states of condition and repair. There are some fantastic examples of graphics and lettering everywhere you look. Almost everywhere you turn there’s a great photo opportunity. Combined with our visit to the Grand Canyon, the Neon Museum drained our camera battery, but not before we got some shots we are really pleased with. We’ll post them when we can. The Killers shot a video there too which is also pretty cool - watch to the end to see the boneyard. Once we’d returned our car in the afternoon we had a bit of a relax back at the hotel before heading out onto the Strip in the evening. The Tropicana is next door to the MGM Grand so we had a wander through to enquire about a Cirque du Soleil show that we might be seeing on Thursday. Inside the casino there’s a lion enclosure which we thought a bit cruel with all the racket, lights and people everywhere but the lions seemed to be fairly inactive/content. We eneded up at the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner. It had only opened five days beforehand (a second location in Vegas) and we saw an impressive collection of memorabilia, including some Elvis jumpsuits, most appropriate for the location. The nachos at the Hard Rock cafe are amazing!