When we arrive it’s early. So early that we are given the illusion of being nearly the only ones present. An illusion soon broken by the hours rolling in and the smudged faces and tattered hair descending upon Starbucks in droves.
(See bottom for specific reviews)
We start walking. Have you ever read that book? I Went Walking. I don’t know if I’ll ever read it to Cornelia the same. There’ll be a sympathy that wasn’t previously there. Waiting for our room, we walk around and look at the closed shops and restaurants. We lose our way and end up walking outside on sidewalks clearly nobody uses. It’s surprisingly cold and windy, so we take our walking back inside.
We lament on how quiet the casinos are now. No longer a smorgasbord of dings, alarms, and relentless sound. It’s eerily quiet, the giant screens largely unattended. Our room, by the grace of a Vegas god, is ready several hours early. We unload, go find an early lunch, shiver next to the pool for a moment, and lay down for a well deserved nap in the afternoon.
While Nevada doesn’t have an official zoo, Vegas offers several varieties. First up: Mandalay Bay Shark Reef. We arrive 20 minutes early and are met with a long line for entry. It moves quickly and we climb the staircase, pose without consenting to pictures we won’t look at or buy, and walk the pathway. We see some rare fish, steer clear of the hungry looking piranhas, and make our way to the shark reef. Cornelia is mesmerized by the walk through tunnels, we overcome the disappointment of not being able to reach a stingray to touch, and we marvel at all the sharks and turtles. A little girl nearby schools Cornelia on all the shark varieties, but she likes the sawfish the most.
It’s hot in the aquarium. It ends quickly after peeking at the belly of the sawfish that swam right above us. She picks out her own stingray to alleviate the sting still in her heart. We head to Hussong’s for an early dinner and read the amazing history of the joint.
More walking. All the walking. All the walking while intermittently carrying a nearly 40lb 5 year old in our Tula Carrier. We weave through trams and hotels, but the wind is too intense for much exploration. We crash into bed with exhaustion.
The next morning we take it easy. A strange breakfast at the hotel restaurant, a quick attempt to get in the ice cold waters of the pool. We sit in the one small hot tub with the rest of the hotel before getting ready for our full day.
We start with hunting lunch, which after an hour we are unable to find a meal that is gluten free and dairy free (besides the hot dogs we had for lunch yesterday). Hangry, we give up and buy snacks instead. We walk through flamingo to see the flamingos, but find only a few. We keep walking. The smoke burns our eyes and throats. I attempt to explain to Cornelia why there are lots of women and pictures of women with “hardly any clothes on.”
Vegas Zoo Number Two. We enter the Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat at the Mirage and enter right as dolphin training begins. Having never seen a dolphin, Cornelia is enraptured. We watch them for a long time, then go check out the tigers and lions, another set of photos against our will. The eyes of the cats are hauntingly beautiful and their anxiety just haunting. We watch another dolphin training, even closer, with the young dolphins. Their sweet sounds and the playful laughter of the trainers brightens our mood. She grabs a rainbow dolphin and dances with it all the way to our restaurant. She almost makes it all the way there without deflating into hunger.
Las Vegas is a food desert for the gluten and dairy sensitive folks. The panic arises easily and I recall how difficult it can feel when there isn’t food available to me and my child, made even more painful by the plentiful offerings to everyone else. But if Vegas is a food desert, Sushi Samba is an oasis. The food was amazing and they were so gracious and informed in helping us pick out our meals. They were a light in the dark.
It is time. We grab a Fat Tuesday drink on the way and head to Treasure Island to see Mystere. Upon arrival, Cornelia is deeply concerned that there may be real babies in the carriages on stage, and takes lots of comfort to convince her not to run on stage and save them.
From the first descent of drums, to the antics of the babies, to the final amazing acrobat. It was an amazing experience both for us, and to be able to watch the joy and awe move through her.
We have learned a lot on this trip. We are grateful for good food. Cornelia loves dolphins and vehemently hates the Volcano in front of the Mirage. She’d take a soothing Bellagio fountain over the terror of that volcano any day. These boots were not made for walking. I think I might have a stress fracture. Smoke makes our bodies burn in bad ways. And the Luxor needs to heat their pool. We also need to come back and take her to the Blue Man Group and another Cirque show.
While Nevada doesn’t have its own zoo, you’ll find plenty here. The Shark Reef is small but fun. The Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat is also small, but the dolphin training is a blast to watch. And then there’s Vegas’ biggest zoo of all: the strip.
We end our trip with a wish in the fountain.
Vegas, it’s been painful, exhausting, hungry, and hard to breathe. And gods help us, we still love you.
TLDR: Vegas can be family fun, too.
Luxor: Recommended for families. The casino is on a lower floor, so you can mostly avoid the cigarette smoke. The west tower was easy to get to and close to the pool. The room was clean and updated, the beds comfy. Half of the pool was closed, and the open pool was an ice bath. There’s only one small lukewarm hot tub for all the guests to squeeze into. I won $6 on penny slots, but you can’t get change back.
Mandalay Bay Shark Reef: It’s expensive, and we still can’t decide if it was worth it. It’s very small and very crowded. The two small tunnels are fun though.
Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat: Small, but worth the price of admission. We were there at 2:30 and got to see the dolphins being their amazing selves. We didn’t pay for the experience of meeting or feeding them, but it was still fun to watch. It was a little oasis.
Flamingo Habitat: There were less than a handful of flamingos. Mostly we saw ducks and enormous fish. To be fair, it’s free.
Cirque du Soleil – Mystere: Highly recommend. Worth the walk and the price (we got closer seats, and it was pretty amazing to have the acrobats flying over you). It was engaging, hilarious, colorful, and the skill is out of this world. Olympians have nothing on Cirque performers. It was perfect for our 5 year old, too.
daniellerene 