Day 9 • Las Vegas

Day 9: Sunday, August 2—

We had breakfast in the lobby of the Days Inn. It wasn’t as good as the one yesterday in Torrey. Then we drove to the town of St. George about 30 miles away, where we browsed in a gift shop in a strip mall. I bought the boys five gemstones apiece and a little leather bag to hold them. All the while, we deliberated whether to head on to Las Vegas or return to Zion to further explore that amazing park and visit the gift shops we’d bypassed. Finally, we left it up to Travis. He voted to move on, and so we drove to Las Vegas, 120 miles away via Interstate 15.

Coming into Las Vegas was nothing like the last time I did. In 1979, it was still a small town with big lights. Back then, Jeff and I drove in from the desert and seemingly at once the world changed from rugged wilderness to the glare of neon lights and all that glitter. Now it was a bustling city with traffic snarls and suburban sprawl. I liked it the old way, and I imagine so too did lots of other people, and that’s why it changed.

We exited the expressway near the MGM Grand in the area called the Strip and drove around looking for a Days Inn that we were told was in the area. We couldn’t find it but found a Holiday Inn[TE1] which charged only $39, so we decided to stay there. After dropping our bags in our room, we took a walk in the 106° heat. We stopped at a McDonalds to get the boys a bite to eat and then toured the MGM Grand, a half mile away from the Holiday Inn. The MGM Grand was almost a city unto itself, what with oodles of rooms, casinos, restaurants, and other assorted attractions. It was in fact, the largest hotel in the world at the time. Sharon wanted to check out one of their family attractions, but it wasn’t to be for some reason. Then we wandered around the resort looking for a place to have lunch, finally settling upon the Coyote Café.

The Tex-Mex fare at the Coyote Café was delicious. Along with the Capitol Reef Inn & Café in Torrey, it was the finest food we had on the trip. And the beer was superb. Afterward, I bought a bottle of Coyote Cosina hot sauce, which also turned out to be first rate. After lunch, we walked back to the Holiday Inn and made for the pool, which was right outside our first-floor room. The water was surprisingly cold, presumably because the pool was in the shade at that hour. All the same, Travis loved it.

After our dip, we ventured out again to explore the Strip. We visited Excalibur, Tropicana, and perhaps one or two other extravagant casinos on or near the intersection of Las Vegas Blvd. and Tropicana Ave. I found them to be gaudy, but these palaces of excess pulled in the customers, so evidently, lots of people must have found them delightful. Our visits were limited for a couple of reasons. One, children aren’t allowed free rein inside the casinos themselves, and two, Sharon and I are very temperate gamers. In the end, we found ourselves back at the MGM Grand. Why, I’m not sure, but perhaps because we wanted to have dinner at the Rainforest Café, a jungle themed restaurant inside the hotel.

Our dining experience at the Rainforest Café was a disaster. First, we were told we’d have to wait 45 minutes. We waited at least twice that, during which time we walked around the gift shop, over and over. We could tell Eric’s blood sugar level was dangerously low, so we bought him a snack, but it continued to drop. I tried to get the bartender’s attention to ask him for some fruit. Failing to get his notice, I helped myself to the fruit. Finally, we were seated—at a table right in the middle of the aisle, while around us were empty tables in far better areas. Then our server turns out to be a smug jerk. Of course, we had to wait forever for our food to be delivered. And to top it off, our food, for which we’d waited two hours while enduring one inconvenience atop another, stunk. They even had the audacity to charge us $46.77 for the insult.

The dining fiasco was too much. I couldn’t eat the cold, bland chicken sandwich I’d ordered. Sharon suggested that I walk around. I took her up on it. I bought a refreshing draft beer and had a smoke, then shoved $5 worth of quarters into the slots and watched it vanish into the belly of the one-armed bandit as quickly as I could feed it. Soon after, Sharon emerged from the Rainforest Café with the boys. While I watched the lads, she stepped onto the casino floor and made 25 quarters vanish in a flash. It was quite the disappearing act we’d perfected, much to our chagrin. Then we left the MGM Grand and walked along the main drag, stopping in a few stores that doubled as curiosities, such as one devoted entirely to M&M’s candy and one to Coke Cola. This was Vegas in all its glorious excess.

Eventually, we made our way back to the Holiday Inn. We intended to just take a short break and then go out on the town again for more gambling, but we fell asleep by 11:00 PM, which was probably for the best. We did, however, stir a few hours later . . .

[TE1] The receipt for our stay here gives the hotel name and address as Holiday Inn Casino–Boardwalk at 3750 Las Vegas Blvd., So. But based on my research, I don’t think that’s where we stayed but rather at another Holiday Inn, perhaps the Holiday Inn Express Las Vegas – South at 5760 Polaris Ave. or at some place that no longer exists. (Marc Evans, 10/5/21)