We're staying on the 26th floor at New York New York, and it's definitely the nicest hotel we've been in so far (and at about the same price as the EconoLodges that we usually prefer). Ooh, fancy marbled bathroom.
This morning, we head out to see the sights. It's already hot here, and it's only 9 a.m. There's a scruffy man standing out on a traffic median as we drive by, holding a sign that says "Hungry & Homeless". :-(
Between the quirks of our GPS and the determined efforts of construction crews to obscure every directional sign they can, we're having a bit of trouble navigating the city.
GPS: Take the exit ahead on Paradise Road.
Me: There is no Paradise Road! I don't see it! Is this it?
GPS: Take the exit on Paradise Road.
Me: What's the exit number? Do I exit here or the next one? (Decide to take exit)
GPS: Take exit 38B.
Me: Aargh! This is 38A! Why didn't you say so earlier?!
GPS: Snickers quietly to itself.
We're trying to get to the Gun Store. We drove past it last night on our way into the city. For some reason, the GPS now claims it's 833 miles away. Um, no. It's on East Tropicana - we saw it there! And besides, this is the United States - there's no way there's no guns in an 800-mile radius.
Eventually, we manage to get the GPS reset, and we arrive at The Gun Shop. There's a pretty girl sitting at a tent set up outside, probably stationed there to coax people inside. When we walk up, she says, "I see we have two shooters."
We're thinking of Fredonia, and looking around suspiciously: "You do? Where are they?"
Of course, she meant us. Oops. Yes, we are clueless Canadians.
So, what did we want to shoot today.
A gun!
What kind of gun?
Um... a gun!
She went through the various options. I chose the Ladies package: a Glock (pistol) and 20 rounds, and 10 rounds on the "Hello Kitty" pink AK-47. Yeah!
Stephen got the Coalition package - an increasingly lethal assortment of weapons. First, a Beretta (pistol), then an M4 carbine (automatic rifle), and an M249 SAW (Squad Automatic Weapon - an even bigger rifle).
Since we're obviously a danger to ourselves and others, we paid extra to get an actual instructor and a semi-private room. We had to promise we weren't pregnant, crazy, or on drugs, sign a waiver (aside from accidentally getting shot, there's hearing damage, vapours from gun powder, etc. etc.), then put on our safety glasses and ear protection. In we go!
The instructor shows me how to hold the gun. Obviously, I haven't paid enough attention to TV, because I keep wanting to hold it wrong. Finally, I do it properly, and he loads the gun and hands it to me. Okay, time to point and shoot at my paper target.
BANG! "Eek!" says I. It was louder than I expected, has a bit of a kick, there's gun smoke and bullet casings are flying back at me. (Hence the safety eyewear.)
I kill my target dummy pretty good - don't do so well with the head shots (missed with one shot and only nicked the top of his brain with the other).
Stephen shoots his Beretta, which keeps jamming. Fortunately, the instructor knows how to fix it. Obviously, Stephen's goggles weren't on tightly enough, because he gets gun powder in his eyes and has to go wash them out.
Next up, is Stephen's fully automatic weapon. BangbangbangbangabangaBANG!!! Apparently it has quite the kick, and Stephen's moving backward while spraying bullets everywhere (OMG, we're all gonna die!) - the instructor jumps forward to steady him and push him back into the booth. Apparently, the trigger was a little more sensitive than Stephen expected. Our instructor said it was too bad we hadn't filmed that, because it would have made for a funny video. If only he'd suggested it beforehand.
Stephen's last gun is the biggest, but he says that the SAW is actually a bit easier to handle, because it's got a tripod thing and it's more stable. He successfully kills his target poster of Osama bin Laden.
At last, it's my turn again! They bring me my pink AK-47 (it has a faded "Hello Kitty" sticker on the side). And it has a laser sight thingy - cool! I kill my target again. (She was evil.)
Hooray! We haven't accidentally shot ourselves or the instructor. That's got to be a success!
It was actually a lot of fun. And it's all done in a very controlled, safety-conscious place. The scary thing is to think that people can actually own all of those guns, and might have them in their house. Yikes!
But, if you're just a tourist in Vegas, why not go shoot some guns? I have to admit, it was loads of fun. (And I think even the instructor found it amusing to coach completely clueless people.)
P.S. Now I know how to shoot you. With an AK-47. You just think about that for a while. ;-)
Moving on, we went to the Liberace museum, which has his incredibly over-blinged cars, pianos and costumes. Seriously, I've never seen more glitter and feathers in my life. The spirit of Vegas in a nutshell.
After Liberace, we went to the Atomic Testing Museum. Very interesting. They had a pretty creative setup - a room with faux concrete walls, like it's a bunker, where you watch a film of an atomic explosion. Lots of video displays. It was sort of like wandering through a large interactive documentary.
Obviously, I did know about the Nevada test sites. However, I did not know that people used to park up on the hills and watch the tests. =:-O
There were some old instructional films, telling people what to do in the event of atomic attack. They had footage of soldiers in a dugout near a test explosion. After the explosion, they all got out and marched towards ground zero. The film doesn't mention what happened to them, but I presume they all eventually died of cancer. And irony of ironies as the film shows the soldiers marching towards the cloud, with a 1950s voiceover about how there's nothing to fear, the soldiers pull out cigarettes and start smoking. Aargh!
You don't know what you don't know, I guess.
Anyway, definitely a worthwhile stop.
For lunch, we drove down to Fremont Street and stopped at the Four Queens to have lunch at Magnolia's. This is at the older end of the strip, I think. We wandered around on a pedestrian street for a while.
At the Golden Nugget, Stephen gambled one dollar on a giant slot machine. He lost. We left. Yes, we're sore losers. That's the last dollar you get from us, Vegas!!! (From gambling, anyway.)
This it's back to NYNY, where we park our car, because we don't want to be driving later when the traffic gets crazy. We walk along the strip all the way down to the Wynn, then head back. Despite the midday heat, there's no shortage of people clicking girly cards in your face. They're a good part of the gridlock problem on the sidewalks. There's enough slow-moving people already, and when you've got four or five card people on each corner, they end up causing a bottleneck, as people try to squeeze past them without seeing or acknowledging them.
We walked over to the Luxor, to see the Bodies exhibition. Yes, that's the one with actual bodies on display. It's kind of fascinating, and kind of disturbing at the same time. Because, most of the time, most parts of the human body look disturbingly like meat. Which, of course, it is, but it's still a bit creepy to see. I did find it really interesting, however.
At the Luxor, the staff were trying to coax us to come back and stay with them. Stay, Vegas says. You can't leave yet - there's still money in your bank account. Vegas is a financial vampire.
Oh, speaking of money, there was an Elvis Cirque de Soleil show playing at one of the hotels. I kind of wanted to go see that, until I saw that the tickets were about $200.
Anyway, we were played out by that time. Got some New York pretzels for supper, and started packing up to leave tomorrow morning.
This morning, we head out to see the sights. It's already hot here, and it's only 9 a.m. There's a scruffy man standing out on a traffic median as we drive by, holding a sign that says "Hungry & Homeless". :-(
Between the quirks of our GPS and the determined efforts of construction crews to obscure every directional sign they can, we're having a bit of trouble navigating the city.
GPS: Take the exit ahead on Paradise Road.
Me: There is no Paradise Road! I don't see it! Is this it?
GPS: Take the exit on Paradise Road.
Me: What's the exit number? Do I exit here or the next one? (Decide to take exit)
GPS: Take exit 38B.
Me: Aargh! This is 38A! Why didn't you say so earlier?!
GPS: Snickers quietly to itself.
We're trying to get to the Gun Store. We drove past it last night on our way into the city. For some reason, the GPS now claims it's 833 miles away. Um, no. It's on East Tropicana - we saw it there! And besides, this is the United States - there's no way there's no guns in an 800-mile radius.
Eventually, we manage to get the GPS reset, and we arrive at The Gun Shop. There's a pretty girl sitting at a tent set up outside, probably stationed there to coax people inside. When we walk up, she says, "I see we have two shooters."
We're thinking of Fredonia, and looking around suspiciously: "You do? Where are they?"
Of course, she meant us. Oops. Yes, we are clueless Canadians.
So, what did we want to shoot today.
A gun!
What kind of gun?
Um... a gun!
She went through the various options. I chose the Ladies package: a Glock (pistol) and 20 rounds, and 10 rounds on the "Hello Kitty" pink AK-47. Yeah!
Stephen got the Coalition package - an increasingly lethal assortment of weapons. First, a Beretta (pistol), then an M4 carbine (automatic rifle), and an M249 SAW (Squad Automatic Weapon - an even bigger rifle).
Since we're obviously a danger to ourselves and others, we paid extra to get an actual instructor and a semi-private room. We had to promise we weren't pregnant, crazy, or on drugs, sign a waiver (aside from accidentally getting shot, there's hearing damage, vapours from gun powder, etc. etc.), then put on our safety glasses and ear protection. In we go!
The instructor shows me how to hold the gun. Obviously, I haven't paid enough attention to TV, because I keep wanting to hold it wrong. Finally, I do it properly, and he loads the gun and hands it to me. Okay, time to point and shoot at my paper target.
BANG! "Eek!" says I. It was louder than I expected, has a bit of a kick, there's gun smoke and bullet casings are flying back at me. (Hence the safety eyewear.)
I kill my target dummy pretty good - don't do so well with the head shots (missed with one shot and only nicked the top of his brain with the other).
Stephen shoots his Beretta, which keeps jamming. Fortunately, the instructor knows how to fix it. Obviously, Stephen's goggles weren't on tightly enough, because he gets gun powder in his eyes and has to go wash them out.
Next up, is Stephen's fully automatic weapon. BangbangbangbangabangaBANG!!! Apparently it has quite the kick, and Stephen's moving backward while spraying bullets everywhere (OMG, we're all gonna die!) - the instructor jumps forward to steady him and push him back into the booth. Apparently, the trigger was a little more sensitive than Stephen expected. Our instructor said it was too bad we hadn't filmed that, because it would have made for a funny video. If only he'd suggested it beforehand.
Stephen's last gun is the biggest, but he says that the SAW is actually a bit easier to handle, because it's got a tripod thing and it's more stable. He successfully kills his target poster of Osama bin Laden.
 |
| You laugh at my safety goggles and earmuffs...? I kill you!! With my pink AK-47! |
Hooray! We haven't accidentally shot ourselves or the instructor. That's got to be a success!
It was actually a lot of fun. And it's all done in a very controlled, safety-conscious place. The scary thing is to think that people can actually own all of those guns, and might have them in their house. Yikes!
But, if you're just a tourist in Vegas, why not go shoot some guns? I have to admit, it was loads of fun. (And I think even the instructor found it amusing to coach completely clueless people.)
P.S. Now I know how to shoot you. With an AK-47. You just think about that for a while. ;-)
Moving on, we went to the Liberace museum, which has his incredibly over-blinged cars, pianos and costumes. Seriously, I've never seen more glitter and feathers in my life. The spirit of Vegas in a nutshell.
After Liberace, we went to the Atomic Testing Museum. Very interesting. They had a pretty creative setup - a room with faux concrete walls, like it's a bunker, where you watch a film of an atomic explosion. Lots of video displays. It was sort of like wandering through a large interactive documentary.
Obviously, I did know about the Nevada test sites. However, I did not know that people used to park up on the hills and watch the tests. =:-O
There were some old instructional films, telling people what to do in the event of atomic attack. They had footage of soldiers in a dugout near a test explosion. After the explosion, they all got out and marched towards ground zero. The film doesn't mention what happened to them, but I presume they all eventually died of cancer. And irony of ironies as the film shows the soldiers marching towards the cloud, with a 1950s voiceover about how there's nothing to fear, the soldiers pull out cigarettes and start smoking. Aargh!
You don't know what you don't know, I guess.
Anyway, definitely a worthwhile stop.
For lunch, we drove down to Fremont Street and stopped at the Four Queens to have lunch at Magnolia's. This is at the older end of the strip, I think. We wandered around on a pedestrian street for a while.
At the Golden Nugget, Stephen gambled one dollar on a giant slot machine. He lost. We left. Yes, we're sore losers. That's the last dollar you get from us, Vegas!!! (From gambling, anyway.)
This it's back to NYNY, where we park our car, because we don't want to be driving later when the traffic gets crazy. We walk along the strip all the way down to the Wynn, then head back. Despite the midday heat, there's no shortage of people clicking girly cards in your face. They're a good part of the gridlock problem on the sidewalks. There's enough slow-moving people already, and when you've got four or five card people on each corner, they end up causing a bottleneck, as people try to squeeze past them without seeing or acknowledging them.
We walked over to the Luxor, to see the Bodies exhibition. Yes, that's the one with actual bodies on display. It's kind of fascinating, and kind of disturbing at the same time. Because, most of the time, most parts of the human body look disturbingly like meat. Which, of course, it is, but it's still a bit creepy to see. I did find it really interesting, however.
At the Luxor, the staff were trying to coax us to come back and stay with them. Stay, Vegas says. You can't leave yet - there's still money in your bank account. Vegas is a financial vampire.
Oh, speaking of money, there was an Elvis Cirque de Soleil show playing at one of the hotels. I kind of wanted to go see that, until I saw that the tickets were about $200.
Anyway, we were played out by that time. Got some New York pretzels for supper, and started packing up to leave tomorrow morning.
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