Being a somewhat anxious traveller has some side effects, the biggest one being that I tend to get to the airport vastly earlier than I need to, and then spend a bunch of time sitting on my arse staring at the walls.
This was the case today, save that I had Pangur Ban with me, so I could play CraigBlog catch-up.
My flights were with Southwestern, who seemed very pleasant at the check-in desk, and have a system for seating where you don’t have an assigned seat, but are instead given a priority; A1 through A60, then B1 through B60, etc.
I got C5, so was boarding almost last, and was therefore guaranteed a middle seat. Thought I’d have luggage space issues too, but there was a convenient spot across the aisle, so some luck there.
I now understand why they were offering an upgrade to A1 through A15 for $40, though I’m wondering how the priorities get assigned.
The crew themselves were kind of funny, and being thanked for flying with them on behalf of the airline, the crew, and the speaker’s mortgage was a nice touch.
Las Vegas is like an oven. It is like standing in front of a furnace, or a pizza oven, but without the possibility of garlic bread.
That last bit got away from me, I think.
I took a shuttlebus service to the hotel, which took a while due to someone leaving his phone on the bus & the driver doubling back.
The woman in the seat in front of me thought she recognised me, presumably from some other airport, but launched into the tale of her luggage going missing in Seattle before I could do the “I don’t remember you” bit. Impressed, she was not.
The Luxor.
How to sum up the Luxor?
I have no idea; Here are some photos.
This … Looks kind of Central American to me – Luxor interior, from the 16th floor
Fake buildings? I got nothing here, folks. – Luxor interior, from the 16th floor
The Titanic Exhibition – Luxor interior, from the 16th floor
Big-ass Obelisk – Luxor interior, from the 16th floor
At the tram station outside the Luxor
This place is enormous, and even finding my room was an exercise in navigation & sign-following; Here’s the map they drew for me at the West Tower Check-In Desks.
“See the escalators back there? Go up those, ahead until you hit the casino floor carpet, then turn right and use elevator bank 3B”
It’s also dimly-lit, or possibly just with subdued lighting. Not sure why.
They have an exhibit of Titanic artefacts, regular performances by a hip-hop dance troupe named Jabbwockeez, comedy from Carrot Top, and a show called Fantasy that I’m pretty sure is aimed at the bachelor party market.
There are cafes & frozen yoghurt places & Starbucks & bars & 24/7 convenience stores & an entire foodcourt with multiple options including a McDonalds, plus a buffet with an all-day option that turns out to be a good deal if you eat at least two meals there, and a phenomenal one of you can force it to three.
Faced with this, I wandered into a place that looked like it had people eating, and asked if they were a place I could get dinner. They were, and I did.
Once again, I found myself in a sports bar; The more relaxed dining option at the JW was their High Velocity bar, where many of the tables (those against a wall) had their own TV, with a wide selection of sports channels, and the walls were covered with screens tuned to different channels, most with captioning turned on. This was basically the same thing, but with fewer personal TVs, and a lot more “We’re A Sports Bar!” theming, like servers in what I’m assuming were baseball or football jerseys.
I can’t really tell the difference; There were numbers on the back, and were made out of some sort of mesh fabric?
And that’s me in Las Vegas.