Hey Day of Vegas Showgirls Gone?

Please tell me it's not because 50 is over the hill!!

We-who-love-Vegas know that the city has changed and reinvented itself many times in the past five decades, so it came as no surprise to read that Les Folie Bergere is closing before the quintessential "Vegas show girl" show at the Tropicana reached its 50th anniversary this year.

Here is my earlier post about the Vegas show girl "thing".

Here is the LA Times blog on the show's closing.

Bellagio Fountain Song List

Need a quick Vegas hit? Here's a link to the Bellagio Fountains Song List - Go to a site (my fave is Audiolizer) and create yourself a play list, and pretend that you're standing there watching those lovely dancing waters

Getting Around - Parking Garages, Night Clubs

At the request of a friend, some nice overview links:

Link to overview of Vegas Night Clubs

Tips on how to get to Strip hotel and casino parking garages

Jazz Lovers Take Note

I love jazz - volunteer at the San Jose Jazz Festival - and have somehow never seen Mike Jones while in Vegas. Thanks to Richard Abowitz & the Movable Feast for posting this note that Jones has clips up on You Tube....oh, so worth listening to.

From Movable Feast...Jones has a handful of discs on the jazz label Chiaroscuro. But if you want just one tiny reason why Penn & Teller offer the best show in Vegas, Mike Jones springs to mind. The duo easily could opt not have an opening act, or they could play taped music while the audience is seated. Most shows do that. Instead, being music fans, they have hired one of the most talented players around to give audience members an extraordinary 60 minutes of entertainment as they take their seats...read the rest

And now the clip:

Trippies In

Best and worst of Vegas awards for 2008 are in - the Trippies offer a glance at what voters and editors think are the hot ... and not. Casino, room service, slots, comp club, it's all here. And seriously, we love the folks at Vegas Tripping for putting this together. Plenty of good news for Bellagio, Wynn, Encore, and mostly negative for Circus Circus and Harrahs properties. But nothing is absolute. Read them all yourself.

Vegas With Kids

Most Vegas-aholics will tell you to leave the kids at home - despite the things to do with kids, it's not really a kid friendly destination. Others disagree. I met two 14-year old boys standing behind me in line at Payards at Caesars Palace, and they said they were having a blast - (they also highly recommended the brownies at Payards which I bought on their say-so, and wow- yum). They liked the various roller coasters, arcades, and had been to some of the Cirque shows, which they rated highly. (Even the Disney Family Travel site okays some of the Cirque shows for kids ).

Anyway. Since then I've been watching for posts about kids and Vegas. Some folks will always take their kids to Vegas - and here is some of the wisom I've collected.

Best off the strip - Red Rock Casino comes in rated pretty highly as a kid friendly place. (tho, ouch! watch for the "resort fee" they tack on to the room rate - a hefty $24.95/day). On the Strip, Circus Circus is considered fun for the kids, but a little run down so far as Las Vegas hotel/casinos go. The rides at the Stratosphere are a hit with kids of all ages. Ditto Mandalay Bay's wave pool and shark reef.

Here's a link to all the Disney Travel recommendations, though I totally disagree that the Forum Shops at Caesars are good for kids. The moving/talking statues are cool - and kid friendly - but the crowds are enormous most of the time and it's a lotta, lotta walking to get to the the venues. Not worth it unless you also want to stop at the Forum Shops gelato stand and pay $18 for two scoops of gelato.

Here's a link to the Vegas.com kid recommendations - and I wholeheartedly agree that the Ethel M chocolate factory and cactus garden is a must see. What? I've never seen it? Well, that's true, but I keep MEANING to.

Of course, if you are going to run all around seeing the kid friendly sites, when do you have the energy and time to go out and enjoy the grown up side of Vegas?

My guess is it's hardest for the 18-21 year olds ... they are so close to being grown up that the bars, clubs, music are really appealing but Vegas cards people like crazy.