Fear the Crab

Friday (29 May) was the last full day of Las Vegas vacationing for us. Naturally, when accompanied by people who are not as interested in gambling, the only other activities available after the sightseeing road trips are exhibits and shopping.

We met up with The James as a chance to catch up on old times, and he didn’t seem to mind tagging along. It had been over a year since I last saw him, so it was nice to get together.

The first stop was the Shark Reef aquarium at the Mandalay Bay. It’s a big exhibit of waterlife both strange and familiar. I liked the ability to get up close to a komodo dragon and some red pirahna, and as expected there were a wide variety of sharks to view. Ultimately, the best part of the aquarium was the “sunken boat” area that gave us a pseudo-immersed view of the sharks, because the lighting was enough to resemble natural conditions. At least, as natural as one could expect, being in an aquarium.

The bad part about the rest of the facility was the use of outdoor lighting. Coupled with the thick panes of glass separating the animals from the wonderful creatures of the water, the experience was a photographer’s worst nightmare. The glare didn’t exactly make visibility difficult, but it did seem to “wash out” the colors and mask any clear viewing of wildlife. It’s really hard to appreciate the beauty of animals (either their form or function) when you can’t properly see what’s going on.

The next location on the list was Madame Tussauds wax museum at The Venetian, but that was scrapped due to traffic, hunger, and heat. Most of us had already visited the place before, so we didn’t exactly feel like we were missing out on anything. Unfortunately, a casual glance at the exhibit’s current web site seems to indicate that we did miss out on some new figures and a different horror-show experience. Our previous trip featured classic movie monsters instead of what appears to be a co-ed zombie insane asylum.

I don’t mind. I’m not, after all, a big fan of horror.

Lunch was at the ubiquitous In-N-Out Burger (which, despite my adjective will never be in HI). This was my first foray into what had been previously described to me as a “god-damn tasty burger.” A bold claim, I know, but one that seems to hold true just on first appearances; in the short time it took to call our order number of 7, the queue of subsequent combos had risen to 50, and the line at the counter had snaked out through the door.

I ordered the double-double, no onions, and a strawberry shake, and by golly that meal sure was tasty. I don’t know if it’s the absolute best burger I’ve ever had, but it’s probably up there in terms of quality. If I ever have another opportunity to partake in In-N-Out’s delectable delights, I’ll probably have them hold the sauce; I don’t really like the Thousand Island-ish spread.

The rest of the day was a blur of shop-hops to the various outlets and mall around the Las Vegas area. It’s an activity that wasn’t for me, however, since the Nevada sales tax seems is almost twice what I get charged back home for any purchases. The James seemed to agree, indicating that whatever apparent “savings” I’d find for something available in HI would be balanced out by the horrendous taxation.

The one location I actually did participate in shopping was at an antiques mall. It’s very much like browsing a flea market or swap meet. We stopped by here because I wanted to get something for my parents, as gratitude for helping subsidize this vacation.

Of course, it’s hard to determine what actually is an antique, and what’s a collectible. There’s also not much in terms of verifying the authenticity of a seller’s claims, but I suppose that’s the risk you take when you go browsing for the proverbial diamonds in the rough.

I ended up getting a Southwestern Native American coil basket allegedly made in the 1940s, though it’s unknown from which specific tribe. I think it was made of yucca, but as I’m no expert on any of this it’s pure speculation. The construction of the basket is certainly in the style of coiled baskets, and the overall condition appears quite aged. Normally the skeptic within me would balk at handing over any cash for something that could easily be faked, but the price wasn’t at that level of outrageous-ness that would normally be associated with wool-pulling, and the vendor seemed reasonable enough to want to avoid breaking the law. Plus, the basket itself was quite pretty, to my eyes, and it wasn’t something that was manufactured by an assembly line or machine (so far that I could tell).

Dinner was back where things began, at the Triple 7 restaurant, where we could chat with The James without shopping interruptions. Ate mostly appetizer-type foods like nachos and garlic fries, and drank a very good dark beer (the name of which escapes me). It was a pleasant experience, up until the place got really crowded and loud because of the start of an NBA playoff game. By then we already had our fill of food, drink, and conversation, and it was about time to call it a day since we still had to pack for an early flight out the next morning.

Overall, I found the trip to be highly entertaining, full of memories and good things. We did squeeze in some gambling, of course, and as expected we didn’t do too well in that regard. However, most of the money we “lost” on this trip was actually spent very well on things like gas for our road trips, souvenirs for back home, omiyage to neighbors and co-workers, and pretty good food and drink. I think we basically broke even, all told.