Vegas – travellingzombie.com

There are Botanical Gardens in the Middle of Vegas?!

Most people know that Vegas is expensive. It can be done on a shoe-string budget, but why would you? It’s Vegas. Part of this city’s attraction is the extravagance. There is one place, however, where you can still feel like a baller but spend nothing. I’m talking about the Bellagio.

Known as one of the most famous hotels in Vegas (in part due to the iconic fountains) and dripping in luxury, there is still hope for those of us who don’t have a huge bank balance.

The conservatory and botanical gardens in the Bellagio are a great way of spending an hour or so. Each time we’ve been to Vegas, a visit to the botanical gardens has been a real treat! The change in season brings something different. We’ve seen colourful jellyfish, glass flowers hanging from the ceiling, giant toadstools and underwater scenes. Each time, the colours and flowers have been brilliantly creative and we have spent lots of time wandering around, taking in the scenery.

If you get bored of the botanical gardens, you can always take a trip outside to see the Bellagio Fountains dancing to their music and light show. Who said you have to spend a fortune in Vegas?!

The Secret Location for the AllSpark and Megatron – Otherwise Known as the Hoover Dam

My main memory of the Hoover Dam was heat. It was blisteringly hot and that’s coming from someone who had just spent a day or too baking in the Vegas sun. The problem with the Hoover Dam is that there is no shelter, none at all. So if you are planning to visit, lather up on sunscreen – trust us it’s worth it!

Once you get past the heat, it’s easy to be blown away by the sheer size of the Hoover Dam. It. Is. Huge! If you have vertigo / get dizzy with heights, this could be a challenging place. One peak over the edge of the wall had my head spinning. But it was worth it. The views are incredible and as we visited on such a sunny day, the colours of the dam walls against the blue of the water and sky was striking.

Wandering Beeb was enthralled with the sheer engineering feat of building something so huge. Being a bit of a history buff, he was completely fascinated with the history of the build and there was plenty of information dotted around the dam to keep him busy. He worked his way around the site, absorbing information on the construction and the stories behind the dam.

I’m a bit more visual, so I spent my time snapping pictures and taking in the site. I also wanted to get my geek on by spending time looking at the place where they stored Megatron’s body in Transformers (the dam was the base for Sector Seven in the Transformers movie).

I’ve heard a number of people talk about the costs at the Hoover Dam, and it’s true, you can be charged for everything; a tour inside the building, a tour around the site, for drinks (don’t forget that heat I mentioned before – make sure you take loads of water!). However, if you want to go on a budget, just don’t take any of the tours! We spent an hour or so there and didn’t spend a penny. The site has lots of information dotted around and there is plenty to see without paying for a tour.

A product of a design competition winner, the winged statues guard the entrance to the dam. The unusual method of installing the statues involved using blocks of ice, which melted in the sun to help the engineers to get the placement and finish for the statues just right. Known as ‘Winged Figures of the Republic’, they sit on jet black bases, reminding me of those two statues Atreyu had to pass through in ‘The Neverending Story’.

With over one million visitors each year churning through the Hoover Dam site, you can expect any visit to be busy, however I think that we were quite lucky. We stopped off at the dam fairly early in the morning on our route to the Grand Canyon. It was a long day but it was well worth it to avoid the crowds.

Whether your visit is due to an interest in the history of the dam, to wonder at the sights or (like me) to see where the AllSpark is hidden (Transformers again!), Hoover Dam is a great place to visit and is guaranteed to get you some great photos.

Travel Music

We all know that travel is life, but there is something that I consider to be just as important when I’m getting ready for a trip. Almost as soon as I’ve booked my ticket, I’m popping in the headphones and starting a new playlist. I don’t mean finding a new playlist – I’m talking about setting one up, from scratch and searching out the best music for my trip, because for me, music is also life.

I use music before a trip to set the scene, build a picture of the place I’m visiting and generate excitement. Whilst I’m there, I use music to help me to link memories and create an atmosphere of the trip. Those of you who are into your music will be nodding your head at this point – you get it. For those of you who are wondering why I’d dive into a playlist rather than shopping for holiday bits and bobs – I’m sorry, this post is probably not going to make much sense to you!

I’m talking to those travellers who need music to create the heartbeat of their trip. Who plan 3 hours of driving tunes to perfection to meet the tastes of all of the travellers on the road (I’ve absolutely done this!) and who download playlists to their phone ‘just in case’ it doesn’t work online (I’ve done this too – this can wreck the pre-night out preparation time). I wanted to share with you some of my song choices for road trips we’ve taken – it would be great to know if we have any choices in common!

New York Tunes

No Sleep Til Brooklyn – Beastie Boys
Empire State of Mind – Alicia Keys & Jay Z
(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher – Jackie Wilson
New York, New York – Frank Sinatra
NY State of Mind – Nas

Vegas Party

Can’t Tell Me Nothing – Kanye West
All I do Is Win – DJ Khaled
The Joker And The Thief – Wolfmother
Dynamite – Taipei Cruz
Viva Las Vegas – The Blues Brothers
Right around – Flo Rider

California Road Tripping

Good Vibrations – Beach Boys
California Dreaming – Beach Boys
California – Phantom Planet
Surfin’ USA – Beach Boys
California Dreamin’ – The Mamas and the Papas
I Get Around – Beach Boys
All Summer Long – Kid Rock
Hotel California – The Eagles
Beverly Hills – Weezer

Yosemite

Society – Eddie Vedder

Hard Sun – Eddie Vedder

In fact, anything off the ‘In to the Wild ‘ soundtrack – nothing can beat this when you are surrounded by trees and campfires. Nothing!

Becoming an S.H.I.E.L.D Agent With Marvel in Vegas.

A visit to the Avengers Marvel S.T.A.T.I.O.N in Vegas

For this week’s post, I could have gone one of two ways: tell you all about our visit to Alcatraz or jump on the Marvel bandwagon and share our experience of the Marvel station in Vegas. Take a quick guess which one I picked?! Don’t worry, I will post on Alcatraz soon, but for now, let’s discuss all things Marvel.

We ended up at the Marvel Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N one red- hot day, looking for some shade. Billed as an ‘interactive and educational visit’ I’m not ashamed to say that I was quite happy to brave the large numbers of kids in attendance to get to see some Marvel kit. We were given headphones at the entrance and this provided us with an audio commentary throughout the exhibition, interacting with the exhibits and guiding us round.

We spent some time being ‘initiated’ as S.H.I.E.L.D agents (kids generally seemed to love this bit) and then we were off, exploring The Avenger’s exhibitions. There were the usual costumes and props on display, but the stand out features for me were Banner’s lab, Thor’s hammer and of course, Stark’s array of Iron Man suits.

Banner’s lab was a hazard-filled area which the Hulk had recently busted his way through. With a huge Hulk hand and a screen which allowed you to control the Hulk’s movements (Hulk Smash!!!), it was one of the more interactive areas of the exhibit.

Although Mjölnir (Thor’s hammer) wasn’t a huge part of the exhibition, it was a great photo opportunity, with everyone trying to get that perfect shot. Spoiler alert: neither me nor Wandering Beeb were worthy enough to be able to able to lift it – it was worth a try!

The best part of the exhibit if you are a Tony Stark / Iron Man fan was the collection of Iron Man suits, fabulously displayed in a circular exhibit, just like in the films. The Hulkbuster suit was also a feature and wow that thing is huge!

Littered throughout the experience were interactive and video game opportunities and the Marvel Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N is well worth a visit for the casual fan and super fan alike. If you can tear yourself away from the other attractions in Vegas, the nightlife on the Strip, stunning hotels and the beautiful weather, it’s a good place to spend a couple of hours.

The Marvel Avenger’s S.T.A.T.I.O.N is located in Treasure Island and costs around £24 per adult ticket. There are often 2 for 1 offers to be found – particularly if you are a guest at Treasure Island.