[Christina] Day 1: Meet Me at the Vegas Mantis

Our joint trip officially began in Las Vegas.  The plan was to meet up at 6 PM at the Downtown Container Park.  Here's what happened leading up to that.

I (Christina) flew to Las Vegas from Boston.  The flight was uneventful, and I got some excellent out-the-window of the airplane photos. 

Boston

Entrenched meanders

Las Vegas.  Obviously these will be a lot better once I have a chance to go through them in Lightroom.

I landed in Las Vegas, took a taxi to downtown, and dropped my bags off at a hotel.  It did not work out to meet up with That Guy I Play Video Games With On The Internet Who Plays Poker In Vegas For A Living, so I drowned my sorrows in drinking gambling roughly half a gallon of lemonade while I wandered around taking pictures and then settled down to read a book.

I went by the Donut Bar, which That Guy I Play Video TGIPVGWOTIWPPIVFAL said had great donuts, but woe, alas-- by the time I got there, they were sold out for the day.  Extra sadness! 

I wandered through the casinos, which appeal to me epsilon.  They are air conditioned and so make for a decent place for a walk.  On the other hand, I find the strategy behind poker to be pretty interesting, though I would never try to play it myself.  By way of useful books, TGIPVGWOTIWPPIVFAL recommends Winning Low-Limit Hold'em and, in more depth, The Theory of Poker. 

I then wandered through the Downtown Container Park, a small shopping center with tiny stores housed in repurposed shipping containers.  The stores are eclectic and adorable, and the whole thing reminds me of Austin.  The big draw for me, however, is the giant scale replica of a female praying mantis which sits out front.  After dark, it plays music and shoots fire from its antennae. 

Clearly, it is pretty much the best thing ever.

I ate dinner at Big Ern's BBQ at the Downtown Container Park.  It claims to be the best brisket in Vegas.  I do not disbelieve them, and yet, as a native Texan, I found the brisket rather sad.  It was not cooked long enough so it was rather tough and flavorless, it did not have any bark to speak of, and it was drowning in BBQ sauce.   Lest you think I would trash any BBQ not from Texas, I will state, for the record, that Ribhouse Texas in The Netherlands is very good and authentic, and would be completely at home in Central Texas. 

Elizabeth arrived ahead of schedule, and picked me up in front of the mantis.  From there, we set out for our campsite in the Nevada desert.  Little did we know, but our journey to the Valley of Fire had only just begun...