Las Vegas was founded as a city on May 15, 1905, when 110 acres of land situated between Stewart Avenue on the north, Garces Avenue to the south, Main Street to the west, and 5th Street (Las Vegas Boulevard) to the east, were auctioned off.
Freight Wagon on Freemont Street
New York New York
New York-New York Hotel & Casino is a hotel and casino located on the famed Las Vegas Strip at 3790 Las Vegas Boulevard South, Las Vegas, Nevada. It is one of the largest casinos owned by MGM Mirage. New York-New York uses the New York City theme of its name in many ways. Its architecture creates an impression of the New York City skyline; the hotel includes several towers configured to resemble New York City skyscrapers, such as the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building. In front of the property is a pool representing New York Harbor, with a 150 ft (46 m) tall (half-scale) replica of the Statue of Liberty, a roller coaster, and replicas of the Brooklyn Bridge, Soldiers and Sailors Monument, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and Grand Central Terminal, among other well-known structures.
The property opened on January 3, 1997. After the September 11, 2001 attacks, people spontaneously sent various tributes to New York-New York, especially T-shirts from police, fire and rescue departments around the country. These were displayed for some time along the fence in front of the "Lady Liberty" replica. Eventually, they were replaced by a permanent memorial.
The MGM Grand Hotel and Casino was a hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip at the intersection with Flamingo Road. The site was first occupied by the Bonanza Hotel and Casino. It was later renamed the New Bonanza Hotel and Casino shortly before construction on the MGM Grand began. It suffered a fire that started in a casino restaurant and traveled up into the hotel, killing 87 guests on November 21, 1980. It was rebuilt in only eight months with the remodel adding a tower which opened in 1981. The hotel was sold in 1986 to Bally Entertainment Corporation and reopened as Bally's Las Vegas.
The MGM Grand Las Vegas (the one in the picture below), which opened in 1993, is a hotel casino located on the Las Vegas Strip, as a Hollywood themed resort. When the MGM Grand opened, the intention was to create the first true destination hotel in Las Vegas by including the MGM Grand Adventures Theme Park behind the casino. The plan was to make Las Vegas more "family friendly" by providing activities for children who were too young to be allowed to linger inside the casino. The theme park performed poorly, and did not reopen for the 2001 season. On December 5, 2002, MGM Mirage announced that the former theme park would be developed as a luxury condominium and hotel complex called The Signature.
In 1985, the MGM Grand was the setting for the fictional boxing match between Apollo Creed and Ivan Drago for the movie Rocky IV.
Paris Las Vegas is a hotel and casino located Strip that is owned and operated by Harrah's Entertainment. As its name suggests, its theme is the city of Paris in France; it includes a 1/2 scale, 540 foot (164.6 m) tall replica of the Eiffel Tower, and a neon sign in the shape of the Montgolfier balloon. Paris Opened September 1, 1999. When the scale model of the Eiffel Tower was built, it was planned to be full scale, but the airport was too close and the tower had to be shrunk. Paris cost $785 million dollars to build.
We went inside The Bellagio and took many photos of our baby Jasmine in the make-believe Christmas themed garden. She is very photogenic. Of course we're biased.
The Bellagio
Inspired by the Lake Como resort of Bellagio in Italy, Bellagio is famed for its elegance. One of its most notable features is an 8 acre artificial lake between the building and the Strip. The fountain shows on the lake are a major free attraction and provide a romantic ambiance for couples walking along the strip.
This is a picture of the ceiling at The Bellagio. It is a Hand Blown Glass display by Dale Chihuly.
The hotel and casino was built following the purchase and demolition of the legendary Dunes hotel and casino in 1993. Bellagio is home to Cirque du Soleil's aquatic production of "O."
When it opened on October 15, 1998, it was the most expensive hotel ever built, having cost over $1.6 billion.
Bellagio was featured prominently in the film Ocean's Eleven (2001). The vault for the three casinos that were robbed (MGM Grand, Mirage, and Bellagio) owned by Terry Benedict (played by Andy Garcia) was located beneath the Bellagio. There is no confirmation whether in fact the vault exists as portrayed in the movie.
Nuestra familia in front of Ceasar's Palace.
Caesars has 3,349 rooms in five towers: Augustus, Centurion, Forum, Palace, and Roman. Building of the 14-story Caesars Palace hotel began in 1962.
On December 31, 1967, Evel Knievel unsuccessfully tried to jump the hotel's water fountain with his motorcycle. Caesars has opened the Roman Plaza, an open-air area with a cafe on the corner, and the Colosseum theater, where Céline Dion and Elton John are regular performers.
Film history at Ceasar's Palace
All the fine dining in Vegas, and this is what we had for lunch!!!
Ceasars Palace has over 129,000 square feet of casino space...
The Forum Shops at Caesars opened in 1992 ; it was one of the very first venues in the city where shopping, particularly at high-end stores, was an attraction in itself. 
While walking around the Forum Shops, we saw that Pete Rose was signing autographs at one of the stores. Peter Edward "Pete" Rose, Sr., nicknamed Charlie Hustle, is an American former player and manager in Major League Baseball. 
Pete played from 1963 to 1986, best known for his many years with the Cincinnati Reds. He won three World Series rings, three batting titles, one Most Valuable Player Award, two Gold Gloves, the Rookie of the Year Award, and made 17 All-Star appearances at an unequalled five different positions.
In August 1989, three years after he retired as an active player, Rose agreed to permanent ineligibility from baseball amidst accusations that he gambled on baseball games while playing for and managing the Reds; some accusations claimed that he bet on, and even against, the Reds. After years of public denial, in 2004 he admitted to betting on, but not against, the Reds.
After his ban was instated, the Baseball Hall of Fame formally voted to bar those on the "permanently ineligible" list from induction. Previously, those who were banned had been excluded by informal agreement among voters. The issue of his possible re-instatement and election to the Hall of Fame remains a contentious one throughout baseball.
The white tiger at The Mirage
Unlike conventional tigers, which have black and gold markings, the white tiger is white with black stripes, pink paws and ice blue eyes. The purest of these animals are snow white and have no stripes. There are only a few dozen white tigers in the world, which makes them rarer than the panda bear.
White tigers occur when inbreeding — usually between parents and cubs — produces offspring with two copies of a recessive gene. Although such inbreeding often leads to birth defects, the public appeal of the white tiger has, controversially, led to it becoming a regular practice in captivity
We were gonna take the Monorail at the Mirage, but we decided to walk.
The present monorail (Phase 1 of the overall project) begins at the MGM Grand Hotel near the south end of The Strip, and runs roughly parallel to the Strip on its eastern side. The monorail passes next to the Las Vegas Hilton and the Convention Center, both with stations, before ending at the Sahara hotel at the north end of the Strip. The ride takes about 14 minutes to travel its total distance of 3.9 miles (about 6.3 km).
We walked around A LOT that day... Here we are in front of Ceasars Palace, AGAIN!
Jasmine was in such a good mood that day!
Using a dramatic combination of music, water and light, the Bellagio delivers spectacular performances with its majestic fountains. Every evening, time briefly seems to stop in front of the Bellagio. Running every 15 minutes or every half-hour, depending on the time of year, the animated fountains are impossible to simply walk past. Cleverly orchestrated to a variety of songs -- from "One, Singular Sensation," featured on Broadway, to "Fly Me To The Moon," written by Bart Howard and made famous by Frank Sinatra -- the fountains appear to come to life with every note. Spanning across the quarter-mile-long lake in front of the Bellagio, the free show generally lasts between five and 10 minutes.
The $40 million Bellagio fountain show is equipped with 1,200 nozzles and 4,500 lights, making it the most expensive and ambitious water feature the company ever has done.
The Bellagio fountains have been made famous through appearances on the silver screen. The fountains were most notably highlighted in the remake of "Ocean's Eleven," starring George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts.
The range of movement across the lake is varied; some of the movement is continuous, responding to the smooth passages of music, while other water jets are rapidly pulsing, reaching heights as high as 240 feet.
With a wide array of musical selections and choreography, you could easily sit in front of the fountains all night and never see the same performance twice. Even those in passing cars on the Strip feel compelled to pull to the side and take in the show.
I love you all. :D
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