Hello FTC!

A Weekend In Las Vegas

/ Ally Bean / 8 Comments

Last weekend Zen-Den and I went to Las Vegas, a four-hour direct flight from here.  He was going there for work, so I decided to tag along for a 48 hour getaway because I thought that it would be entertaining.  And it was… sort of… in a “well, I guess this is better than sitting home alone” kind of way. Here’s my take on our trip.

The Good: Where We Stayed

Having been to Las Vegas many times before we wanted to see what it’d be like to stay in a non-gaming hotel, so we stayed at the Four Seasons Hotel.  [Not quite as pricey as you might think when booked together with airfare on Travelocity.]  The hotel was clean and quiet and stylish and refined– which was in complete contrast to the smoky and noisy and tacky and loud casinos.  I liked going back to the stillness of our room after the chaos of The Strip.  Very yin and yang.  This was a wonderful choice for us.

The Bad:  Meals.  Shopping.  Shows.

Meals in the restaurants were okay, but very expensive.  Drinks weren’t cheap, either.  Shopping was either high-end designer shops, or the “same-old, same-old” mall stores available all across the USA.  The shows were stale.  Many had been there for years and we’d seen them before;  or they were just another one of those “Cirque du Soleil” shows that all seem the same to me.  Overall, there was nothing special for us about the meals/shopping/shows, so we spent more time in the casinos playing penny slots– which got kind of old.

The Ugly:  Transportation

Getting around on The Strip was slow and difficult.  We didn’t have a car so we walked, used public transportation or grabbed a cab.  Many of the escalators and moving sidewalks were broken.  [I’m looking at you, Excaliber.]  Alternate stairways were dirty.  [Shame on you, Imperial Palace.]  The monorail service was available but it wasn’t easy to find– and inexplicably, it no longer had a stop at the Convention Center.  Tram service between casinos was arbitrary.  [A few signs, clearly posted, with the hours of tram service would be nice, Mandalay Bay.]  Taxis, while plentiful, were painfully slow driving up and down The Strip.   We spent more time getting around Las Vegas than we wanted to and this made us cranky, tired, and not thinking happy thoughts.

In Conclusion:

I used to like Las Vegas because it was so unique and happening, but now it seems like it’s trying too hard– desperate– out-of-touch with the times.  In a world with legalized gambling in 49 states — the ability to have any show delivered to my living room via Netflix — and online shopping, there’s little reason for me to go there anymore.  Sure, we had a good enough time.  But in the future when given the option to go to Las Vegas for a personal vacation, I’m going to pass.  Too much hassle, not enough fun.

[Image above of the Iconic Las Vegas Sign from here.]

[Hello FTC!  So we meet again. Just to be clear, this is only my opinion about my experiences.  I’ve received no money or other compensation for this review. Are we good, FTC?]


My Kindle Review

/ Ally Bean / 10 Comments

Because many people in real life have asked me about it, I decided to post my review of the Kindle here in the blogosphere.  I have received no money or other compensation for this review, so fear not FTC.  Everything is cool here.

On the plus side:

– it is very easy to use.  The buttons make sense and are easy to manipulate.

– it is incredibly easy to read in all light.  The clarity is amazing and puts my iMac laptop to shame.

– it is nice to be able to change the font size.

– it is fun to play games on.  The games are free or about $3, so the price is right.

– the leather case [without the light] that I bought extra is ingenious and makes holding the Kindle very easy.

– it is portable.

– many Shakespeare plays and classic books are free.

On the negative side:

– I don’t envision me ever thinking that this little gadget is a book.  It is lovely for reading in short bursts, but to sit down with this and dawdle over a book– not so much.

– the battery doesn’t last as long as advertised.  I’m recharging once a week, not every 3 weeks.

– all books aren’t available on it.  For instance, the Harry Potter series is not part of the collection.  Nor are all the books in a series of mysteries that I like.  My idea was to have complete collections of certain authors so that I would always be able to read them whenever/wherever I wanted.  This is not going to happen.

– subscriptions to newspapers are expensive and the choice of what is available is very limited.

– subscriptions to magazines are available, but I like to read mags with lots of photos in them so for me the Kindle is useless in this area.

Conclusion:

I like it, but it is different from a book.  I liken the Kindle to instant coffee and a book to brewed coffee.  Each has their place, but they aren’t interchangeable.

A Winter Vacation

/ Ally Bean / 2 Comments

I’ve always heard that Walt Disney World in January and February is more fun than during the summer or at Christmastime.  We’ve been there at those times before;  so for a change of pace we decided to fly down to Orlando last week and spend the end of January park hopping our way through WDW.

And guess what?  The scuttlebutt was right.  It was a whole lot more fun.  Fewer lines.  Calmer restaurants.  Happier guests.  Clearer skies.  And better parking.

Probably the most unanticipated aspect of visiting WDW in January was that American English was the least spoken language around.  We heard French, Hebrew, Spanish, German, Russian (or maybe Lithuanian?  or Romanian?), and a bit of Aussie English.  It was intriguing to be surrounded by people from around the world, who just like us, were laughing, getting sunburnt and looking for the nearest restroom.

We didn’t stay at the WDW properties this time.  We’ve done that before and decided that this time we’d try something different.  Instead, we stayed at and enjoyed the Bonnet Creek Hilton Resort.  The hotel was comfortable, clean, beautiful, and the service was friendly.  The Hilton, while not as swanky as its attached neighbor, the Waldorf-Astoria, was perfect for us, two winter weary Midwesterners looking for some sun and relaxation.

As travel goes, this was the sort of vacation that I like the best.  Lots of walking.  A relaxed itinerary.  Good food and drink.  With a  super comfy bed at the end of the day.  I give it two thumbs up.

[Hello FTC! Just to be clear, I have received no money or other compensation for the above endorsements.  This is just my opinion about my experiences.  You can move on down the road now and bother someone else, FTC.  Bye, bye.]