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The Luxor Hotel – Las Vegas
It is HOT here! Renee was outside for less than 3 seconds before declaring that she would not be setting foot outside during the entire trip, particularly as her family is distantly related to polar bears and as such were not partial to temperatures over 100 degrees. Of course, there’s plenty to see inside too!
We’re staying at the Luxor. It looks like a giant 30 storey black pyramid with giant sphinx out front, it’s supposedly one of the city’s first fully-themed mega-resorts. It’s right between Mandalay Bay (where the wedding will be) and Excalibur (where some other members of our group are staying). AND it is all connected by tunnels and walkways and a tram. (Renee is much relieved).
Karen, the bell hop was telling us about how MGM had bought out the Luxor and it was now in the midst of renovations to make it a little less “egypty” and attract a “younger clientelle.” I thought that kind of sad. The old egypt-themed restaurants, the Isis and the Sacred Sea Room are gone. In their place…CatHouse. <insert sigh here>
As you may know, I love ghost stories about various places we visit. Previously, the Luxor had a Nile River Tour with a boat and a winding river inside the pyramid. It was removed as a part of the renovation but one of the rumors is that it was removed because guests kept seeing ghosts of the three workers killed during the Luxor’s construction whenever the river passed through dark tunnels. Cool, eh? Unfortunately, (or perhaps fortunately) no ghosts were seen by us.
But some of the original design is still very prevalent so I’m glad we were able to go and experience it before things change too much more.
Obelisk and Sphinx inside the Luxor pyramid
Aloha! Hawaii – Day 0 and Day 1
Day 0
Whew! After 23 hours in transit, we had mechanical problems with our plane that lead to significant delays and rearranging of flights, we finally arrived in Oahu at about 10pm. That means it was about 4am in DC time. Unfortunately, Renee’s luggage didn’t make it.
We’re staying at the Wyland Waikiki Hotel. It looks pretty neat, but with the low ceilings and poor air circulation on account of being surrounded by other buildings, it is a bit warm. Although, let me just say, they have one of the MOST comfortable pull-out beds I have ever slept on.
Day 1
Today we visited the Iolani Palace. The short and sweet description (summarized mostly from Wikipedia – because it is too late and I am too tired to write up my own detailed description) is:
Iolani Palace is the only royal palace used as an official residence by a reigning monarch in the United States. The Iolani Palace structure that exists today is actually the second Iolani Palace to sit on thepalace grounds. King David Kalakaua dreamed of a royal palace befitting of the sovereignty of a modern state such as Hawaii. He commissioned the construction of a ”new” Iolani Palace to become the official palace of the Hawaiian monarchy. The building was completed in 1882 and cost over $360,000. It had electricity and telephones at a time that such a thing was so rare and that many had never even heard of it. And served as the official residence of the Hawaiian monarch until the kingdom was overthrown in 1893.
Iolani Palace
I have to admit, the inside looked very beautiful with a lot of decorative woods and carvings. And the building has an amazing history. Just as a neat note – On April 30th of this year, the palace was “overtaken” by a group of native Hawaiians called the Hawaiian Kingdom Government to protest what they view as illegitimate rule by the United States. Cool, eh?
This is us indulging in a limo to ride over to the palace. Actually, the limo was the same price as a taxi. Brenda was our driver and she absolutely rocked. The other photo is of the state seal in the ceiling of the entrance to the Iolani Palace.
Judy, Ron, Don, me, Renee and Rhonda
State Seal at Iolani Palace
Waikiki at Sunset