Free on the Strip (part 3)

An oasis in the desert is the hotel for the birds. Some birds are tourists enjoying the waterhole and free food, while others have lived in this paradise for many years. Several waterfalls pour into a large koi pond that is home to over 300 fish, 20 turtles, and over 60 birds. This certainly would be a romantic scene for a wedding near the waterfall and garden.

We saw many huge Japanese Koi and an Albino Channel Catfish, as well as some mallard ducks enjoying the pond.

Some lucky birds have been rescued, mended, and cherished by some very loving attendants at the Flamingo Wildlife Habitat.

You could tell the residents apart from the visitors because they were a bit territorial at feeding time. Apparently, the European Shelduck can be quite quarrelsome.

We saw an elegant Australian black swan with a brilliant bill gracefully float by to make his presence known.

We found a hummingbird feeder, but we didn’t witness any hummingbirds. These year round visitors are welcome guests because they dine on all of the tiny bugs that are attracted to the hotel windows.

Apparently there are 20 water turtles here, but we only saw just this one swimming past us to say hi.

This beautifully maintained park is free on the Strip and open to the public during daylight hours. The best time to go is either 8:30 am or 2:00 pm when the pelicans are being fed by a friendly caretaker who educates everyone present about the animals and answers all of your questions that you may have.

The speaker told us that these two pelicans were found in California wrapped in some fishing line. Their damaged wings were repaired but they are permanently disabled. They are named Bugsy and Virginia, after Bugsy Siegel and his girlfriend, who opened the first resort casino on the Strip.

Bugsy named the hotel Flamingo because of his girlfriend’s long legs and red hair.

Displayed in the front lobby are some interesting historical photographs on the wall next to a giant birdcage that holds a handsome Macaw named Captain, who was rescued when he was 5 months old. We tried to get him to talk to us, but he was taking a coffee break and didn’t want to be disturbed.

In the back hallway, there is another huge birdcage that holds some lovely cockatiels.

One of them was very friendly, came over and even bent down so that my daughter could pet him! “It was so soft!” she exclaimed when we left.

We were provided with an informative brochure that explained about all of the different animals. This would be a great place to take your kids for a free educational excursion, on your way to the pool of course! I know my mother, my daughter and I really enjoyed it.

Free on the Strip (part 2)

To celebrate Father’s Day, we did something a little special today. We went to the Shelby Mustang Heritage Center and enjoyed their free guided tour. The museum is not technically on the main drag but is located just off of Las Vegas Blvd. just south of the Las Vegas sign which by the way is another exciting thing to see for free on the Strip. Recently they added a small parking lot so you can get out and take your picture in front of the world famous sign. There is usually a short line but it goes pretty quickly.

The extremely knowledgeable tour guide went around the entire showroom and explained a great deal about each car. I was impressed that he was able to speak for about 2 hours straight from memory without using any notes. I liked that it wasn’t just a bunch of boring statistics, but he gave intriguing tidbits of background information about Carroll Shelby and how he fulfilled his dreams.

During the tour, we found out that Mr. Shelby was a chicken farmer and started racing as a fluke when his friend, who was a racecar driver, asked him to fill in and drive for him for one race. From that moment on, he was hooked. After he retired early from racing in 1960 due to health issues, he started making race cars. The guide told us the story of how Shelby originally took his sales pitch to GM but they weren’t interested, because they already had their Corvette. So he went down the street to Ford, and when Lee Iococca heard that he had something that could beat the Chevrolet Corvette, he was sold.

The tour guide stated that Carroll Shelby was always trying to make his cars even faster. He also stated that he had cars available for sale if anyone was interested to talk to him after the tour was over.

When the tour guide popped the hood and showed us the motor of the Shelby 1000, all of the guys were crowding in to get a good picture of that engine.

There were about 25 people on our tour that started at 10:30 am. When we headed out to the production area, almost every one of the approximately 20 production bays had a car being built or remodeled. This is where it was extremely hard to hear what he was saying unless you were directly in front of him, so several of us left and went back inside to sit down on the bench to wait. When I sat down and looked at my watch, I was shocked that he had captivated my attention for 1 hour and 45 minutes!

While I was sitting on the bench, that is when I noticed that they were filming live for Drivers Talk Radio right there in the showroom while everyone else was in the production area.

When the tour was over at about 12:30 pm, we looked around the retail gift shop at all of the t-shirts, hats, and souvenirs they had for sale. You can even order custom Shelby car parts such as struts, clutch plates, and superchargers for conversions.

Even though my husband was there once before, he said it was a different experience. He said it was another tour guide and some of the cars in the showroom were new because some are on loan and some are for sale. The first tour guide was older and actually knew Carroll Shelby and talked about his personal conversations with him. The second tour guide was filled with interesting facts and figures about the chronological history of each and every one of the specific cars down to the year, make, model, and the specific conversations and/or controversies around that specific car, how and why it was made the way it was made. I didn’t actually count them but I think there were probably about 30 cars in that showroom and he talked about every single one of them.

I’m no expert when it comes to cars, but I really appreciated this tour because my first car was a silver blue 1975 Mustang Mach 1 V-8 hatchback and I loved it!

So anyone who is a car nut of any age will enjoy this experience, and it doesn’t have to be just a one-time occasion either. They have tours every day, but if you happen to go at a time when they are not giving a guided tour, you can still learn an abundant amount of informative facts just from what is written on the walls of the showroom. This is a remarkable place to take the entire family on your next vacation to Las Vegas. This would also be a fascinating place to take students for an educational history lesson. Definitely a must see on your list of free things to do on the Strip!

She Earned It!

My daughter earned all A’s and B’s on her final report card! She worked hard and deserves a treat! So for a reward, my husband and I took her to Krispy Kreme on Spring Mountain and Rainbow.

Krispy Kreme has a fantastic community spirit by offering a free donut for every A on a student’s report card. (Below is a picture of a sign in their window.)

What a great incentive because what kid doesn’t love donuts as a special treat.

She was giddy because she got to order a whole box of donuts of whatever she wanted.

On top of that, because we came during their “hot light” hours, they gave us each a free hot glazed donut fresh off the stove!

So we received NINE FREE DONUTS! No gimmicks…not with a purchase… just free…period.

But of course, you can’t just leave without ordering something else because they are just too tempting. My husband and I each ordered a donut and a cup of coffee, and we bought her a milk.

Speaking of free deals, my husband went to Krispy Kreme on Veteran’s Day last year and they gave him a donut and a cup of coffee for free! Plus, they give a military discount on every purchase. What a great way to honor the people who have served our country!

At this particular location, you can watch the entire process of how they make their donuts. My daughter really enjoyed watching the donuts flip over automatically so she took a video.

Free on the Strip (part 1)

One of my mom’s favorite things to do in Las Vegas is to see the Bellagio garden because she loves to seek out the colorful beauty in the desert wherever she can find it. Whenever she sees a different flower, she always tries to see if she remembers the name of it before looking it up. They have small signs everywhere that tell you the names of the plants and other educational tidbits of information.

We try to go at least 2 or 3 times a year because they change it every season. We have seen it decorated for Christmas, changed for Chinese New Year, and then changed for the Spring. We have gone again in the Summer, but it usually was not much different from the Spring the few times we have been there. Sometimes, we see several of the same decorations that we have seen before, just displayed a little differently. But this time, it was a completely new scene that we had never seen before.

The indoor garden was decorated as if it was all underwater. My daughter and her cousin told us the theme was “Finding Nemo” because there was a sunken ship with a scuba diver dressed in black, and in the giant walk-through aquarium we found all the different kinds of fish that were the characters in the movie, such as Nemo, Dory, Gill, Bubbles, and Deb. There was also a huge sea turtle covered in flowers that reminded us of Crush. 

There were enormous jelly fish hanging from the glass ceiling that reminded us of the scene when Marlin and Dory were surrounded and scared. I loved all of the colorful hydrangea underneath the seahorses made of shells and flower petals.

There was a giant blue whale with huge kind eyes that reminded us of the whale that brought Marlin and Dory to Sydney, Australia where Nemo was. I thought it was made out of cabbage, but my mom corrected me and said it was covered in “hen and chicks.” 

My daughter was sad that she didn’t see Squirt anywhere, but she also stated that there were no sharks or “bad guys” either, which made it very cheerful and family friendly.

Seeing all of this makes us even more excited for the new movie “Finding Dory.” 

In the back corner lies a giant picture frame that is always filled with a different artistic scene made entirely out of flowers. They usually have the original painting next to the frame along with information about the artist and/or the painting itself. But this time, it was a promotion for their new restaurant. 

In addition to the garden inside, there is a spectacular fountain show choreographed to music located outside in front of the hotel which you absolutely must see. If you happen to stop by when it is not showing, just stand there and wait a few minutes and it will start back up again. It is definitely worth the wait.

There’s many more free things to do on the Strip, so stay tuned!