Vegas Trip Report - July 2005

I hope this report helps out anybody planning to make the trek to Las Vegas in the next few months.

It had been two years since my last visit to Vegas, and we went during record breaking temperatures. The official high was 115 F., and our car thermometer read 122 F. at one point.

The city seemed to take it's slogan 'What Happens Here, Stays Here' to heart. Vegas seemed more over the top with sex, even for Vegas. I never thought a mainstream casino would sell 'MILF in Training' shirts (if you don't know what that acronym means, suffice it to say it is not a nice phrase), but I am either a fuddy-duddy or I just don't know Vegas.

Anyway, we decided to forgo our usual hangout, Mandalay Bay, for the Venetian. This was a big mistake. Any casino that would trash Taboo Cove is not worth staying at. Besides, the pools were tiny and dirty... not the most fun place for the kid or the adults.

Anyway, we checked out the spot where the late and great Taboo Cove was. It has already been well documented that the place is gone, and there is absolutely no trace the place even existed.

We went over to the Mirage to look at the dolphins, tigers, and lions. In the gift store across from the white tiger display, they sell some really nice mugs, embossed with the Mirage name. There are three designs, two tikis and one a bamboo design. The mugs were manufactured by a company called 'Libbeys'. Colors also varied, and I picked up a blue tiki mug for $10.00.

We also found the Tommy Bahama store at the north end of the Mirage has 'paradise tumblers' (the high falutin name for tiki mugs). I picked up one of the three designs for $16.00. And the mugs actually come in a fancy box. Woo hoo!

We headed back to the Venetian, and went to the pool. Ordered a couple of mai tais for $10.00 each(!). Way over priced and pretty crappy. A huge mistake.

The next day, we headed over to the Cheeseburger at the Oasis restaurant at the Aladdin. Cheeseburger has various glassware on sale, including a Tiki Farm mug that has a grinning tiki holding a cheeseburger. Mugs are $10.00, but if you order a mai tai for $7.00, you can buy the mug for half price. So you get a decent mai tai and a mug for $12.00. Not bad, compared to the swill served at the Venetian. I scored a couple of mugs, and promised the wahine I would sell one on Ebay, so stay tuned.

Cheeseburger also has some of their other glassware on sale (I think at 50% off). These include shot glasses, and some plastic mugs. The decor of Cheeseburger is not bad... all of their mugs/artifacts are glued down to prevent field collecting. :)

Aladdin also has an ABC Store and a Hilo Hatties. For those of you who have never made the pilgrimage to Honolulu, there is an ABC Store about every 18 feet. This store sold the requisite macadamia nut candies, etc. I picked up a small bottle of Ketel One to make up for those damed $10.00 Venetian mai tais.

Hilo Hatties has, of course, a huge selection of Hawaii stuff. They had a nice selection of Tiki Farm mugs, starting from $4.99. The mugs are sort of a generic design, and I did not pick up any (Why? Because I spent too much money on those %&*@$ mai tais at Venetian). However, I did pick up a vinyl car window sticker of a hula girl.

Overall, the trip was not too bad. A nice haul considering that I wasn't actively looking for Tiki. The Taboo Cove may be gone, but Tiki is still holding on in Sin City. By the way, did I mention that I didn't like the Venetian mai tais?

Our Vegas Loot:

A view from the back:

On 2005-07-21 17:25, tikipedia wrote:
Cheeseburger has various glassware on sale, including a Tiki Farm mug that has a grinning tiki holding a cheeseburger.
Our Vegas Loot:

Too funny that Cheeseburger mug!!! :)

Do you know if they still have the hula dancers at Cheeseburger at the Oasis? I had lunch there last year, and there was a little show going on.

never been to vegas, except the airport on countless layovers.
the "milf in training" sounds interesting. what is that?

please elaborate...

On 2005-07-21 19:15, alohabros wrote:
what is that?

Right. I suppose you'll be asking us to explain what 69 means next. Use Google if you really, honestly don't know.

Critiki - Hundreds of tiki bars, Polynesian restaurants, and other sites of interest to the tiki traveller, collector or urban archaeologist

[ Edited by: Humuhumu 2005-07-21 19:20 ]

not us, just you... what does 69 mean?

We didn't see any dancers at Cheeseburger, thought that is not to say they don't have them. We were there just about an hour one evening, so we could've missed them.

We did see ads for the Polynesian Revue at Imperial Palace, and they have hula girls, fire dancers, etc., but didn't make it over there.

It's really kind of a sad state of affairs here in Sin City.

The list of low key "atmo" Tiki experiences is near zero.

Taboo Cove was Tiki for one day, then they installed the PA system and created a Hip Hop hybrid that made conversation impossible but did help keep people away, so at least we had that "lost way station" feel when we drank there.

Another relatively recent loss was Tut's Hut, in Luxor under the giant pyramid. They used to stock and pour a wide variety of Tiki beverages with a pretty cool array of mugs. It was not Tiki in appearance, but it had the best feature of what is Tiki for me - a place that was kind of outside the timeline of the present, where the clock lost all significance during a fine binge.

The pool area at the Tropicanna used to be "Tiki Casual," with a cool meandering pool and dirt cheap libations. For some reason, they had spectacularly good Pina Coladas and (gasp) Margaritas. The PA system was understated and very evenly distributed, with exotica and "Esquivel" style tunes. The outside bars had cool ceiling fans, too. It was definitely another "outside time and space" experience. Now it has not been kept up as well as it should have been, and has morphed into more of a snide grin with a wink rather than a pleasant smile and wave.

The Hawaiian Village thing is about as Tiki as the cheapest knick knack pavilion on Waikiki. A non-starter for me.

The pool bar at Hard Rock can feel Tiki, just because of the cool landscaping, but a Tiki crowd is not usually as self-congratulatory as the Hard Rock clientele, no offense.

Mandalay Bay has some Tiki feeling areas in the pool and beach areas, but lacks that certain je ne sais qua that makes one feel the line into Tiki has been crossed. Maybe it deserves more opportunity.

In general, good Tiki seems to spontaneously occur when a certain mix of aesthetics, mood, atmosphere, and product meet. It's hard to do pre-fab.

The hunt for vital Tiki in Vegas will continue.

We were there over Easter and stayed at the Luxor and were pretty upset to have missed Tut's Hut.
There was a fairly tacky 'Hawaiian' Market on the strip though, selling tiki mugs and a few cocktails. We bought the Volcano mug in the middle of this photo with a pretty good Long Island. The Tommy Bahamas shop was a cool find, I think there was also one of them in one of the malls just off the strip.

The volcano mug also is available at Kahunnaville at TI and, apparently, at the Peppermill.

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=12901&forum=5&hilite=Kahunnaville

[i]On 2005-07-21 17:25, tikipedia wrote:
Vegas seemed more over the top with sex, even for Vegas.

The sex aspect is reduced by staying at Mandalay Bay, where I stayed this July, as there are not people passing out stripper cards every block, as is the case near the Venetian.

The "Sirens of TI" show is not as sexy as it is rumored to be. Yes, the women are wearing short skirts and the song, a little bit of honey" could be suggestive, but that is about it. The cocktail waitress uniforms at the Venetian are far more suggestive.

However, the phone book does have approximately 50 pages devoted to "entertainers."

On 2005-07-24 16:32, christiki295 wrote:
The volcano mug also is available at Kahunnaville at TI

Ah! I forget to mention it... I did see this volcano mug (as well as a few others) at Kahunaville. We didn't go in, but we did see them in the glass case by the hostess station. I didn't ask the price, but suspected it was an arm and a leg.

Coming from Los Angeles, where every new and cool place has the "West Hollywood" tax, I think all prices in Vegas are relatively cheap.

I do like Kanhunnaville. While it is not Taboo Cove (RIP), it does have:

(1) tiki,
(2) tiki drinks served in tiki mugs
(3) tiki wall art
(4) a "Bosko" tiki room

It is not bad and will able to do until Trader Vic's arrives (unless there is a tiki bar at the Hawaiian Village outside the Polo Towers).

Vegas has gone back to the dark side. Its over the top as you say. I can only handle it for 24 hours max and I am out. The pool at the Venitian is one of the worse pools of the new resorts. Nothing there. The most intresting thing is the lifeguard stand. I was there a few weeks back and went to the Moorea Pool at Mandalay Bay. Nothing Polynesian about it but an upscale strip joint with hookers and topless women in G Strings. Not bad, but it was crazy. I was also approached by a very good looking hooker in the Casino Bar. Either I look like I need it or Vegas is much more open about it but I have never seen them approaching people like that in an upscale resort. And the prices!!!

On 2005-07-22 10:05, Geeky Tiki wrote:
Another relatively recent loss was Tut's Hut, in Luxor under the giant pyramid. They used to stock and pour a wide variety of Tiki beverages with a pretty cool array of mugs. It was not Tiki in appearance, but it had the best feature of what is Tiki for me - a place that was kind of outside the timeline of the present, where the clock lost all significance during a fine binge.

The first time I was there, in 1993, it was VERY Tiki in appearance. The last time I was there, in 2003, there were two Tikis outside of the place near the elevators, and that's it.

Devolution of the Tiki in action!

On 2005-07-21 19:15, alohabros wrote:
never been to vegas, except the airport on countless layovers.
the "milf in training" sounds interesting. what is that?

please elaborate...

http://www.fas.org/irp/world/para/milf.htm :)

mrs. smiley, aaaahhh, so that's milf... in Las Vegas??? like bin laden meets father james porter...eeewwwww, gross!

tikipedia reports

Vegas seemed more over the top with sex, even for Vegas.

I visited Vegas for the first time this past May and was surprised with the sex aspect, given that I'd been reading articles about how it was shooting for the family crowd. I wasn't offended by anything I saw, just puzzled considering that the Vegas powers-that-be have been sending press releases to midwestern magazines touting the city's family fun approach.

I was amused to see a big screen TV advertising strippers at the Fremont Street Experience and I put a pic of it in my blog: http://thelope.blogspot.com/2005/05/vegas-baby.html

The coolest thing I found in the city was the Neon Museum boneyard: http://thelope.blogspot.com/2005_05_25_thelope_archive.html
I didn't have time to arrange a tour of it, but I imagine half the people on TC would enjoy one.

I'll really have to get one of those cheeseburger mugs next time.

On 2005-07-25 19:31, tikijackalope wrote:
I'd been reading articles about how it was shooting for the family crowd.

From what I've heard, the family friendly Vegas was a tactic that was tried out in the early 1990s, but failed. It has subsequently been abandoned in favor of more traditional adult casinos (like the new Winns).

The story as to why Vegas did the kiddy Vegas thing, was to compete with indian casinos popping up across the country. So we saw all of the theme megacasinos, like Luxor, Treasure Island, etc.

Vegas developers decided to drop the family-oriented approach, and focus on a 'T&A' strategy instead. They even got rid of the cool pirate battle out front, and there is now a huge sign advertising the club Tangerine. To see what I mean, go to http://www.treasureisland.com/pages/ent_tangerine.asp.

What a shame! The irony is that Vegas is the new Honolulu, filled with Hawaiian transplants (of all races)looking for cheaper housing and jobs. All kinds of Hawaiian cultural things going on there. That is what I would have been looking for in Vegas, not tiki mugs.

On 2005-07-25 08:54, Pacific Andy wrote:
I was there a few weeks back and went to the Moorea Pool at Mandalay Bay. Nothing Polynesian about it but an upscale strip joint with hookers and topless women in G Strings. Not bad, but it was crazy. I was also approached by a very good looking hooker in the Casino Bar.

Big Daddy Pacific Andy, putting some sin back into Sin City.

Wow, I'm amazed that Taboo Cove is gone already. The Missus and I were there last summer and I was surprised how small it was. I was also taken aback by the third wave ska blaring over the sound system. Figures. I did get two tiki mugs and hit for $300 on the dollar slots, so it wasn't a total waste. Does anybody know what happened to all the woodwork and tiki mug collection?

On 2005-07-25 08:54, Pacific Andy wrote:

I was there a few weeks back and went to the Moorea Pool at Mandalay Bay. Nothing Polynesian about it but an upscale strip joint with hookers and topless women in G Strings.

Did you get a lap dance?

On 2005-07-27 18:34, kid mongo wrote:
Wow, I'm amazed that Taboo Cove is gone already.
. . . Does anybody know what happened to all the woodwork and tiki mug collection?

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?mode=viewtopic&topic=12467&forum=2&start=0

You got to do what you got to do. What happens in Moorea stays in Moorea or was that Bora Bora?. But it was amazing how forward it has all become. Its not for the kids anymore or for the weak at heart.

On 2005-07-27 18:34, kid mongo wrote:
Wow, I'm amazed that Taboo Cove is gone already. The Missus and I were there last summer and I was surprised how small it was. I was also taken aback by the third wave ska . I did get two tiki mugs and hit for $300 on the dollar slots, so it wasn't a total waste.

Are you saying they had slots in the bar?? They didn't when they opened.

Does MILF stand for "Maybe I Love Fred"? someone please
explain...

On 2005-07-29 15:20, tiki-riviera wrote:
Does MILF stand for "Maybe I Love Fred"?

No.

Is It
Me Into Life Friend?

Marriage Is Love Forever

Men In Limbo Financially

My Informative Little Friend

Move In Little Freak

Monkeys In Liquid Fromage

(Queso De Chongo)