Mandalay bride

A few weeks ago we went to Mandalay Bay with a friend to eat at the Burger Bar and show her the views from the Fire & Ice Bar on the top floor; she’s lived in town for ten years and had never been to either place. I like going to Mandalay Bay and the attached Luxor for several reasons, the main one being access: it is on the same side of the Strip as our house and thus is relatively easy to get to, the parking garages open onto the road behind (Frank Sinatra Drive), and the parking garage is large with big aisles, wide parking spaces, and escalators within the parking garage between levels, taking you right down to the back entrance. It’s also a rather pleasant place, with good restaurants and an atmosphere that I like.

Anyway, the back door from the parking garage brings you in between the restaurants in the south western corner of the property. As we walked past the statue of Lenin in front of the Red Square restaurant (voted the Best Bar in America by Playboy Magazine according to their web site) we walked past one of those sites that I love to see on the Strip; a bride in full wedding gown walking around. This one appeared to be by herself, no spouse or fiancé in evidence, and was heading towards the garage, walking very quickly.


Sorry I don’t have a good photo, the camera wasn’t in my hand and I have not fully developed my quick-draw technique, though there are times I wish I was faster. I will have to pull all of these bride photos together, the average seems to be one bride for every three trips we take down to the strip; time of day or day of week is immaterial, I’ve seen fancy bridal gowns in early morning on the way to work, seen weddings on a pirate ship at noon, crossing the street in late afternoon, on late night walks, and everything in between. This one was at around 5pm on a Thursday evening.

Back to the Burger Bar – this time I tried one of their named burgers, with buffalo meat and an assortment of stuff on it: it was really great. But when we tried to get upstairs we found the bar was closed for a private party, so our friend still hasn’t seen the view of the Strip from on high. Next time you are in Vegas go up to Mix and catch the sunset – no cover charge if you’re early, you can even get by without buying a drink, but take some time, have a coke or something stronger and enjoy the view. Be sure to hit the restrooms – at my house we don’t even have a window in the bathroom, there you have a floor to ceiling glass wall looking down the Strip to the south.

Wow, looking at the menu for Red Square, the first thing listed is Imperial Golden Osetra 000 caviar at $ 275. One reason we haven’t eaten there. Of the other restaurants, Strip Steak at least lists the ‘average bill per person $110. A 30 oz Porterhouse steak at $69 – you better be really hungry.