We began the day by exploring a few of the closest hotel/casinos... beginning with our own Excalibur.
Excalibur was linked by an indoor, shopping passageway to the Luxor. The Luxor, in turn, was linked to Mandalay Bay. In the other direction, an outdoor bridge connected Excalibur to New York-New York, which also had a bridge to MGM Grand. But first... onto the Luxor!
Leaving the dragons of Excalibur...
... for the hieroglyphics of the Luxor.
Egyptian themed buildings
The Luxor has an ancient Egyptian theme. Opened in 1993, the resort's pyramid is 30 stories (357 feet) and contains the world's largest atrium by volume.
A 140-foot tall obelisk stands behind a sphinx.
The various hieroglyphs would take turns lighting up in different colors.
Museums and artifacts
We went upstairs which wrapped us around to the front lobby.
A life-size replica (35 feet tall) of the Great Temple of Ramses II
(right) The ankh is an ancient Egyptian symbol for life.... both physical and eternal.
We continued on to Mandalay Bay.
Mandalay Bay opened in 1999 and has a tropical South Seas theme.
Wait, what's this?! We decided to go. However, it was only timed entry so we snagged a 3 pm time slot. We'll be back, Shark Reef!
