Waking up to Las Vegas that day, Mom and I decided to try and catch a few of the other places we had read up on - mostly exhibits. As you probably can tell from the previous four posts about our trip, we aren't into drinking and gambling side of Las Vegas. There is a lot more to see in Sin City, though it appears to be going back to its darker roots now that they don't have to rely upon family entertainment as much to make its money like it did in the 90's.
We took the bus down the strip to head to Circus Circus, located on the less pretty North Strip. Circus Circus is pretty cheesy and crawling with kids (no surprise) and tends to not be as sharp looking as the other hotels and casinos which cater to either higher end or more adult clientele. Opened in 1968, it was meant to be next to Ceasar's Palace so it would have a Roman circus theme, but clearly that didn't work out so its really just plain old circus in theme, going more for Ringling Bros more than Cirque du Soleil. This is also where Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas took place (if you recall the film). They have a play area with games and even have actual circus performers in the center so it can be a lot of fun, but to be honest, the place doesn't appeal to me very much.
The question you might ask yourself now is, "Why did you go there?" the answer is very simple. Circus Circus has the Chuck Jones Experience! Granted, they didn't have a lot of signs pointing the way to it and we ended up traveling through the entire hotel/casino to get to the place, but it IS there. For those who don't know who Chuck Jones is, here is a Wikipedia link to refresh your memory: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Jones
The interior is built like you are entering a Warner Bros cartoon and first you are taken into a theater where you can sit on benches to watch a few of the highlights of Chuck Jones' career:
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| Bugs bunny in film at the Chuck Jones Experience at Circus Circus in Las Vegas |
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| Quote from Chuck Jones in film at the Chuck Jones Experience at Circus Circus in Las Vegas |
You then go into a recreation of his actual drawing studio which was very cool. I did take a lot of pictures but I can't post them all here. They requested all photos taken are done without flash so some might not light well.
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| Reproduction of Chuck Jones studio at the Chuck Jones Experience Circus Circus in Las Vegas |
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| Reproduction of Chuck Jones studio at the Chuck Jones Experience Circus Circus in Las Vegas |
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| Reproduction of Chuck Jones studio at the Chuck Jones Experience Circus Circus in Las Vegas |
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Surprisingly, there weren't so many drawing reference books as there were literary classics on the shelf. The walls though were covered with cell drawings, comic strips, photographs and concept art from different stages of Chuck Jones' career. I couldn't take photos of them all, but I took those that spoke to me or evoked a memory of one of his animated films.
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| That's Opera Doc picture by Chuck Jones at the Chuck Jones Experience at Circus Circus in Las Vegas |
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| That's Opera Doc picture by Chuck Jones at the Chuck Jones Experience at Circus Circus in Las Vegas |
The chubby horse in That's Opera Doc is one of my absolute favorite!
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| Mom stands unaware that she's about to step on an X and coyote has an anvil at the ready! |
There were some images with character notes like the write up for Little Bear used for the Three Bears animated shorts. I hadn't realized the real study of character they did back then when creating these cartoons.
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| Write up for Junyer of the Three Bears |
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| Rules for the Coyote-Road Runner series |
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| Philosophy of the characters and how they are portrayed |
Chuck Jones won 3 academy awards as director but was part of teams that created other award winning animated shorts. He also studied art and drew no matter where he was traveling. They had a few of his sketchbooks on display, as well as his art for other projects and personal paintings.
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| Chuck Jones sketchbook page at the Chuck Jones Experience at Circus Circus in Las Vegas |
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| Chuck Jones personal drawing at the Chuck Jones Experience at Circus Circus in Las Vegas |
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| Chuck Jones Adam and Eve painting at the Chuck Jones Experience at Circus Circus in Las Vegas |
I was unaware of the broad stroke of Chuck Jones' work. Obviously, I was familiar with his Warner Bros. cartoons, How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, but also, Gay-Puree, The White Seal, The Cricket in Times Square and The Jungle Book: Mowgli's Brothers... just to name a few. Looking at his work, there is just so much energy in his lines and design and so much emotion in their eyes. It is beautiful and inspiring and I wish I could post all the pictures, but even the pics I took would only cover a small sample of what was on display.
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| Quote by Chuck Jones on display at the Chuck Jones Experience at Circus Circus in Las Vegas |
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| Quote by Chuck Jones on display at the Chuck Jones Experience at Circus Circus in Las Vegas |
When we were through the whole exhibit, we spoke to the sales people in the gift shop, telling them it was a shame that Circus Circus wasn't doing more to promote the place - both the exhibit and Chuck Jones deserves more! They agreed but assured us that more was coming and they were expanding and there would be signage installed to better direct people. Apparently there is another exhibit of Chuck Jones in California too.
Afterward we stopped into the Forum Shoppes at Ceasar's Palace to see if there were any places that we remembered (there weren't). Mom and I happened by a gallery where they had original Erte' pieces (sculptures and art) on display so we went in to check them out. They were really beautiful and so elegant. I wish I could have taken some photos of them!
From there, we headed over to the Bellagio to see the botanical garden, The Art of Richard MacDonald exhibit, the Monet exhibit, as well as a glimpse of the lobby where the ceiling is adorned with a sculpture by Dale Chihuly of 2000 hand-blown flowers in a myriad of colors.
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| Lobby of the Bellagio Hotel and Casino |
Most are familiar with the Bellagio from the 2001 Ocean's Eleven film and it is a rather beautiful structure with its huge artificial lake where the dancing waters are located. The legendary Dunes originally resided there before Steve Wynn replaced it with the Tuscan inspired Bellagio.
The Monet exhibit titled, Claude Monet: Impressions of Light was really lovely, showing more of some of his early pieces as well as the work of his contemporaries. Obviously, I couldn't take pictures, but trust me, there was some lovely paintings. I even found a new artist I have to find out more about, Eugene Louis Boudin (His "Fashionable Figures on the Beach" is a new favorite). The quiet was beautiful except when a woman came walking through with an ipod. A guard asked her to turn it off, to which she very loudly replied, "I'm listening to music while I look!" He nodded and said she was still not allowed to do that and then she went to her Mom and said she was leaving - that she saw it all, it was nice, but she'd wait for her outside. The entire exhibit was put together by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston which is home for the artwork and I am grateful to them for having it shown there in Vegas where I had the opportunity to see it.
We then walked through the casino to find the exhibit of The Art of Richard MacDonald, a sculptor inspired by Cirque du Soleil (who sponsored the show as well). I was unable to take photos inside the gallery, but I could on the outside.
The figures were magnificent and if I could have afforded to purchase the smaller statues (they were only a few thousand - which considering the work was really a steal), I definitely would have because as an investment, they were worth it! There was such strength and grace in his forms and they were simply amazing to look at. One of the best things was most of the statues were set on rotating platforms so you could turn them and see all the way around them, not just from the front.
From there we went over to the huge on-site greenhouse near the lobby to see the seasonal display. It changes as the months go so its never the same one twice. Obviously, it being Fall, the gardens were done up for Autumn with lots of pumpkins and falling leaves.
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| Mom and I in front of the 'waterfall' tree. You can't tell but water is coming from the top and flowing from flowers. |
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| Mom standing in front of the speaking tree. Every so often he'd say something. |
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| Falling glass leaves. |
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| Watermill inside the greenhouse. |
The greenhouse smelled wonderful with all the flowers and it was a bit busy with other tourists, but there was something very relaxing about it too. They even had a floral painting based on the painting "Grainstack" by Claude Monet:
By now, both of us were ready to head some place for dinner. We'd been pretty good about keeping the splurging to a minimum when it came to meals but decided tonight we'd go somewhere fancy - at the very least, I wanted to eat at a restaurant that was opened by a well-known chef. Not wanting to go too far (because we were tired) we went across the street to The Palazzo which is sort of a run-off of the Venetian. There we went to Emeril Lagasse's restaurant, Table 10. It was not as fancy as some of the other places, but it was very lovely. The food was delicious, which comes as no surprise, I'm sure. Mom ordered a side of mushrooms which came in a small pot, but were absolutely the BEST mushrooms I have ever had. We couldn't finish them, so we offered them to the gentlemen sitting next to us after overhearing them debating on whether they would get them or not. We had waited till after they ordered so we didn't cause a problem. They were grateful and we laughed later, realizing we had just 'made a Vegas story' for them. After the lovely day and wonderful dinner, we were ready to head back to the hotel for some well deserved sleep!
I think this had been one of our best days and truly a great time overall. Technically it was also our last night in Las Vegas because we were leaving the following day, but it was a great way to fill that time.
Next post will be about our last 'day' in Las Vegas before finally heading home.
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