Fitting Finale

Jill's Journal: It took us until our last day in Las Vegas, but I think we found the happiest place in the desert. In a hardened gambling city crawling with tourists, the Bellagio Conservatory stands out. Everyone in this place seemed to have a smile on their face and it wasn’t just because of the generous air conditioning. Open seven days a week, 24 hours a day, the Conservatory and Botanical Gardens is maintained by 140 horticulturists who keep this indoor paradise in meticulous splendor. The theme changes with the seasons. It’s not huge, but there’s so much to see. Every corner is beautiful, whimsical, and wonderful. Our girls absolutely loved it. Surprisingly, especially for Vegas, there’s no admission charge. Maybe the best things in life are free. :)

We loved this recreation of a Monet done entirely in plants and flowers.

Of course, the Bellagio lobby ceiling isn’t to be missed either. Two thousand square feet of ceiling are covered in more than 2,000 hand-blown glass flowers.

And last but not least, we had to catch a show of the famed dancing fountains at Bellagio. The fountains are choreographed to music (and several different songs at that). They’re always impressive and elicited plenty of oohs and aahs from the girls (and the other tourists around us). The fountains were the very last thing we did in Vegas. It was a fitting finale to our time in Sin City and the curtain call for our time in the West…Rob and I felt a little like the characters in the final scenes of Ocean’s Eleven (minus the life of crime and millions of dollars!).