Well-rested after the wedding, we got up around 10, & showered & set out for the Ethel M. Chocolate factory, right in Las Vegas, the See's-candy-like branch of the Mars (M...) company. There was a free tour, with a helpful old man demonstrating the ''chocolate carwash'' for white-chocolate-almond clusters (with free sample). This ingenious machine sprays chocolate on the candies, blow-dries them, & recycles the rest of the chocolate. There were also more free samples, & we bought a snickers ice cream cone (which melted quickly in the 100degree heat). Ethel Mars apparently liked cacti as well as chocolate, because there was a lovely landscaped 3-acre cacti garden (also free!) out back. Robert especially liked the "classic" look of the older Saguaro cacti, and imitated their shape. Here I am eating an ice cream cone. We also got to see the factory's natural water-recycling plant, which uses plants, fish, & algae to clean the water.

Then, we headed over to the Rio, a most unusual-looking casino, but, as we had just missed the parade in the sky, we decided to go back to our hotel, rather than wait another two hours. So we changed and went down to swim in the wave pool and float through the lazy river pool until we were ready to think about dinner.

We ended up going to Shintaro, a really pretty Japanese restaurant in the Bellagio (still our favorite hotel for walking around in). We would've liked to eat in the main dining room, either ordering a la carte or the tasting menu, as the chef is mostly known for his pan-Asian takes on Japanese dishes, but could only get seated in the teppan yaki room. We ordered a separate appetizer (sesame-seared scallops in an uni sauce--delicious) to at least have a taste of some of the special dishes the chef is known for, and then settled down for what really has to be the best teppan yaki ever. The chilled appetizers that came with the dinner were very good, and the chicken and live Hawaiian jumbo shrimp we shared were superb--the chicken was moist and juicy, and the shrimp, large and meaty, positively tasted like lobster. There was also miso soup, salad, greens, bean sprouts and oyster and shiitake mushrooms on the grill, with three sauces, and the chef made a very good, highly seasoned, fried rice right on the grill.

Meanwhile, the Bellagio fountains went off every fifteen minutes, so between courses and after our meal we could go out onto the patio to sit and watch them. I really like them more when they play to something delicate or Italian, instead of to Frank Sinatra, but we had just about the best seats possible nonetheless.

After dinner, and walking through the Bellagio indoor gardens (pictured), we headed over to watch the volcano at the Mirage erupt--very impressive, with ''lava'' even flowing down to the lagooon below. We accidentally missed the final pirate battle of the night at Treasure Island, & instead drove up the strip to the end--passing alovely cow casino (below) on the way.

Note--yet another trip to Las Vegas has ended without a ride on the rollercoaster on the top of the Stratosphere--Robert offered, & he may have been sincere, but after seeing the trauma the Eiffel Tower caused him, I couldn't put him through it.