by Tina Grady Barbaccia, Senior Editor

After a long day of attending seminars and walking the massive ConExpo-Con/Agg show floor visiting numerous booths, a little off-the-job downtime is in order. But if you’ve already blown your budget, need some places that are family friendly, or just want some time away from the constant buzz and ringing of the casinos, Las Vegas offers many alternatives to gambling both on and off the strip. Here are just a few of the numerous options.

Guggenheim Heritage Museum

Even Las Vegas has culture that doesn’t include just laying your money on the table, only to see the pile quickly disappear. At the Venetian, the Guggenheim Heritage Museum boasts culture straight from one of the highly revered museums in New York City. This museum exhibits original art from the permanent collections of the NYC Guggenheim as well as the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, Russia, and the Kunsthistorisches in Vienna, Austria. If you haven’t been to the museum in the last six to nine months, the displays are probably different, as the museum changes out the art after this time frame. During ConExpo-Con/Agg, the “Modern Masters from the Guggenheim Collection” exhibit will be open. (It runs from July 27, 2007 through April 27, 2008.) The museum is open every day from 9:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Admission is $19.50 for adults, $15 for seniors and Nevada residents, $12.50 for students, and $9.50 for children ages 6 to 12. Children under age 6 are free.

Venetian
3355 Las Vegas Blvd. South
Las Vegas, NV 89109
Phone: 702-414-2440 (local) or
877-283-6423 (toll free)
www.guggenheimlasvegas.org

Flamingo Wildlife Habitat

Located at the Flamingo Hotel & Casino near the intersection of the Strip and Flamingo Road, a 15-acre park area behind the Flamingo Las Vegas boasts a flock of live Chilean flamingos as well as ponds of catfish, Japanese koi (giant goldfish), and turtles. Penguins, swans, and some other rare birds also populate the grounds that are surrounded by waterfalls, streams, and lush foliage. The park is open 24/7 and is free.

Flamingo Hotel & Casino
2555 Las Vegas Blvd. South
Las Vegas, NV 89109
Phone: 702-733-3111 (local) or 800-221-7299 (toll-free)

The Tomb and Museum of King Tut

Located in the Luxor Hotel & Casino, the King Tut Museum features what the museum says are authentic reproductions of the famous tomb of King Tutankhamun discovered on Nov. 22, 1922, by Howard Carter.

A 15-minute, self-guided audio tour features hundreds of reproductions from King Tut’s tomb, including the famous guardian statues, the boy king’s sarcophagus, and various statues, vases, beds, baskets, and pottery. According to the Luxor, the measurements of each room in the museum are precisely measured and each artifact is meticulously positioned according to the records maintained by the Carter expedition. Tickets are $9.99 per person. The museum is open every day from 10 a.m. until 11 p.m.

Luxor Hotel & Casino, Atrium Level
3900 Las Vegas Blvd. South Las Vegas, NV 89119
Phone: 702-262-4444 (local) or 888-777-0188 (toll free)

Photo courtesy of the Luxor Hotel & Casino

Siegfried & Roy’s Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat

Located at the Mirage, the garden features white tigers, white lions, and leopards. The famed Siegfried & Roy duo began a breeding program in the early 1980s with the Zoological Society of Cincinnati with two striped white tigers and a snow-white cub, according to a report about the exhibit on www.Vegas.com/attractions . Now, there are close to 40. In 1995, the show partners collaborated with South Africa’s Johannesburg Zoological Gardens to help repopulate white lions; there were fewer than 10 at the time, but now 23 are under living in the garden, according to the report. In addition to white tigers and lions, a black panther, a snow leopard, and an Asian and an African leopard also call this habitat their home.

The 2.5-million-gallon Dolphin Habitat serves as both a research facility and a vehicle to increase public awareness about dolphins. The facility includes a 22-foot-deep viewing tank and has both indoor and outdoor viewing areas. Seven Atlantic bottlenose dolphins live at the observation center. None of the dolphins living in the habitat were taken from the wild — all were either born at the facility or relocated from other marine centers, according to www.Vegas.com/attractions . Both the garden and the dolphin habitat are open Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday (including holidays) from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Admission costs $15 for adults, $10 for children, and children under 3 years old are free. The last admissions are sold 30 minutes before the facility closes.

Mirage
3400 Las Vegas Blvd. South Las Vegas, NV 89109
Phone: 702-791-7111 (local) or 800-627-6667 (toll-free)

The Auto Collections at the Imperial Palace Hotel & Casino

With 125,000 square feet of showroom space and more than 250 automobiles ranging from classic and exotic to racing and celebrity cars, The Auto Collections at the Imperial Palace is claimed to be the world’s largest and finest classic car showroom. Some of the rare automobiles include historic vehicles such as a 1932 Rolls-Royce Phantom II Continental Figoni et Falaschi Pillarless Berline, several Duesenbergs, and a 1928 Mercedes-Benz S Tourer, which is valued at more than $4 million. Every vehicle in the collection is in working order and all are available for purchase. The museum is located on the Imperial Palace’s fifth floor parking facility and is open from 9:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. daily. Admission is $6.95 for each adult, $3 for seniors and children ages 3 to 12. Children less than age 3 are admitted free. Free passes are also available at the museum Web site at www.autocollections.com/index.cfm?action=free&tab=free .

The Auto Collections at the Imperial Palace
3535 Las Vegas Blvd. South Las Vegas, NV 89109
Phone: 702-794-3174 (local) or 800-634-6441

IMAX Theater

Just as everything in Las Vegas is larger than life, so must be the movies. On a large screen where everything seems to pop out at you, the Luxor Hotel and Casino boasts what it says is Las Vegas’ first IMAX Theater with 2-D and 3-D technology. The theater is open from 10 a.m. until 11 p.m. every day.

Luxor Hotel and Casino
3900 Las Vegas Blvd. South Las Vegas, NV 89119
Phone: 702-262-4555 (local) or 800-288-1000 (toll free)

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Why You Should Attend

Seminar Highlights

The place to go to see new equipment and technology for the construction industry.