Thanksgiving Trip - Day 6

Nicky, the kids and I decided to go back to the strip this morning. It ended up being a pretty good idea, too. We parked in the Venetian garage and wandered through the Canal Shops. We also took a Gondola ride (departed at 1130). I knew that this would be Nicky's favorite place - you can stand in Piazza di San Marco and it feels like you are outside at dusk in Venice. There are street performers and lots of Italian restaurants. Our lunch consisted of a series of cheeses and meats from Italy, completed with great bread. We finished with some real gelato and an interesting custard pastry. We had spent about three hours there and decided to head out of town, since the crowds were getting much bigger. On Mary's recommendation, we drove over to the Ethel M. factory. It wasn't operating today, but we were able to sample chocolates made by the Mars company there. There was an M&M World attached with lots of funny souvenirs for the kids. Mollie and I toured a cactus garden - it had some from all around the world. We drove up to Nellis to look for souvenirs and then headed back to the hotel. Lots of people in our group were getting ready to leave today, so the kids were very upset. Lots of crying led us to take them back to the room rather early...