Tim and I went to Las Vegas last week. It was the second time I’ve been there. The first time was for my job, and this time was as a plus one for my husband’s attendance to the Construction Expo.
I didn’t get to look at the city much last time because I was working, but this time I got to wander around more. By city, I mean “The Strip,” not the place where the people live and go to school.
According to our Lyft driver, there are three seasons. There is the tourist season during the summer months, the conference season through the fall and winter, and the spring break season in the spring. Can you imagine Vegas overrun with college students?!
The spectacle of The Strip has grown during the 15 years since I last visited. There is a huge Sphere covered in moving images and the fountains in front of the Mirage have been torn out and are being replaced with a massive guitar, which I am told will be the new Hard Rock Cafe Hotel. Last time I was there it was just a restaurant.
Speaking of restaurants, I noticed a plethora of celebrity restaurants this time. Gordon Ramsay had his own self-titled restaurant, fish & chip shop, and burger place. There were also diners sporting the names and likenesses of Guy Fieri, Buddy Valastro, Giada, and Bobby Flay. There was even a huge portrait of Martha Stewart on a hotel. Did she pick out the curtains and sheets? We got invited to a honky tonk under the name of Blake Shelton. He was not there of course. None of the T.V. celebrities were in Las Vegas. It’s a ruse to get feet in the door. There were lines to get in most of them, so it clearly works.
The motto has also changed from “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas” to something like, come dabble in vices within a safe, legal boundary then leave before you get into any real trouble that you will absolutely have to pay for over the next 2-20 years.
The casinos themselves are still a trap of smoke and mirrors. More than once we got stuck going in circles while inhaling a warm blend of nicotine smoke and marijuana vapors with the cold stench of desperation. None of the hallways go a straight line and the ceilings are false skies designed to make their patrons lose all sense of time and place. I have literally navigated unmarked forests quicker than escaping the floor of the Venetian.
My favorite things to see were the musical fountains in front of the Bellagio, the live flamingos at the Flamingo, and a very lovely independent bookshop run by local R.D. Tally. For my West Coast friends, there is an In-and-Out Burger where two people can still eat for less than twenty bucks.
Technically, I have been to Paris twice.