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Published: September 15th 2008
Vegas Strip at Night
Even though the sun is down it's technically still early by Vegas standards -- only about 9 o'clock or so.Tucked out of sight in the middle of no-where is a city dedicated to the seven sins. Gluttony, Lust, Greed, Wrath, Sloth, Envy, Pride --all alive and well out in the Nevada desert. More remarkable than a city built upon the hedonistic desires of man, young and old, is the recent desire to market the resorts as
family destinations. If you wipe the lipstick off a prostitute and dress her up in a habit does it really make her a nun? My feeling is that it really just adds deception to the list of ills. Vegas is a place where consumerism is glorified and where wasteful indulgence is viewed with awe. As valuable. As necessary.
I have a really hard time jiving with that philosophy, but Andras just loves Vegas and myself, having never been, really couldn't judge something I'd never seen with my own eyes. Many of the things I presumptively dislike about Vegas are what Andras considers to be the places selling points. I see poor decisions being made and he sees a place where you aren't judged. I see over-the-top commercialization and he sees a festive, themed atmosphere. It must be a matter of perspective.
For
Blown Glass in the Bellagio
An entire lobby ceiling covered with the work of Washington local Dale Chihuly, entitiled Fiori di Como. a while I'd been researching the deals of Vegas vacations to surprise Andras with a winter get-away and came to realize that in the first few weeks of December, after the Thanksgiving rush but days before the Christmas boom, hotel prices are dirt cheap. Seriously. I booked a three-day get away at the Monte Carlo resort for a little more than $60 a night, with complimentary buffets and fitness room access. Up until this moment I was pretty convinced that $60 in the hospitality industry got you little more than a uncomfortable bed of questionable cleanliness, but not anymore! And that's how Vegas draws you in.... (see how
proud I am of my great bargain?)
The room was great, the bed was
huge and the view was more than I bargained for. I quite honestly would have felt quite at ease lounging amongst the over-stuffed pillows watching Las Vegas documentaries on the tourism channel about how a place know for it's mob connections Disneyfied itself to draw in new crowds but Andras was itching to hit the strip. What can I say? It's not so much laziness as....well you know it just takes a lot of effort and energy
to look good all the time and when you're in Vegas there is pressure
everywhere to look eight times hotter than you normally would think possible. For me, this meant having to squeeze into (or pretend to fill) all sorts of sleeveless, strapless tops and heels. Andras just has to don a sports-coat. Completely unfair, if you ask me.
We're not the gambling sort so we gave ourselves a strict limit on the amount of money we'd "donate" to the one-armed bandits scattered throughout the casino floor. Just enough to get that "vegas" experience. I was actually fairly excited to drop a few coins in the slots, yank down on the handle and watch my money slip away only to discover that all the coin operated machines have been replaced with electronic debit-card readers. What made the whole idea of Vegas charming in it's way, the lure of quarters and nickels spouting out all over the floor, is now replaced by a flashy-ATM type of game. If you win, it just electronically adds more money to your card, if you lose, it's deducted. What type of fun is that!? So we stuck to the penny machines where $1 could
Neon Lights
Capturing a bit of that "old west" feeling. last a good half-hour if you had any sort of reasonable luck and the cocktail servers would bring you drink upon drink for free (well, plus tip) as long as you were seated at the slots. Thanks to a magical leprechaun I turned $2 into $7 and Andras struck it rich playing with a goldfish. I will admit, the colorful, flashy, fanciful themes the slot-games have really are enticing, for better or worse.
Stuffing Ourselves Vegas Style
For the most part we pretty much broke even but that's because we were able to pry our
greedy little hands away from the dream of instantaneous wealth. Actually it was pretty easy what with everyone else to see and do. And eat. The food, oh my goodness. So many places to pick from. We started the first morning with a champagne brunch at the Monte Carlo. I don't know if was really champagne -- maybe sparkling wine, but who cares! Champagne before noon is a great way to get the day started. Usually, I'm not a fan of all-you-can-eat buffets because my waist-line doesn't want me to eat all the I can, and what I do eat I never feel
Monte Carlo Hotel
Our view from the 24th floor. Not bad! is worth the price, but you know, it's winter up in Seattle and I'll be wearing sweaters and pants when I get back so I think I'll be able to hide the belly bulge. Bring on the endless flutes of sparkling wine, good sir!
For our only other buffet we chose to do the Bellagio for dinner. We waited in line for at least 45 minutes and I have to say that at least that much time is needed to work up an appetite so that we could
gluttonously stuff ourselves with gourmet food. It's one of those paradoxes -- the beauty of quality food is that you don't need much of it to feel satisfied, and usually cheaper quality food makes up it's value in the quantity. How can high-quality food be massed produced when the very concept of quality usually means it was individually seasoned and prepared? So again I don't know how I feel about never ending Kobe BBQ brisket, or leg of lamb, prime rib, Chilean sea bass, African bluefish, baked salmon, crab legs, quail, antipasti, truffle infused potatoes, steamed clams in a white wine sauce, sushi, fresh fruit and an array of pastries which
The Slots
Probably wasn't supposed to take this picture (among others) but not knowing proper casino etiquette I'll claim ignorance. were, sadly, quite disappointing given the number of pastry chefs in the area. Or at least I don't know how I feel about it
theoretically. That didn't stop either of us from eating until we couldn't move. Oh and we drank ice-water of course. No calories in my beverage please!
Feeling ridiculously full we headed down the strip towards Treasure Island to walk our meal off and to pick up our tickets for Cirque de Soleil's Mystère. The show is worth at least 10,000 words, many of which were "Wow", "Amazing", "Incredible" and "Wow!" which we uttered repeatedly on our way back afterward even though otherwise we were stunned speechless. It was incredibly entertaining right from the very start. As we were finding our seats, the clown Brian Le Petit, was busy leading unsuspecting guests all around the entire theatre in a futile search for their seats, placing them in incorrect rows or at one point, leaving a family of Japanese visitors standing befuddled and confused in the row behind us after he threw his hands up in frustration, tossed their tickets in the air, and wandered off to go "help" someone else, much to amusement of the rest
of the audience! We had quite a few laughs (and were showered in popcorn) well before performance began.
As for the performance itself, the acrobatics and athletic feats were stunning. At the start of the show performers were appearing from every corner of the theatre -- hanging from the ceiling, popping up from beneath the floor, climbing down the walls -- we even had one of the main performers balancing on a railing right in the aisle next to us! It was absolutely one of the most magical shows we've ever seen. I am so
envious of the talents and strength of the cast, and I'm sure I'm not alone.
Thirty Minute World Tour
During the day the strip feels more like an amusement park, with every hotel built around some decorative theme. Without a passport or a plane ticket, you can visit the Eiffel Tower at the Paris Hotel, party it up Brazilian style at the Rio, pretend you're a Caribbean pirate at Treasure Island, walk across the Brooklyn Bridge at New York, New York, visit the pyramids of Giza at the Luxor, take a gondola ride through canals of the Venetian, pose in front of
Trevi fountain at Caesars Palace, pretend you're in Monaco at the Monte Carlo and even travel back in time to medieval England at Camelot. Wow! What a whirlwind of sensory overload. I have trouble reconciling my desire to "see the real thing" with the notion that what I am seeing is the "real Vegas thing."
The Vegas strip is it's own entity, but still this fabricated place just stuck out here. It's a fantasyland that doesn't really have a sense of place at all, but it tries to be all places, all at once, to everyone. A chameleon of the tourism industry without much of a identity other than visions and preconceptions you as the visitor bring. I can't wrap my brain around it. I'm trying, really hard, to suspend belief and just let the city carry me away but I'm rather stuck here like a stick, mired in the mud of practicality. If you want to find a city overflowing with liquor and parties you will. If you want to see a land of theme-parks and child friendly fun, you will. If you want to see a monumentous waste of resources, you will. It doesn't have one quintessential
essence, but a multiplicity of facades, an identity crisis looking to suit everyone.
And once the sun sets the city comes alive. In the evenings, we'd walk along the strip, ignoring the dozens of individuals standing on the corners flipping cards of nearly-nude call girls, hoping we'd
lust after them and give them a ring. Everything is a commodity here in Vegas and those conveniently placed tiny red stars are not fooling anyone, certainly not the imagination of all those little kids here at this "family friendly" destination. And if you live in a city, maybe even a small country, that lacks adequate electricity, let me just say that Las Vegas is the reason. I read somewhere that the spotlight from atop the Luxor can be seen from space. Somehow I doubt the cosmonauts find it all that impressive and yet, there it is!
My Vegas experience will not be yours. Heck, my Vegas experience wasn't even Andras' Vegas experience.
But either way it's not something I could sustain very long. Run run run. Go go go. Spend spend spend. I find it exhausting, and three days later I'm worn out and
slovenly dragging myself out of
the elevator well after (before? hard to tell) my usual hours of operation. And we didn't even go to the clubs. I made the effort of going to one, supposedly the newest, hottest, devilish place in Vegas to find that while the margaritas were good, Oprah was on TV and the atmosphere was flat. I guess the nightlife doesn't heat up until later. They had a great big wheel propositioning patrons to take various shots but it stood still. Maybe next time around.
This time though what happened in Vegas is fair game for everyone to read. As for what stayed? A small chunk of change, my gambling hall virginity and the fluffiest pillows I've ever slept on. Oh, and
wrath. I'm sure there was wrath there somewhere but thankfully, nowhere near us.
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Where We've Lived 
Where We've Been 
Michelle Cavanagh
non-member comment
Folly and fun!
Great to read your Las Vegas account - we've visited the place a couple of times so know what you're talking about. Should you be visiting Australia on your future travels it would be great to get together for a chat and a beverage - do let me know. We're in Japan at the moment but back home on 11 November. Cheers!