One Day Las Vegas

This is not really a post about Las Vegas. Before this trip I was pretty sure I wasn’t a Vegas person (in a oddly similar way, we passed through very briefly years ago on a family winter road trip to Arizona – my principle memories were of the chilly December night) and nothing from this visit changed that. Also, I forgot my camera-phone in the hotel when we went out, so just imagine the photos that might have been.

See my previous post about our drive in to give you an idea of our state of mind, but suffice to say I was happy when we hit the big city traffic – civilization had returned. It was a minor trick to find where we were going. There is no convenient sign on Interstate 15 informing you the best exit for the Strip, or the old Strip in our case where we would be staying. At this point in the journey, we were still driving by feel.

I had booked the Golden Nugget and I guess, sure, I’d book it again if the price was right. Or maybe I’d go down market – probably not the newer, glitzier ones (we both agreed that downtown around Fremont Street was the place for us) – but more likely I’ll take a pass next time. Sorry Vegas.

I’m not sure that many people who travel to Vegas even make it to Downtown/Fremont. They live their lives at the Bellagio, New York New York and Caesar’s Palace blissfully unaware. And we enjoyed walking through these places too – we spent a whole day doing it (see Exhibit 1: Absent Photos). I just wouldn’t feel good indulging in the opulence. My wallet can’t handle it. Sarah lined us up for the Bacchanal Buffet at the aforementioned Palace and that was great. Job done. For me, I was more interested in the affordable, humble taco joints; the cheap convenience store drinks; the compressed handful of city blocks and pedestrian thoroughfares. For several block the street has a permeable roof showing wild video displays – how cool is that!

Returning as an adult was nice. It is a sight. It’s also busy. It took me 40 minutes to check into my room and that line-up never got shorter. We saw the same lines everywhere. The hotel restaurants were overwhelmed. At least the street food was fast. It isn’t something everyone should see. It’s overrated. The deals are long gone. There’s lots of the worst of us on display. But it remains an intriguing and I’m glad we stopped to see it (I think).