Las Vegas: Sin City! The first thing we encounter is a surly pissed off white guy driving our cab at 1000 miles per hour to the Luxor. Ah the Luxor – the hotel that would make Evil Panda weep openly in it’s cavernous lobby in front of the loose interpretation of Egyptian hieroglyphics. Upon arrival we discover:
- it is Day One of Spring Break. Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, has a drink in their hand.
- Women in Vegas wear less than your average dish cloth. And these are the partiers, not the showgirls.
- Carrot Top is headlining our hotel. Yikes!
I don’t know what to think of Vegas. Not being much of a gambler or a drinker, it was like watching a RA-absent frat party from behind a one way mirror, teeter close to a riot. Empty drink glasses from all the hotels littered the streets. Anyone who talked to us was only interested in getting money from us. Ironically we only spent about $50 total between us both on gambling yet we managed to burn through nearly half our budget in the two and a half days in Vegas with very little to show for it. I loved the glitz and showiness of the city (It was a graphic designer’s retro-dream seeing all the fonts of the old neon signs) but the gaudy tackiness wore thin after a while. Especially after the “free show” outside Treasure Island resort. Trust me. Do. Not. See. It. Total waste of time. Example “joke” they blasted out onto the public street:
Male pirate: Ahoy! Ahoy! Ahoy!!!
Female pirate: Who you callin’ a ho?
Yeah. They went there.
Do go on the Hoover Dam tour with Ami – who claimed to be a Howard Hughes hand-picked international flight attendant who knew the mayor. Not sure how accurate the information she gave us (like how much Sharon Stone paid for her house, if that was Sharon’s, or Ami’s description of meeting some of the billionaires who took over Vegas, who she had little love for) but she certainly was a character. We’re still quoting her wild estimates of unavailable/unobtainable home prices to this date.
6 thoughts on “Vacation, All I Ever Wanted Part #1”
Stayed in the Luxor and Excalibur in 1998 and went into the as yet unfinished Venetian at that time. loved the inclinator(sideways elevator) in the Luxor and loved the ambiance. T-Rex back to the cretaceous IMAX debuted that weekend at the Luxor. Dino-geeks were everywhere. 2 days is enough in vegas, took the flight to the grand canyon and stayed there two days and then came back to vegas for 2 days. The Siegfried and Roy Lions pissed on this woman during the backlot tour. It was hilarious, smelly and amazing how much piss a male lion could spray! Apparently, if its THAT TIME O-Month, you are NOT supposed to be around the male lions!
Las Vegas is one of those places where 48 hours is perfect, but 72 hours is WAY too long.
I’m there about three times a year for graphics work and I’ve actually found a few less-traveled places to visit that are always fun. The Peppermill Lounge, In-and-Out Burger, FireFly (Tapas), and Slots-O-Fun — the only casino that ever pays me. Granted, the pay is usually in nickels, but I’m a winner anyway.
The Dam and the Desert rock it on the tourism trip. I’m glad you got to enjoy both of those things. If you ever get back, the drive along the old Route 66 from Las Vegas (Kingman, Arizona) toward the Grand Canyon is really cool too — tons of retro motor lodges and cafes with those awesome graphics and signs.
I translated some hieroglyphs for ya. Luxor looks tacky, but from what I understand, they’ve really toned it down from what it used to be.
We wandered why there were 2 giant clocks on the bridge showing the same time and our guide explained that since we (Nevada) had just turned our clocks forward the night before the time is the same now when you cross the bridge since Arizona doesn’t change time anymore…
The bridge is started:
No friggin way I’d drive over it though.
Yes, Hoover Dam is worth every penny. The dam is amazing and the tour is great. Was the new bridge over the downstream side of the dam completed yet..??? Walking thru the Turbine room really gives u a sense of the size of the place…It’s a shame as to how low the water level is on the Lake Mead side of the dam, but it is cool to walk from one time zone to another..just by crossing the dam.