Pros and Cons on the Strip

All that glitters is not gold, that's for sure.

 

There are good things and bad things about Las Vegas and staying on the Strip. 

 

The hotels are enormous.  It's hard to find the front door!  Easy to get lost amidst the slot machines, with all of that ding-ing and flash-ing.  Oy!  Such a racket!

 

But, when you want to go for a run, you don't really have to leave the property.  I just run in a circle around the complex twice and I've run a mile & a half.  And the weather is perfect for running (morning or evening), 50-55 degrees.  Mmm..

 

The interior of the hotel is glitzy and modern, but the rooms are spartan.  The room is sort of like what you'd get at a Hampton Inn, but the price is double! 

 

No coffeemakers in the room.  :(  But, there's a food court with McDonalds, Starbucks, Sbarro.. yeah!  So I can manage without coffee in my jammies at 6AM, I guess.. as long as I can get chicken nuggets at 9PM.  ;)

 

And about that nickname .. "Sin City" .. I think it's hyperbole, really.  Bourbon Street was worse.  Times Square was worse.  Sure, you may be able to find anything and everything here, but.. you have to go hunt for it.  It's not like there are public orgies on the street..

 

About as close as you get to impropriety being "in your face" are the non-English-speaking men on the street handing out fistsful of little cards advertising escort services.  They have a glossy provocative partially-clothed picture of a girl, her first name, a phone number, and the phrase "$49 special!  Direct to your room tonight." 

 

They're sort of like baseball cards.  And there are guys who go around collecting all they can find, and trading with their drunken buddies.  But on the good side, there are way many more men who take one look and toss them in the trash, and more yet who ignore the hawkers completely. 

 

But even though you have casinos with shows, and occasionally there is one with a "topless revue", you *still* have to find the hotel, go to their ticket desk, make a reservation, pay a big price for a ticket, dress appropriately, and sit in a great big auditorium.  It's a far cry from a lap dance at your local strip club.  I'm guessing, here, of course; I've only seen one on episodes of CSI, Miami.  :) 

 

Anyway, It really isn't any worse here than it is in any major city anywhere in the world.  Same old stuff.. just with more lights and glitter. 

 

But nightlife?  Oh, my.. nothing beats the fountains at Bellagio.  I go there every single night, sometimes twice.  I guess I'm just romantic at heart, but.. a love song with dancing fountains, backlit against a gorgeous building, watching couples arm in arm at the railing, on a beautiful cool evening.. mmmm.  Nice. 

 

That's Vegas to me.  :)