Las Vegas conjures many images, from drunken bachelor (and bachelorette) parties to amazing shows, 5-star restaurants, hotels, and everything in between. It is a destination for so many people, bucket list for foreign visitors and now home to over 600,000 people. All of this in the middle of a desert without a natural source of water. 

The city itself was a stopover for a rail service connecting Los Angeles to Salt Lake City beginning in 1905. It took off initially with the building of the Hoover Dam in 1930 with the Mafia providing casinos and showgirl theatre to the young male workers. The Las Vegas “Strip” benefited from the electricity generated by the dam and enabled the building of many new hotels on this famous boulevard during the 1940’s and 50’s, retaining its bad boy image. When Howard Hughes arrived in 1966, Vegas started its transformation away from the Mafia and toward a more family-oriented tourist center. Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack, Elvis Presley, Wayne Newton, Siegfried and Roy, Liberace and many others were instrumental in changing Vegas into the mega-resort it is today.

While the history of the city is intriguing, it wasn’t until 1997 when I started visiting the city. I was doing some work at nearby military bases and would fly in and out of Vegas, usually spending a night on the way and back. I have been multiple times since, annually for some of the industry trade shows at the Convention Center and with Vicky for some down time (sometimes combining the two). Not a big gambler, I will make a donation to the casinos on occasion and have even come out ahead on a rare spurt of luck. Instead, I enjoy the shows, the food, and people watching.

While most of my visits have been for work, I have enjoyed my time in Vegas. While I have taken a lot of photos during my times there, for some reason I have lost a lot of photos that I remember taking during my visits to Vegas and the outskirts. When Vicky and I returned to the U.S. from living overseas, we stopped in Vegas for a few days. We also drove to the Hoover Dam. I recall taking photos during that time and I simply cannot find them. I will keep looking and hopefully can add at a later date.

The strip, or Las Vegas Boulevard is a 4.2 Mile stretch, basically from the Sahara at the North to Mandalay Bay in the South. In between are Casinos, restaurants, hotels, and more Casinos. Filled with Neon lights at night, most people consider the Strip as Las Vegas, although officially it is not in Las Vegas (starts in Apex and ends on Paradise). Still, it is impossible to break the association.

Whether during the day or at night, the Casinos are the star of the show. Huge in grandeur both inside and out, they combine hotels, gambling, drinking, eating and shopping all under one very large, spectacular roof. From Caesars Palace trying to replicate Roman excess, to the Venetian providing you a view of Venice and even the gondolas, Vegas make the most of it’s over the top experience. You can go to the top of the Eifel Tower or roller coaster at the top of New York. Its opulence is breathtaking.

The inside of most of the casinos is a treat as well. At Bellagio there is a bright garden area, at New York, New York you can visit a Manhattan neighborhood, and in Mandalay Bay an amazing aquarium. There are so many experiences on the strip, it hard to put into words.

At night the strip lights up. In the past you could watch a Pirate Show at Treasure Island, but you can still see dancing lighted fountains at the Bellagio or a volcano eruption at the Mirage. The neon lights are definitely bright. With the roar of souped up cars cruising the strip, drunken tourists, and the parade of people, walking the strip at night is a real treat. I can’t count the times I got me a beer and walked Las Vegas Blvd to do nothing more than absorb the atmosphere.

I believe we have now seen all the Circus Soleil shows on the Strip. Michael Jackson ONE, The Beatles LOVE, KA, Mystere and several others enchanted us. We were fortunate to see Siegfried and Roy, sitting in the middle with Lions and Tigers walking within feet of us as an Elephant magically appeared on stage, saw David Copperfield and Criss Angel mesmerized us and also took in a Championship fight when Manny Pacquiao defeated Timothy Bradley at the MGM.  Generally, photos of the show are frowned upon, I respect the position. A flash at the wrong time could cause a major injury or take away from the experience.

Food is at the center of the Vegas experience. While you can eat (relatively) inexpensively it is always fun to splurge a little at one of the amazing Chef centric restaurants. In years gone by, buffets were the star but that has gone away (hopefully temporarily). Now the focus is on either high end (think Gordon Ramsey) to event focused such as the Hofbrauhouse which features German food with German music and drink in a beerhouse decor and atmosphere.

I won’t even go into Fremont Street, or downtown Las Vegas with the Mob Museum, but there are so many attractions it is beyond my words to describe them all. All I can say is go and enjoy. Remember as you put your quarters in the slot machine, all those lights and cathedrals to excess are funded by the gnerosity of the multitude of suckers that drop a few dollars of winning big. As a sucker is born every minute and a Las Vegas will be there to empty their wallets when they are old enough to drink.