Okay, enough of the bad gags.
I really don't much enjoy Vegas, and the changes that have come in the past few years make it less appealing. On arrival, I felt like emulating one of the city's more famous denizens by going to my room, pulling the drapes closed, stripping and wandering naked around the dark space with Kleenex boxes on my feet, crying "Insulation! Insulation!"
But I didn't.
My first sight was of a stretch limo pulling up to the hotel, out of which stepped a bulky, ponytailed dude in a gray suit and black turtleneck accompanied by four large silicone-filled hemispheres teetering on four high platform shoes. My very last sight was Elvis driving a cab at the airport.
It was a working trip, and short to boot, so I was unable to either do much wandering around or take many photos.
These first two pix were taken from the balcony of my room...
The last was grabbed while I was negotiating traffic on Las Vegas Boulevard...
It's just not the same old place. No Desert Inn, no Dunes, no Stardust, no Tropicana, no El Rancho, no Big Names performing in the showrooms...just the glitzy new shopping mall/gambling joints and Blue Man Group, David Copperfield and tired old retreads like Neil Diamond.
Mr Benjamin Siegel, credited with being the founder of "modern" Las Vegas -- until someone put a couple of rifle slugs through his head in Virginia Hill's living room -- wouldn't recognize the place.
I can do without it. Though I admit I'm tempted to go back just to hit some of the dozens of pawnshops found in the grubby areas around the casinos. Must be some fascinating stuff on the shelves....
8 comments:
I would love to go to the pawnshops around there. When we go to the casinoes in Shreveport we sometimes stop at the pawnshops and look around. They have amazing stuff! I can only imagine what you could find at Vegas!
Glad you made it back safely. :)
Ah. You flew there. I thought it was a road trip for some reason. I don't know how far it is. Less far by air no doubt.
harpofly
Welcome back!
I know what you mean about it not being like it used to be... it's more like an adult Disneyland now.... but fascinating!
Your pictures came out great!
HO'F -- is faster to fly there, but just barely when you factor in time to the airport, waiting at the airport and the 45-minute flight itself.
I really have no desire to go to Las Vegas. Send me to Greece, or San Fran, or New Zealand any day.
I'm with you, Ms Bingo! I'm up for a trip to any of those places, any time!
Las Vegas has never held much appeal for me. I can throw away money at a local casino and skip altogether the glitter, shows I don't care about and being harassed by customs officials in two countries.
And the money I throw away at the casino helps out charities and the municipality where it's located. Fortunately for me, I rarely get the urge to go there in the first place.
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