Las Vegas, the Strip

Las Vegas -- The Strip February 22, 2001

Las Vegas is the jewel of Nevada -- and how it does sparkle! Whether it be during the day or the typically clear night, whether it's viewed from the hills that define the town's outskirts, or from "The Strip", Las Vegas is aglow with neon, bustling with people, and jam-backed with excitement and fun.

Las Vegas has long been a premiere destination for gambling and entertainment. Originally known for its extravaganzas featuring shapely topless dancers (we've always called then boobie girls) and famous performers (especially crooners and comics), today you can also enjoy magicians Sigfried and Roy making tigers disappear, two different Cirque de Soleil productions, and Lord of the Dance, just to name a few of the current shows.

At least one new, huge, hotel/casino seems to be built each year -- bigger and usually better than their predecessors. The latest crop includes Bellagio (above), New York, New York (to the right), Paris (near bottom), The Venetian, Mandalay Bay and the new Aladdin. Some of the new hotels are "resorts", featuring a spa and golf facilities.

To accommodate the growth, the Strip keeps getting longer; it's about six miles from downtown to the northern end. Although there are buses and trolleys, it's almost as fast to walk, given the traffic and long lights. Moreover, there are escalators, moving walkways, and hotel-to-hotel trams to help move people along. Trams run from Bally's to the MGM Grand, from Excalibur to the Luxor and Mandalay Bay, and from New York, New York to the Monte Carlo. These are free, fun, and an opportunity to rest one's feet.

Nowadays there's plenty for the conventioneer or non-gambler to do in Vegas. You can just walk down the strip, ogling the casino facades and watching the free shows (volcano eruptions, fighting pirates, dancing waters and flashing lights). Or you can wander through the hotel/resort/casinos themselves. We found Bellagio and the Venetian to be especially cool. Bellagio has a beautiful conservatory filled with flowers of the season, an art exhibit of world masterpieces ($13 admission), an assortment of truly world famous restaurants, and fancy shops featuring glittering artistic evening bags and decorative glass artwork. The enormous Chihuly glass ceiling in the hotel lobby is marvelous -- luminous and brilliant (see photo).

I expect there are folks who come to Las Vegas just to shop and feast on the gourmet food. There are an incredible number of luxury items to see or buy at the many upscale stores, art galleries, and jewelry shops. We marveled at the beautiful items on sale in the Venetian's large, themed "mall"; the shops and restaurants are encompassed by an artificial sky and surround a central canal, complete with gondolas and singing gondoliers. The Middle East setting at the Aladdin Hotel has130 shops alone.

Things aren't as inexpensive in Vegas as they were in the past. Cheap meals are hard to come by, and the buffets are pricier than they used to be. Some good deals are available in the "local" neighborhood casinos, located outside the Strip. Although there's still lots of free entertainment, some hotels charge admission to their "events", for example, the Mandalay Bay's Shark Reef aquarium ($14) and New York, New York's roller coaster ($10).

We did manage to find a great, mid-week, hotel package at the Las Vegas Hilton by looking in the Sunday LA paper. For $132 plus tax we got a large room for 2 nights, 2 admissions to the Star Trek Experience (worth $25 each) dinner for two at Quark's Restaurant (a Ferengi came over during dinner to chat) and a $10 matching bet. The Experience is really a plus if you're a trekkie, as we are. It included wandering through a well-done museum dedicated to the various Enterprises and their crews, participating in a Star Trek adventure, and taking a breathtaking ride through space. This hotel package was quite a deal.

But there's more to Las Vegas than just gambling and the Strip. There's the tour of Hoover Dam and the drive to Lake Mead, skiing at nearby Mount Charleston or hiking at Red Rock Canyon. Nowadays it's easy to spend a week in Las Vegas and still not see it all.