Vegas Baby!

Not one of us had ever been to Vegas before. I had always associated it with the slow, confident swagger of Frank Sinatra or George Clooney. I pictured high-class, well-dressed men peering out over the pond at the Bellagio smoking cigars.

We actually stayed in a town adjacent to Las Vegas called Henderson. This town (or suburb?) reminded me of New Jersey, give or take 120 degrees. Situated on what seemed to be a main road called Sunset Rd., it featured strip mall after strip mall of shopping centers, fast-food and mid-range food places, and of course mini-casinos.

Our hosts were Joel, Binh's longtime friend from elementary school, and his roommate Chris. Both Joel and Chris were extremely gracious and accommodating hosts. They were eager to help make us feel comfortable and give us the grand tour of Sin City.

Our first stop was to a Hawaiian fast food joint called Aloha, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I ordered a barbecued meat sampler platter and it was just what I wanted: a sweet, crispy, tender mix of pork, beef, and chicken, served with Hawaiian fried rice (not greasy like Chinese fried rice) and macaroni salad. After eating, Binh and Mackenzie took their customary afternoon naps while I spent an hour or two with Chris trying to figure out how to log onto their online network (it never worked out).

After showers, the night began with us connecting to an old friend of Mackenzie's, Izzy. He works at an indoor skydiving place and offered us the chance to try it for free (with a nice tip). Still recovering from an awfully painful stiff neck and pinched nerve, and fearful of getting nauseous, I abstained, but Binh, Mackenzie, and Chris took up the offer. This place totally exemplified America's "Disney culture"... a chance for young adults or families to experience the sensation of real skydiving for ten to fifteen minutes for only $75. Everyone who participates has to go through a mini training course, watch a safety video, and get garbed in a colorful skydiving suit, helmet, and goggles. When it's your turn to go you enter a padded octagonal room, which has at its center a gigantic fan that spins so fast that it can elevate you off the ground. The instructor spends several turns guiding participants through techniques that will help them stay up and hover in the air. I didn't try it, but I can tell you that all I saw of Binh and Mackenzie were the wide grins peeking out from their costumes.

Following that and dinner at a kitschy neon diner, we headed toward the "old strip" in downtown Las Vegas. We experienced the cheesy ten-minute Queen tribute show that projects overhead the whole casino area and toured through some of the old casinos. We basically just played some slots, and no, there were no free drinks. While Binh turned up lucky, Mackenzie grew quickly frustrated with any machine that did not pay out after three or four spins.

We then headed to the famed Strip and into the Bellagio and through some of the beautiful and ornate casinos. We did not play anything here, but really just came for the experience of seeing it, taking some pictures, and moving on. We spent some time at the outside part that you see in all the movies, by the water, with the fake Eiffel Tower in the background. We were having fun and grew quickly exhausted, heading home by 3am.

I have not yet mentioned the heat in Las Vegas. The heat there was like nothing I have ever experienced. Some say that because it's "dry heat" it's okay, or better than a 90 degree hot and humid day in New York. Not true. It's awful. It's utterly uncomfortable and energy-draining. Joel told us that no one there walks anywhere -- it's simply too hot and ultimately dangerous. For example, he wouldn't let me walk across the highway to a supermarket to pick up some laundry detergent. We had to drive. it really was that bad.

So, on day two we avoided outdoors at all costs. The place we went to for brunch, Eggworks, reminded me a lot of Eggspectations in Montreal. All of the dishes have some pun with the word "eggs". The three men actually all ordered the special, which was a combination scrambled eggs, cheese, and green chile. It was quite good. We then drove to an indoor shopping outlet where Binh added to his collection of hats, particularly winter ski hats, which in fact, he did wear in the 120 degree heat of the desert. Joel, Binh, and Mack then went to the movies to see Bruno, while I drove around to find a coffee shop at which I could update this here blog and catch up on some self-time.

That night we skipped the casino culture and instead went for a typical downtown night out. We started with sushi and sake and then headed back to the same mall where the movie theater was for drinks and a night out on the town. Time flew. We had a great time. We tried a bacon martini and played some pool.

I don't think we ultimately had enough time in this city and I think the heat really detracted from what we could have done. It made us seriously tired and it made going around town draining. I personally preferred the "normal night out" to the casino night, but it's one of those things you have to do when you go to a new city. I could not quite get a read on what a shared culture might be in Las Vegas among the locals. I'm not sure if it's ultimately more of a tourist town or if we needed more time to explore.

The Pros: the Strip really is cool to look at and the kitschyness of the city with all of its neon glory is fun; people are here to have a good time; tons of entertainment options; easy to get around in with a car; we had really great hosts; the spirit of fun
The Weird: the fact that people drive everywhere; casino culture in general; indoor skydiving; the mini-replicas of major world cities (New York really did represent the skyline well)
Not A Huge Fan Of: the heat, the heat, and the heat; sad and old-looking casino patrons; Disney culture; lack of viable public transportation