Over the 4th of July weekend I went to Las Vegas for the first time. From its reputation I didn't think it would be my cup of tea but I figured it couldn't hurt to give it a try, especially going with a bunch of fun loving people who had been there before. One of the biggest problems right off the bat is that I don't like gambling. After we arrived at the hotel Friday night I gave the slot machines a couple tries but after they ate my money I got bored. I watched people lose game after game after game of craps and decided that really the only way not to lose is to not play, a lesson you don't normally hear. I did bet on horses, however, (I also felt kinda cool since I knew what all the bets and tracks were) and I did win some money, but still didn't manage to break even. This was still better than the guys at the craps table who easily lose $100 in about 20 minutes. Later that night we went to a fancy sushi restaurant on the Strip and it was there I realized that overall satisfaction at a restaurant when compared to price is an asymptotal curve. Yes, the 5 slivers of tuna were delicious, but for the same price I could have gotten more food of an only slightly lesser quality at a cheaper restaurant and not felt, well, robbed.
After we got back to the hotel I went to sleep but everyone else evidently decided to stay out until 4AM gambling and drinking. Needless to say, they were in no condition to do anything the next day until late afternoon. I was not about to sit around and wait for them to wake up so, despite people bemoaning the fact that we can never keep the group together, I went off and did my own thing. It must be a stranger thing to do than I think because people lauded me for wanting something out of the trip and making it happen one way or another. Of course, I generally prefer company but since my destination was very far away and I wanted to walk people probably would not have been up for it. Especially since my destination was Star Trek: The Experience.
That evening I went to see the Cirque du Soleil "Love" performance, which was the greatest performance I have ever seen. Of anything. Period. Needless to say that was the high point of the trip for me. We went clubbing later that night and after a failed attempt to get into a pretentious club we found a decent place to go. I can't speak for the others but aside from the offensive $12 for one drink I had a fun time.
Las Vegas definitely has a personality, but it's not what I would call a pleasant one. It's SO glitzy and SO ostentatious it feels like the city itself is trying too hard to get the other cities to pay attention to it. Not surprisingly, I've never seen so many fake breasts in my entire life. I don't think they're all locals, I'm pretty sure they're tourists who enjoy Vegas because it speaks to them. The city is so hell bent on getting your money, too. The only way you can get stuff cheap is if you stay in the casinos and drinks are only free if you're gambling. Othewise you go out and everything is ridiculously overpriced. It's an...interesting place to visit but there's not a crumb of wholesomeness in the city (or at least not in the Strip). I now fully understand the meaning of my mother's words when she said Nevada was designed to spite Utah.
