That reminds me of our favorite game “wife, girlfriend, hooker.” My husband and I people watch and make guesses.
Plus people (probably) are not stuffing dollar bills down Penn and Teller’s pants, so they have to pay them more.
I recall there being special junkets to Las Vegas from Hawaii when I lived in Honolulu. I mean some really good deals and lots of them. Vegas really targets old retired Hawaiians, especially the old ladies, and especially the old Chinese ladies.
See, now the wife and I love Vegas. We head over every chance we get. Great shows, great food, it’s all of 3 hours away, resort rooms at 5 star hotels…what’s not to love?
Check it out: Pinball Hall of Fame and Museum
You can also always get on a thrill ride at the top of the Stratosphere Hotel’s tower that dangles you over the side 900 feet above the pavement :eek: Notice I said *you *can get on it. I’ll be in the lounge, thank you very much.
Vegas also recently added one of those gigamonstrous London-style ferris wheel contraptions, reports are it’s quite overpriced and suboptimally placed (as in, you don’t get to see many of the really good sights), but at least it’s goldang impressive from the ground and they cleaned up the area around it nicely.
And I agree with eschereal, those other desert parks (plus the smaller and closer Valley of Fire, Lake Mead, and Red Rocks) should be considered; from Vegas the GC (and IMO for that matter Bryce) should really be an overnight trip; or perhaps do an aerial GC visit.
At the Hoover Dam’s Hansen monument there is embedded on the flooring a stylized star-chart calendar of the current astronomical epoch of history, highlighting the date of the dam’s inauguration (I suppose so if the Aliens land after we’re gone they’d be able to figure when was it we peaked). I thought that was the most rad and tripped-out thing to put in a monument at a dam.
That enormous fountain in front of the Bellagio is kind of fun to watch for a while. And I kind of liked the ersatz Roman sculpture in front of Caesar’s Palace. Plus doesn’t Steve Wynn’s hotel have a decent art collection?
If I ever go back, the one thing I want to see is Penn & Teller’s show.
Thanks! I know what I’ll be doing on my next trip to Vegas! (I love pinball.)
Actually I heard they spend half the show talking politics.
If you are used to desert summers, you know better than to spend time outdoors during peak daylight hours. That reminds me, I just have to get my car’s a/c fixed pronto.
The best part about the last time I was in Vegas was photographing some of the architecture and neon in the area. I’m thinking about going for a short weekend just to see the neon museum.
Their show from Showtime, “Bullshit,” is probably a good sample of their libertarian bent. They even included a piece from one of their shows in a episode from a later season. They’re quite blatantly skeptics, atheists, and libertarian. That show made liberal and, they acknowledged, blatant use of the ability to swear and show naked people so be warned if that offends. The banter from them is more interesting to me than the more classic magic specials they’ve done even when I didn’t agree. I’d guess the politically thin skinned wouldn’t like it though. It’s not just on my list if I ever go back to Vegas, it’s my biggest motivator to ever go again.
Well I’m just going off a coworker who went to see P&T about 6 years ago with his wife and he said they did too much talking. On the plus side his wife got to go on stage and they did an act with a fish aquarium and she got to keep it.
Actually I’ve heard of other performers who like to spout out politics during a concert. My inlaws went to see Barbera Streisdand and she did alot of talking.
I can guarantee that “they” didn’t do too much talking.
I lived in Vegas for three years. I don’t gamble - a religious thing - though my husband did now and again.
Some of our favorite things to do, all non-gambling:
- Swim at Lake Mead
- Hike the Valley of Fire, especially the Mouse’s Tank walk with all the petroglyphs
- Take a driving tour through Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. March is flower-blooming season in Vegas
- See the aspens turn golden up on Mt. Charleston (we got married up there at the Mt. Charleston Hotel in Kyle Canyon)
- Eat at various off-strip restaurants. There’s plenty to choose from or was. My favorite was the Thai Room; I’ve never found a dish to compare to their Spicy Chicken Mint.
- Go used-book shopping. My English professor mentor preferred Amber Unicorn on Decatur, not the least b/c there (at least was) an ice cream shop next door and you could take your cone in and browse
I liked Plaza Books, if memory serves. Of course regular shopping is first-rate too and there are numerous malls. - The climate is perfect for a dip in the pool just about anytime
- My husband loved the Pinball Museum. He still visits there when he returns to Vegas!
- I’d recommend the Ethel M Factory Tour. Their chocolates are soooo good. And there’s a cactus garden if you like that sort of thing.
- There are comedy clubs in town, and they’re much more reasonably priced than most of the regular shows. Try the Laugh Factory (it most likely will NOT be child-appropriate!)
There’s plenty more to do as well, all of it unconnected to gambling, drinking, smoking, drugs, and screwing anyone but your spouse. We went to very few shows b/c we couldn’t afford them and never lacked for anything to do.
Pretty much the core premise of a magic show is distraction and misdirection. Many magicians do this with a scantily-clad woman prancing about. P&T do it with Penn being a big, obnoxious windbag keeping the audience’s attention while Teller executes the trick.
Yes, they are atheist libertarian types, and some of those distractions are about those subjects. To give examples from when I went a few years back, Penn showed the libertarian side by ranting about airport security being pure security theatre while Teller slipped increasingly absurd things through a metal detector.
The atheist side came as a diatribe against predatory assholes who claim to have psychic/spiritual powers and charge people. They demonstrated the exact same tricks–not explaining how the tricks are done, but assuring people that they have no powers, it’s just a trick.
Take away the gambling and that’s why many people go to college.
I was there for a conference two years ago and had similar issues - I don’t believe in gambling, plus I live in New Orleans so I’ve gotten the “drinking & debauchery” part of my life over with and there’s better food than in there is in Vegas at the end of my street. That being said, I enjoyed the Hofbrauhaus for German food, the Mob Museum, Neon Museum, Atomic Testing Museum, and eating at various little ethnic restaurants (I ate at an Israeli restaurant and a Korean restaurant while I was there, both of which were fantastic). I also visited yarn shops and geocached, neither of which may be your cup of tea. 
I made a lot of money playing poker in college. Just saying.
I was going to mention the Mob Museum and the Neon Museum. Although if you don’t care about the history of the early Vegas boom the Neon Museum won’t do much for you.