That’s nice. May I suggest an all-expenses paid trip to Gary, Indiana? 
You are one evil bastard! Wishing Gary, IN on another human being. I may have to start a pit thread on you! :mad:
I’ve been to Vegas once, for my friends Demo and psycat90’s wedding. I had a blast, but I’m sure it was more because I was hanging out with my friends. We could have had just as much of a blast anywhere. I didn’t gamble at all. I found the Strip to be totally bizarre. No particular desire to return. I have met a number of people who go there every year, which I find rather baffling. I mean, it’s not awful or anything, but every year? I’d rather use my valuable money and vacation time to check out new places.
My former roommate bristlesage (btw, you are allowed to make fun of the fact that all of my friends seem to have usernames on the SDMB) is actually from Las Vegas. She grew up there and her parents still live there. And her childhood stories and anecdotes are pretty much your ordinary childhood stories and anecdotes. I’ve never heard her mention her first gambling experience or her first strip club experience or anything like that. Just regular stuff. But with worse weather.
Would be interesting to know what you were expecting…but even people who don’t like to gamble seem to find restaurants, shows, shopping malls, roller coasters, swimming pools, strip clubs, movie theaters, people watching, bars, buffets, desert scenery, side trips to Red Rock or Grand Canyon, rock concerts…
I guess Las Vegas can even be boring if you try hard enough.
The cruel streak that runs from Sunrise Mountain to Mount Charleston?
Las Vegas, where the wage scale to housing costs ratio is so skewed that a non-gambler with two jobs and two roomates may still have difficulty making ends meet.
Las Vegas, Land of the 89 Days Wonder. Employers in this town are notorious for routinely hiring people then cutting them loose just before their probationary period ends to avoid paying health benefits. Used to be confined to the casino industry, but the mentality is creeping onto non-casio businesses.
Las Vegas, where a good person with a strong work ethic is basically unemployable, incompetent and lazy workers are preferred because it is easier to get away with paying them substandard wages.
God, I wish I had enough money to cover the expenses involved in moving out of this town…
Every couple years, it seems, I have occasion to go to Vegas. Usually it’s in the summer. (Big mistake for someone who hates hot weather, as I do.) Everything that’s wrong with Southern California is coming to Vegas…the smog, the traffic, etc.
I enjoy visiting Las Vegas, but I wouldn’t want to live there. Part of it is I already live in Nevada and after 20 years, I am so over gambling. But, I like the shopping, and the hotels have great pools and the restaurants are great.
Tahoe is so much nicer…weather-wise, I think. But Nevada is going to lose a lot of tourism, anyway, what with Casinos springing up all over California.
Hookers?
No, seriously, I know what you mean. Last time I was there was in '93, I believe. Might have been '95. Those years are sort of a blur.
Anyway, I was bored by the gambling and glitz, so I decided to do a little exploring. I got up in the morning (I was at the Hacienda, a Mexican-themed operation next to the Luxor that I’ve heard isn’t there any more). I walked out the front door and down the strip. I walked through downtown (the “old casino” district). I walked beyond it into the residential area. I walked all day and saw as much of the city as I could, not just the tourist-y areas.
The whole time, I was thinking: Something is really odd here. Something’s bothering me. What is it? What the hell is wrong?
Finally, on the taxi ride back, it hit me: There’s no art. There’s nothing there that was made or displayed for its own sake. Everything is specifically and carefully designed to serve its commercial and/or functional purpose. Even the houses I saw were gray, flat, and unadorned, as if they were shrinking aesthetically from the garishness of the more famous part of the city. I didn’t get out into the suburbs, so I don’t know if this drab atmosphere continues to prevail further away from the bright lights, but it was pretty overwhelming, not to mention soul-draining.
I don’t hold it against people if they like it (my mother and a former boss are both big on the place, for example), but it certainly isn’t for me.
Oh, and while I’m at it, here’s a modestly amusing story about my visit. I’ve posted this before, I think, but it’s been a while. 
I was there in late December, the week before Christmas, back in '93 or '95 or whenever. Every other street corner on the strip, it seemed, had a charity bell-ringer with a red bucket in a tripod. And just as consistently, every single person on the strip was walking past them without contributing.
Eventually it got sort of comical, so I stopped a few yards away from one charity station and just watched. Hundreds of people, many carrying those plastic cups brimming with change, were bustling along the sidewalks, and I saw exactly zero stop to dump even a single coin into the red buckets. The guy stood there listlessly swinging his bell, chatting with the dude next to him.
Like I said, at first it was funny, but after several minutes I had gotten fairly irritated, so I went over to the guy and dumped my entire plastic cup into his bucket. It was just nickels, so it couldn’t have been more than seven or eight dollars, but that many nickels hitting a bucket still sounds fairly impressive. Anyway, the guy raised his eyebrows and said, “Hey, thanks a lot.”
I nodded and turned to leave, but the dude standing next to the guy said, “Hey, wait a minute.” I turned around, and he pressed into my hands a large sheaf of cards and pamphlets for room dancers, escorts, and cathouses.
That was my reward for my donation: how to buy a date.
Unsurprisingly, perhaps, after that trip, I’ve never bothered going back.
My wife’s never been there, and I keep suggesting we should make a (short) trip, just so she can see what it’s actually like at least once in her life. It would be like a visit to the sociology zoo; know what I mean?
I’m with you on this one. Vegas is just an easy way to come face-to-face with the hell that is other people.
Oh, it’s nice if you can just tune a lot of it out and live in your insular world. But if you’re a little bit observant you can notice the zombie-like stares of the other people on the strip. You can see the empty, amusement-park style attractions for what they are…simple commercial diversions with no real value. Sort of like pie that’s all mereinge and no filling…ultimately it’s dissatisfying no matter how pretty it is. And in the end all they really want you to take from it is the desire to come back and do it again.
Like eno801 I far prefer New Orleans. NO is a town of real life and people. It’s music and art and seediness with a human face. Are they there to seperate the tourists from their money? Sure. But in return you’ll get music and real food, alligator shoes and flim flam men. And they’re all having a good time…
Unlike Vegas. Where even the rich seem vaguely dissatisfied with their lot.
I live here and I don’t find it depressing.
Things that are not depressing:
people watching in the Forum Shops
the new monorail
no cover charge for locals in clubs and strip clubs
$1 drinks at the college bar on Wednesdays
The aquarium in Forum Shops
I hear you brother.
You can try to do what I did, waited until the end of the month, took my last paycheck, threw my stuff in my car and drove to San Diego. Crashed at a friend’s couch for a week until I found a job making pizza. Used my last paycheck and what would have been my rent to get a cheap apartment. Never regretted it.
I didn’t even have one person to say goodbye to, it’s not like I’m some kind of psycho, there just wasn’t any friendships made.
That was in 1982. I was 21 years old.
It’s all up to you.
What I found most amusing (besides the actual concert) was wandering around the casino floor, watching the DeadHeads watching the little old ladies with their cups of nickels watching the DeadHeads.
When Worlds Collide.
Apropos of nothing, but I once made flight arrangement for the good Dr. to attend a convention as a speaker for my clients in Lake Tahoe.
They ‘lost’ him for aproximately two hours and frantic phone calls began burning up the wires.
I never quite got what I was supposed to do, sitting at a desk in Austin, Texas.
I heard the term “overqualified” so many times, I nearly dumbed-down my resume and didn’t ever mention I had a degree in Business Admin. Construction workers and dump truck drivers made more than I ever did in Vegas. I eventually got into an industry that was sort of a “hobby” and kinda stayed there, despite the poverty-level wages.
Ah, the good old days…
…coming up for air…gasping…frantically. 
Okay, now I am in Denver, which I love despite the fact that the only time I’ve ever been here was a nightmarish traumatic shoot for 6 days on the Burn Ward at Children’s Hospital.
Vegas. Well, for those of you who live there year round, I apologize for impugning your hometown. It horrified me and yes, I get it. It’s The Strip, not your neighborhood. However, I based my impressions on what I saw.
Someone mentioned art. The ONLY creative thing I saw in walking around about half the Strip was the incredbily beautifully done huge blown glass ceiling over the Lobby of The Bellagio ( sp? ). Each piece gorgeous and there must have been…200 of them? All suspended up overhead. I just stood there. The rest of what I saw didn’t amount to a cuppa spit.
I understand that if I had a week alone, I’d find neato things to do outside of town. Red Rocks, etc. But man alive, that’s a LOT of blocks of depressing architecture and moneygrubbin’. Kind of cool that the Dead liked playing there.
Okay, so there is money to burn. Is there a good art museum? I don’t plan to return to that city ever unless paid to do so, as I was this time.
On the upside, Denver should be a hoot, it’s a different kind of job here and I should get to hang with fun folks. If anyone’s going to the CineFest in the next few days, stop by and say hi. The code words are " Is Cecil God? " To which I must reply " Yes, Unca Cecil is God ". 
Dang, 'Toons, you shoulda been in Denver last week. I was there, and I met a coupla Dopers for dinner. Your timing is off, man…
But I’m holding out hope that you’ll make it to the DC area eventually!
Viva Las Vegas!!! Waaaahooooo!!! 
Vegas is awesome. If you want a great party, go to Vegas, they will show you how to do it!
I love Vegas, a few friends and I go 2-3 times a year and have a utter blast. We’ll barge off our planes when we land, screaming “HHHEEEELLLOOO VEGAS!!!” and running (with style) to our hotel to get started on ultimate fun.
I could NEVER live there though. To me, outside the strip and tourist areas its a pit. I have some friends who live there, who really like it, its just not my scene.
But anyway… back to the fun part. What makes Vegas so great for me, is the pure release of reality. When my friends and I go, we wear our very best glamour clothes at all times. We try to stay up as long as possible, we drink, gamble, go to clubs, dance, eat, walk around and laugh constantly. There are no clocks, no change in tempurature or lighting inside the casinos… its your time whenever you want it.
I’m really not a big gambler either. I ONLY gamble when i’m in Vegas and I dont gamble that much. However, youll never have a greater time than when you’re sitting with your friends drinking, cheering and carrying on at a Black Jack table.
I know that people who love Vegas, love it for different reasons. But that is mine. Leaving reality… no commitments, no alarm clocks, few boundaries, and a ton of people all on one street ready to have a blast. Its my happy sin city and I cant wait to get back there!
That’d be me.
There are, but I haven’t been to any. I recall reading someplace that one of the newer casinos (Venetian?) has an astonishing art collection, but I don’t know how much of it is publicly accessible.
A quick trip to Google returns this article indicating the Venetian’s project is in conjunction with the Guggenheim, along with more info.
The only good thing about Las Vegas is that it provides the perfect launching point for a great road trip. Do this one in May or late September, not in mid-summer:
Fly into Vegas, and spend the evening taking in the manufactured “good times.” You’re allowed to stare, mystified, at folks like RainGrowsBrite, who actually find this sort of thing the height of entertainment. The “woo-hoo” routine reminds me of the Barrow brothers in Bonnie and Clyde, talking about what a great time they’re going to have now that Buck is out of jail, and it’s all painfully hollow. They can’t even talk themselves into buying it.
First thing in the morning, hop into the rental car, and head northeast. Spend the next two weeks on a circle route, taking in the following, doing some day-hiking to get the full flavor of the places: Zion National Park, Bryce NP, Grand Staircase/Escalante National Monument, Capitol Reef NP, Canyonlands NP, Arches NP, Natural Bridges NM, Monument Valley, Grand Canyon NP. Spend your last night in Kingman, AZ, and do an early-morning dash across the desert to get back to Las Vegas to fly out.
You’ll see some of the most spectacular natural beauty you can imagine. Because that entire plateau is tilted, each place has its own particular qualities (for example, Zion and Bryce are just down the road from each other, and each is spectacular, but they look absolutely nothing alike).
Vegas itself? I can’t imagine why anyone would bother. It gives new meaning to the word “tawdry.”