The same people who assumed we'd be going to The French Laundry when they heard of our trip to Northern California raised a curious eyebrow when we said we'd be going on to Las Vegas."You ... erm ... have never struck us as Las Vegas kind of people," they'd say, struggling to be polite. Closer friends would laugh, and predict "you are going to hate it."
Guess what? We didn't. While we wouldn't return without the excuse of friends to visit, we had a great time. The place confounded many of my expectations. The adjective I expected to encapsulate the city was ... tacky. Not so. It was expensive. Closely followed by wasteful. With hot as a close third.
I hadn't appreciated this critical fact about modern Las Vegas: less than a third of its revenue now comes from gambling. Margins are much better on hotels, shopping, shows and dining, especially if you charge premium prices for a captive audience. "The Strip" essentially functions like one of those enormous resorts that makes it inconvenient for you to leave. Especially if you don't have a car. It's often too hot to walk much, the spaces between resorts are deceptive and the horrific traffic makes taxis chew up the fares.
There are no bargains here. Those show tickets? The cheapest will cost what you'd pay for the best seats in London. The bill for a casual meet-up on The Strip with friends (two burgers, four beers, two margaritas and a soft drink) was within twenty dollars of the bill for a generous dinner for five, with drinks ... in the old downtown area. (Make the effort to get to Casa Don Juan on Main Street in the old downtown area. Family owned, hand-made classics, eclectic decor, margaritas as large as a child's head. All that a Mexican place should be.)
But I get the appeal, especially for a country where most people only get two weeks' holiday and don't live in cosmopolitan urban centres. The nations' best chefs and most famous shows mix with grand architecture and outlets of every luxury brand in existence. The Wild West and dramatic canyons ... including the grandest ... are an easy day trip. It's a convenient mash-up for the short-on-time, and the appeal for conventioneers is obvious.
The best of The Strip
We, however, spent a grand total of eight hours on The Strip, and that was plenty. There's no question that the scene setting is fun. The frequent comparison to Disney made sense. The attention to detail in the Parisian and Venetian resorts is magnificent; it was a real pleasure to simply wander around and
Everyone predicted I'd love the Bellagio. I would have, had it actually been on Lake Como with 70% fewer people. It tries to be sophisticated and elegant. The Chihuly installation in the lobby is impressive, as is the glass-roofed courtyard beyond with its seasonally-themed gardens. The architecture is tasteful, the modern art of museum quality. But the exquisite stage sets were undermined by huge crowds in casual clothing, walking through and gawping. (And that included us.) Packs of tourists seem natural in the fake Italy or France; we're used to it from Disney. But the Bellagio turns its back on make believe, trying to be a real bastion of exclusive luxury ... and thus felt more fake than the gondoliers under their artificial skies.
An exception within the hotel was Todd English's Olives restaurant. Once through the doors and seated, we found ourselves in an oasis of peace and quiet. The interior was truly beautiful, with its sculpted trees holding candles in their branches, beautiful backlit bar, marble table tops and sleek wooden chairs. The food is tasty and the service fantastic, but get ready to pay that location premium. Burgers, salads, one desert, a few rounds of beer and coffee was about $70 each. The place is one of my top Vegas tips, however, thanks to the Bellagio's famous fountains. Book a table on the patio about 90 minutes before the show. Have a leisurely lunch, then you'll end up suspended, like a Roman emperor in his box, over the side of the lake with comfortable and unobstructed views as the iconic show runs. This was one of the most magical moments of the week. Sun glistening on the spectacular dancing plumes of water, framed by an amphitheatre of gracious architecture, Sinatra playing over a spectacular sound system. It was a magnificent moment.
Besides the Bellagio's fountains, the other free show worth taking in is simply a night time drive up The Strip. Establishments compete to out-do themselves with illuminations. Some are honestly beautiful. Many are ridiculously garish, but it's the spirit of the place. Giant electronic billboards are far too prevalent for my tastes, making the modern Strip more a canyon of advertising than the run of dramatic casino signs I expected. (For those, you need to go to the Neon Museum, which I'll be covering in my next entry.)
Beyond the bubble
Had we been staying on The Strip, I suspect we would have been bored, and irritated by the crowds and noise, by the end of Day Two. Fortunately, the whole reason we came to Vegas was to visit friends, so we were ensconced in a comfortable family home in the rambling suburb of Henderson. Those resorts employ a lot of people. Who need groceries and clothes, dog walkers and coffee shops. There's a University, an Air Force base and a Tesla manufacturing plant. Everyday life goes on.
It happens in sprawling, modern subdivisions marked from the next by long brick walls and electronic gates. Inside, it's classic America: big houses fronted by two- and three-car garages on tidy plots of land. Despite the fact we're sitting in a desert where summer temperatures kill almost everything (it was 42c/108f when we arrived), drip irrigation systems create all the lawns and gardens you wish to pay the water company to have. Large air conditioning units hum beside every building, keeping everyone comfortably cool. Just like Texas and Florida, you need to carry a second layer with you at all times, as the temperature differences between indoors and out are vast.
Little I saw would have pre-dated the turn of this century. Construction equipment dots the horizon. All in a place where humans were not meant to live in any great number. Life in Las Vegas is a feat of engineering, consuming vast amounts of water and power. And yet, I saw a city booming with growth. Thus the adjective wasteful rose into my brain. Lake Mead, the area's main water supply, is at record lows, a towering white strip around its shores showing how far the lake has receded. And yet we didn't see a single warning about water usage in our visit, and the population grows on. In one of the sunniest places on the planet, I saw fewer solar panels than in my cloudy home. This must be one of the most unsustainable places on Earth. (Granted, I haven't been to Dubai yet.) Our friends' back garden, pictured above, does take a sustainable approach; artificial turf and gravel dominate, while a few heat loving plants add interest.
If you can ignore your discomfort with a city merrily contributing to planetary doom, there are plenty of ways to have fun here. There's spectacular nature, feats of human engineering, minor league baseball, even some history. Next entry: my Top 10 things to do while completely avoiding The Strip.
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