Vegas

Let me start by saying I actually like Vegas.  I don't gamble so I am not sure Vegas likes me, but it is truly a play ground of excess - inside and on the facades of the resorts.  No where else will I see such vibrant colors, exoctic flowers, and sweet little things in little tiny dresses wearing 4 inch heels - who can really walk on them!  I can sit in the bar for hours and imagine the stories that are passing by my table.  There are the exoctic women and and the just drug in from the hills with worn out boots, straggly hair and a cigarette ready to be lit as soon as he sits down at the slot machine. 

This is the end of Chinese New Year and the resort we are staying in has a sister resort in Macau and has attracted bus loads of tourists celebrating the New Year.  The resort is all dressed up in red and gold with a 35 foot dragon leading the way in from the lobby to the casino.  Everywhere you look it is red and gold, even the orange trees have little red present envelopes hanging on ribbons.  The craps tables are the busiest with men in suits, sport shirts, and the ever present black tee shirt with tight black jeans.  It sounds like a meeeting of the UN when you walk past. 

This is a new fairly high end resort complete with a Ferrari dealer in the Racing wing.  They took over the old Sands resort and golf course and expanded into a resort with a high end tower, and ultra high end tower and then the golf villas.  The two shopping esplanade's - one with the down scale hipper Channel store, the other with the - well you get the picture.  I have only walked past all of the bright shiny jewels and baubles, handbags, glittery shoes and impossibly small dresses wondering what road I would have had to take to arrive here ready to shop at any age.

I do think they have Disney beat for "oh my god you want what for a bottle of water?"  I love Fuji water but $8?  My breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, whole wheat toast and coffee was $32 - this is like New York.  True - it is probably cheaper than New York but WOW.  Since I have to get showered, dressed and face painted to have breakfast anywhere, I am now strolling across the street to my standby Starbucks and saving my pennies for amazing dinners. 


From the window to the dessert

Back to the heart of the glitz  -- no other city can reinvent itself on such a regular basis.  Down come old buildings, leaving a sand lot ready for the next new thing.  When you move away from the resorts, it quickly becomes one story buildings frequently in need of a facelift.  Miles of housing stretch out towards the hills and mesas.  That is the end of my planner thoughts! 


The resort oasis


You know you are out of town when you are here!