Las Vegas: Looking in My Rear View Mirror

"A Bloody Mary, Please" I say to the flight attendant as I gaze out the side of the plane with my glossy eyes. I'm not a big fan of drinking on a plane, but after spending the last 4 days in Las Vegas, I touched on a lot of things that I wouldn't normally do. I imagine that is what is expected in a place that affectionately calls itself ?Sin City'.

Thinking back to my touchdown at McCarran International airport, I remember how edgy I was. Not the type of edginess that I sometimes feel while waiting in the dentist's waiting room; but rather that ?waking-up-on-Christmas-morning' edginess. I grabbed my carry on luggage and stood in a long line of business travelers and tried not to let my over zealous feelings get the best of me.

After we collected our luggage from the turnstiles, we headed outside and hailed our first cab in Las Vegas! We climbed into the cab and was taken on a 20 or so minute ride through the neon signs of beautiful Las Vegas. I have always believed that the things that make a vacation memorable are the people that you meet and the way in which you go there. I was sold on the idea that this cabbie was either a comedian or a tour guide. Every single light on every single building had a story?and this guy wasn't afraid to share it.

We checked into our hotel; and for the first time I was able to catch my breath and really take it all in. We had a room with a view; although that view was of air conditioning ducts, but just be in looking out a window that is stationary was all that I needed to just collect my thoughts. Las Vegas is a lot of things, but one thing its not is dull and boring. I wasn't able to do everything that I wanted to do, but the things that I did do were dead-on accurate to what I expected it to be.

It seems that every hotel in Vegas that you stay at has some sort of gaming hall. Whether it's the top of the line hotel; like the Bellagio or the Wynn all the way to the smallest Inn way over on the other side of the strip, its all about machines ringing; waiting for the next contestant to deposit their money and pull on their arm. In our hotel, it was no different. We had to pass the casino floor to get to every place we wanted to go; a very ingenious marketing ploy. We found a seat at the bar and had a drink while hearing two guys trying to discuss the best way to play pocket 3's out of position in the Texas Hold ?Em game.

I remember hearing a rumor that casinos pump in oxygen into the room so to not have people get tired. There are also no clocks anywhere. I'm not sure if it's a coincidence, but as tired as I was when we got off the plane, I was in no need of sleep. Everything was moving at the speed of sound; and I was ready to experience the fast lane. The food was marvelous and the staff everywhere we went was welcoming. Overruling my objection, my wife and I did manage to catch one of the thousands of shows that the fine folks put on in Vegas; Cirque de Sole.

I saw the fountains at the Bellagio and saw one of the most fantastic shows ever (yes, despite my objections, it turns out that it really was worth going). I did gamble and won, but nothing to make me quit my job and live the life of a gambler. I do wish that it didn't take me 17 years between my two visits, but, like always, I was glad to be sleeping in my own bed.