Las Vegas

Cloak Me in Your Pinocchian Veil

(A Blog Favorite)

I want to go

but no one is to know-

when or where.

To feel not a worry or a care;

to experience the glittering lights

and thrilling sights.

My senses heightened to overload,

with embellishments brash and bold.

A lavishly appointed fairy tale,

 balancing on a bellowed sail.

Oh, Las Vegas-

cloak me in your pinocchian veil

and take me away without a trail.

                                                            – p.o.martig

The Las Vegas Experience

 “The Marriage Capital of the World”, “The Entertainment Capital of the World”, The Gambling Capital of the World”, “The Top Tourist Destination in the World”  and “The Top Honeymoon Capital of the World”

The Beginning

Way back in 1931, the Great Hoover Dam was constructed and hundreds of men and their families fled to Nevada for work.  Las Vegas, a small hearty town nearby, experienced a boom from this good fortune and avoided the economic tragedy felt by the rest of the country during the Great Depression.  At this same time gambling was legalized in Nevada and the residency requirement was reduced to 6 weeks, helping facilitate the gaming industry and “quickie divorces”.  People flocked to Las Vegas because of  its slack moral standards, memorializing the euphemisms,” Sin City” and  “What goes on in Vegas, stays in Vegas”.

When World War II was over and joy spread rapidly across the nation, Las Vegas began a face lift that was to continue until this day.  It lavishly decorated its hotels, gambling casinos and up scaled the quality of entertainment it offered.  In 1959, quite by accident and with no patent,  the official sign designed by Betty Willis was born.

In 1989, the financier and entrepreneur, Steve Wynn, brilliantly changed the face of Las Vegas’s gaming industry by opening The Mirage on the Las Vegas Strip, it’s first mega-casino resort.  Ever since then a competition to build the most elaborate, the most inviting, the most ostentatious resort was on the move.

When the mega-casinos took over, down town Las Vegas began to lose its luster and appeal.  Offerings of cheap rooms, $3.99 breakfasts and wanna be Sinatra’s  just weren’t enough to bring in needed visitors.  Then in 1995, The Fremont Street Experience, broke the downward spiral with its canopied, 5-block area featuring 12.5 million LED lights and 550,000 watts of sound blanketing the street from dusk until midnight at the top of each hour.  At the end of this extravaganza, stands the largest video screen in the world-  77 ft by 114 ft.  Atop this monstrosity is “Slotzilla” (it really works) and its newly installed zip line from $20-$40 a zip.

The Adventure

Not only tempting visitors with its grandeur, Las Vegas’s opulence has no equal (except maybe Dubai) and the money spent on gaming, food and entertainment is astronomical.  With this in mind, the trip I earned to Las Vegas for losing 20 lbs and completing The Quick Loss Boot Camp Diet, was to be dealt with conservatively.

Since we had limited funds and time,  I chose the Mirage  to stay for the weekend because of its history.  I chose to spend one day at the Golden Nugget and the Fremont Street Experience, and one day touring the different resorts, playing the machines, eating unabashedly and watching one of the best shows on the strip-Human Nature at the Venetian.

Day 1

The room at the Mirage was beautiful and quite accommodating. The bathroom amenities were generous and the towels plentiful.  The air conditioning was quiet and the view picturesque.  The beds were heavenly and after talking way too much, fell soundly asleep and dreamed of  winning a million dollars and buying the moon (-:

The acres of “mesmerizing slot machines” were irresistible,  especially when they let me win. The restaurants were limitless and quite expensive.  We had dinner at Portofino’s Restaurant in the Mirage our first night,  where a 1/4 glass of wine was $16.00 and a small bowl of soup $16.99.  Dinner for three (my sister only ordered soup) was nearly $200.00 with tip.  Eek, at this rate I would run out of money by tomorrow.  Fortunately my new friend, the penny slot machine, graciously paid over $400 in winnings.  All of a sudden the future looked bright.

Day 2

The next morning we decided to go to the the mother of all buffets, The Wicked Spoon, at the Cosmopolitan, a mega resort on the strip built in 2010.  What a gastronomical extravaganza it turned out to be!  Just to look around took 15 minutes.  I really didn’t know what to get without gorging myself in the sampling.  So I settled on a couple of different egg dishes, apple sausage and a variety of fruits and yogurt. I saved most of my plate for dessert: chocolate torte, almond tortes, peach cobbler, carrot cake, chocolate covered strawberries and two kinds of gelato.  My favorite gelato was Salted Caramel (at 10:00 in the AM, bad girl!).  Two hours (and 2500 calories later) we were finished and I vowed not to eat another crumb until dinner.

Luckily we had a car so our next venture was “The Fremont Street Experience”.  We parked at the Golden Nugget, a grand and comfortable old casino originally built in 1946, went inside and proceeded to have a great time.  After looking at the most incredible fish tank filled with sharks swimming in harmony with a gazillion other fish and a water slide that goes right over the top, we had a couple of drinks and watched the Denver game. Then we meandered on to Fremont Street and our senses were amplified  between all the lights, gaming establishments and costume dressed mimics of the stars begging for a picture with you!  Can you imagine?  Not really, but it was fun saying no.  The zip line folks were flying above and I wondered where they got their courage.  After walking up and down for a couple of hours, we sat down to something familiar:  Starbuck’s and a great cup of coffee before we left the Fremont Street menagerie.

Day 3

Las Vegas was deluged  with a rain storm that blanketed the Venetian’s entry way when we arrived.  My sisters and I had to run up the outside stairs in rain so thick you could hardly see in front of you because no escalators were working on that side of the casino.  We were soaked but not discouraged.  The only casualty was frazzled hair, but everyone else seemed to be in the same shape.  Strong soldiers march on and we did.

Beautiful stores selling everything from $10,000 watches to $4.00 ice cream, were everywhere.  My sisters and I spent hours window shopping and even bought a great purse at Dooney and Burke’s.  When we got to the center of The Venetian, guests were being loaded into gondolas for a meandering ride down the Venetian’s real indoor canal.  It is amazing!  I’ve never been to Venice, but the romantic sight of this “grand canal” and beautiful operatic singing of the Gondoliers made my heart sing with joy.  *Did you know that  Gondolas were first recognized in Venice around 1092, making Gondoliers one of the oldest professions in the world?  The Gondolier is the most highly regarded and sought after profession in Italy.  It takes 400 hours of training and is almost impossible to get into.  Gondoliers earn up to $150,000 dollars a year and are given icon status.  Way to go!

In the courtyard itself, an operatic group in full costume and a clown on stilts were singing “Figaro” to all who would listen.  The lead singer finished the 1/2 hour show in one of the buildings balcony’s.  Now we had to hurry to get to the Sand’s Showroom for a 6:50 seating  to see the group Human Nature.

It was just about show time at the Sand’s Theatre in the Venetian where we were escorted to the best seats in the house. We really did not know what to expect.  Four white Aussies singing Motown, really?  Then a little after 7:00 pm the show started and what a memorializing event it turned out to be. I just loved it!!  Every one was tapping their feet and clapping as if they were young again.  You were transported back to the 1960’s and the quintessence of Smokey Robinson who actually produces the show.  The following video exemplifies the singers wide vocal ranges and why their show is considered one of the best in Las Vegas. These young men, while in their late 30’s and early 40’s have been singing Motown music together for 24 years.  What a treasure!

After the show we went back to the Mirage, ate a snack consisting of the largest hot dog I have ever seen (enough for 3 people) at the Carnegie Deli, played some machines for awhile, went to the room and passed out.  We all got up early, hugged each other and promised to get together in Vegas every year  just for the sisterhood and thrill that goes along with  “The Entertainment Capital of the World”, “The Gambling Capital of the World”, The Wedding Capital of the World”, “The Top Honeymoon Destination in the World” and “The Top Tourist Destination in the World”!

References

1.  http://https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Las_Vegas

2.  You Tube Human Nature