Viva Las Vegas--For Somebody Else

I have long had a snobby attitude toward Las Vegas, so when a great deal came up for a four-day, three-night vacation at the MGM Grand, I grabbed it.

I always remember the phrase "contempt prior to investigation" from the AA meetings I attended with Mike. I had been doing just that, so I set out to investigate and to see if my contempt was justified.

The continual barrage of lights, sound, movement, and commercialism was overwhelming. Even poolside, where one would expect to relax, quiet was denied, as pounding pop pervaded the air.

Aaron and I did a lot of walking. We visited quite a few of the casinos, so that I could see "what everyone is talking about." We went to Freemont Street for the nighttime overhead extravaganza of some half million lights.

Over lunch one day, I wondered if people really like this or if it's just a lot of group think, that they've been told that Vegas is where it's at. Or maybe it's just that they don't know anything else.

Despite what the ads tell you, Vegas is one of the safest vacation experiences around. Food is never more than a hundred yards away. You're protected from the heat by excessive A/C. It's easy to find a place to sleep for the night. Help is always close at hand. In truth, if someone really wanted a dangerous and risky and edgy vacation, he could leave Vegas and trek around in the open desert that surrounds it. But that would be outside the bounds of group think.

My favorite things about Vegas were the flowers at the MGM Grand reception desk. These incredible arrangements featured roses and orchids placed upside down in long vases. Stunning. Also, we awoke on our first morning in Vegas to a sky filled with dramatic thunderclouds. This was really beautiful.

For the last 24 hours, I rented a car. We drove to Mt. Charleston and had dinner at the lodge. The food was the best we'd had, and the view of the mountains and forests was much more breathtaking than anything I'd seen at the hotels and casinos. The next day we toured the Ethel M Chocolate Factory and Red Rock Canyon. Definitely the natural won out over the man-made.

So like Disneyland, Vegas is now a place I never need to see again. I'm glad I experienced it, but that was enough for a lifetime.