The Las Vegas Story, Part 2

Every time I go on a vacation, the real-life experience destroys my expectations and preconceptions in both positive and negative ways. I often do not realize the inaccuracy of my expectations until I am back at home where they were formed. Of course, while I am there, I am caught up in observation. Not thinking, but observing. Who wants to think while on vacation? What are vacations for?

Just in case you were wondering, our vacation to Las Vegas was awesome. Freaking amazingly and spectacularly awesome in every sense of the expletive. But before I start glazing your eyes with stories of which you have no interest, I want to get to the point of this post.

Keep in mind that Stacy and I were only there for three days, which probably isn't long enough to develop an accurate feel for the city. These expecations and real life observances are only from our point of view. If you've been to Vegas recently, you are more than welcome to comment with your experience, if you would agree with me or not. I should also point out that the opinions and observations below are my own.

Expectation:
Las Vegas is very bright, literally.
Real life:
Yes. Very much so. The Strip is not so much classic "neon glitz" bright, more like "huge f-ing video screen on every surface" bright. Downtown was the opposite. By the way, if you wanna see lights, I would highly recommend the Fremont Street Experience downtown. Google it.

Expectation:
There are cheap buffets in Vegas.
Real life:
There are buffets everywhere, but they are not typically cheap. Stacy and I ate the Champagne Brunch Buffet at Mandalay Bay. Sure $27 is plenty to pay for any meal, but this was the single biggest, highest quality and most elegant buffet I will probably ever see. In fact, I would bet that it is on the top-ten buffets in the world. Anyway, as the price of buffets went up, the price of rooms did the opposite. Vegas knows how to work it.

Expectation:
Las Vegas is what the common midwesterner would describe as "hustle and bustle."
Real life:
Yes, but the hustling and bustling crowd is more middle/working class than I expected. High rollers lay low at the table games (We saw a dude playing $200/bet blackjack in the Wynn with the same demeanor as my roommate playing PS3). From what I can tell, middle class people walk around and attempt to see everything. Another interesting observation, for me, was the amount of foreign tourists. I wish I knew how many different languages we heard walking past people.

Expectation:
Getting around in Vegas is tough.
Real life:
Not nearly as difficult as expected. There are plenty of taxis everywhere plus other available and easily accessible forms of public transportation. I suspect that any rookie Vegas vacationer finds themselves walking much more than they anticipated, especially on their first visit.

Expectation:
The city never sleeps.
Real life:
The city never sleeps, but about 85% of the crowd does at some time before daylight.

Expectation:
Vegas vacations are spendy.
Real life:
If you get the right place on the right nights and the right flights on the right days, your trip can be very affordable for any budget. It seems as if the hotel casinos typically offer cheap rooms ($39/night and up) to encourage people to play their saved money in the casino. It's cheap to get there and stay, but visitors should understand that the Vegas economy knows how to milk it out of you. What you don't spend in one place, you will spend in another.

If you made it this far in my post, I thank and congratulate you on your dedication. As I said before, I hope that this and the last post will be useful for anybody considering a trip to Vegas. If you would like to see more photos of our trip, check em out on Facebook.

Thanks for reading,
John