A friend and co-worker of Jim’s was getting married in Vegas and invited us both to go. We were on the fence about the time and the cost, but managed to find a cheap flight that gave us a little time in Vegas at a reasonable hotel.
If you’ve never been, Las Vegas is a strange place. Our hotel was nice – but in a terrible neighborhood right off the strip. The closest place to eat was in the most depressing casino in the history of…well… forever – but the pizza was great. Bright lights and loud noises indoors – trash and grime outside. Great wealth and excess – and deep poverty.
There was a lot of good on the trip. The wedding was in a nice venue outdoors at a casino and very… well… efficient. Not the most ringing endorsement, I guess, but very pretty and easy on the guests. The reception had good food and was also pretty efficient – a side effect of so much going on that everything has to be on a tight schedule. Actually, all the food we ate there was pretty good – and I’m a picky eater.
We spent some time with another of Jim’s co-workers and her husband – and they were a blast. I lost a dollar in the slot machines and Jim stopped when he was up $12.00. We took a walk around the strip and saw the fountains at one of hotels and a nature preserve at another.
Parts though, were stressful.
Everywhere we went was crushed with people – day and night. And getting from one place to another was always more complicated than it needed to be. It was loud and bright and confusing.
And everywhere we went were people trying to hustle for one club or event or something. The saddest were the homeless and the mentally troubled – only steps away from drink specials, buffets, and people almost literally throwing money away.
A strange place.
I liked parts of the trip, but I don’t think I need to go back there for awhile.
Still, I’m glad I got to go to the wedding and getting outside my comfort zone is something I need to do more often. And I got some good stories out of the trip – which is usually worth the price of admission to me.
I’ll save the plane rides for another post – and perhaps dream tonight of bright lights and fickle luck.