Bright Lights and Red Rocks

Vegas. 

A dazzling example of the phrase, “over the top”.

As we descended the hills towards Las Vegas, the lights sparkled in all directions and in all colours. Coming from the darkness of the empty desert mountains, the city seemed to encompass the entire valley.

We were lucky to get an overview of the Strip on our way along the highway. Close up, the lights were even brighter and more colourful than they had seemed from afar.

Las Vegas is not a large city.  As a metropolis, its residents merely number in the few hundred thousands.  But it took us two very full days and evenings to merely touch on the highlights of this exaggerated splendor.  To see as much as we could, we concentrated our adventures to the casinos with the biggest names. “If you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all” doesn’t necessarily apply in this scenario. Each of the casinos on our list had their own quirks and charms. The only constant was being forced to walk through the smoky gambling areas in order to reach the interesting shops, the artistic displays, and the theatres.

Being the frugal retirees that we are, we searched out all the free entertainment available. There is an animated show in Caesar’s Palace, the delightful musical fountains of Bellagio, and the amusing antics of people that come to enjoy places like this. We hadn’t realized that our last few days fell on a long holiday weekend in the United States. Earlier in the week, a walk down the main street was comfortable and parking was easy to find. On Saturday, the eight solid lanes of traffic downtown and the masses of humanity squeezing themselves along the walkways and sidewalks made it hard to travel around. We found an early parking spot and walked the Strip for the rest of the day.

The Luxor was intriguing, with the Egyptian Sphinx and temple surrounded by the oblique interior walls of the pyramid. What looks small in the picture actually holds several stores and a large empty space for milling about. Also, to put it in perspective, the horizontal lines on the interior of the pyramid are the hallways to the hotelrooms.

NewYorkNewYork was actually fairly real to life, being closed in and dark, and with lots of little restaurants and cafes littering the promenade. It certainly felt like the streets of New York.

The Venetian was a favourite. The painted concave ceiling created the illusion of sky. The little storefronts along the streetscape were charming and we enjoyed watching the gondoliers poling their craft down the tiny indoor canal while occasionally bursting out in song. As you can see from the emptiness of the shops, this was early in the week.

Many of the casinos were starting to change their seasonal decorations to reflect the approaching Chinese New Year s. In honour of the Year of the Horse, statues of proud steeds and glittering stallions were positioned in the lobbies. We, however, were riding our feet. And those tootsies were getting very tired.  Very few restaurants struck our fancy. Most of the ones inside the casinos were overpriced and busy. A shrimp palace called “Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.” and another place known as “Cheesecake Factory” suited our tastes and our finances. Seems you can’t go wrong with seafood and dessert.

We saw two shows while in Vegas, a Celine Dion concert that showcased her powerful singing, and a very entertaining Cirque du Soleil show, “O”.  Both were extremely enjoyable. And Canadian.  Bonus.

The people we met, in seats beside us, or on the scenic overlooks on the roads, were often Canadian. In fact, there were a few that lived very close to our Ontario roots - a couple from Kingston, and a man from Tweed. Small world, indeed.

Meanwhile, we were very glad that our accommodations were well off the Strip. It was quieter and definitely calmer. It was also closer to other attractions that we appreciated after such overt largess, things a little more up our alley. Red Rock Canyon was an afternoon’s drive, but a whole world away from the glitter of downtown. Especially intriguing were the crossing signs for the desert tortoise and wild burros. Despite our best efforts, we saw neither one.

Another relaxing day was spent driving through the Valley of Fire State Park. We found a place to picnic near a short hiking trail where petroglyphs had been etched along the red canyon walls. There were many unique rock formations in vibrant colours all around us, and it was warm and sunny.  A perfect time and place for a picnic.

The lights of Vegas may rule the night, but as an early riser, I was more impressed by the brilliant red on the cliffs at dawn.

Talk about “over the top”.

W