Simplicity...at its finest: Las Vegas Invitation

The last five days of our Vegas trip have been somewhat of a blur. There was so much to see and do that by the end of it all; the days seemed to run together as one. I knew that I would want to write about our experience, but I wonder where to begin. First, I should say that my perception of Las Vegas is very different from what I remember from my last visit ten years ago. I thought about our stay in Southern California last year over the summer, and remember the culture shock that we faced while we were there. We also seemed to be in a state of shell shock upon arriving in Las Vegas, even though there was a mixed diversity of people. The livelihood of such a city is beyond overwhelming, yet full of exciting sights, sounds, colors, and just plain fun. I guess that is why it is known as the “Entertainment Capital of the World”. Many people, including tourists are often lured to Las Vegas for the gambling appeal, but our visit consisted of activities of a different sort. The main reason for our trip was my brother-in-law’s wedding held at the Caesar’s Palace, which ended up being a beautiful ceremony. Aside from the most important part, the highlights of our trip included several walks up and down the main strip of Las Vegas Blvd. where we walked through several hotels and casinos of which had their own unique architectural structure and theme, with many shops, restaurants, and beautiful displays. We took advantage of as much of the free entertainment we could, since we couldn’t justify spending money on the astronomical prices of many of the shows, let alone food and drinks. My favorite attraction was the Fountains of the Bellagio hotel. The way the music synced up with the dancing fountains across the entire lake was breathtaking. We also enjoyed many of the aquariums we saw, as well as the Lion and Flamingo habitats. Our last night in Vegas was spent on the “old style” strip of Las Vegas, where we saw the Fremont Street Experience Show. It is best described as the biggest television screen over a wide dome the length of the street, showing concert videos, with designs and pictures featuring a summer of 69’ theme. Now, I won’t say that Las Vegas was all pudding and pie when it came to entertainment. There were still the usual vulgar images of what is familiar to the Las Vegas scene, but we managed to overlook a lot of that to the best of our ability. I just have to say that I’m thankful we don’t have kids, as we would have had to hide their exposure to such things. However, Las Vegas is also a family-friendly environment with many activities for the kids too. We have talked about returning to this lively city again, so we’ll see what brings us back to the entertainment capital of the world in the future. Until then…here are some photos you might enjoy from our adventure.

Eastside Cannery Hotel