It's Vegas Baby! - June 10, 2009

The Vegas hotel New York New York has a down to earth American theme. Breakfast was at the America restaurant the centerpiece of which is a huge curved map of the United States. The giant curved steel plates which hold the map are so large that they were fabricated in a shipyard on the east coast. Hundreds of artists worked on the the three dimensional decorations that populate the map. It hangs suspended across the middle of the eatery. We spent the morning catching up on writing and picture processing for the blog. Dave caught up on his sleep.

In the afternoon we set out to explore America's adult playground. If this was a normal Las Vegas vacation my description would end here as what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. But it won't. Taking a taxi we headed for what I consider to be the most beautiful hotel on the strip, the Bellagio. From the art glass roofed lobby to the expansive swimming pools they have spared no expense to make this a class act. Passing through the conservatory whose flower exhibition was circus themed, we had lunch in the modest cafe overlooking the pools.

As much as I enjoy the ambiance of the Bellagio, it is no place for amateurs to gamble. After lunch, we took a taxi down to Steve Wynn's newest creation, the Encore. On the way we talked with the driver about the economy in Las Vegas. We had noticed that there was a lot of major construction going on around the strip. However, none of it is active. No cranes are moving, no construction work is going on. The driver said that business had dropped off about 30% from 2006 to 2007 and another 8% from 2007 to 2008. We were enjoying some of the fruits of this as we got a really good rate and extra perks at our hotel. Our driver was a former loan officer for a major financial institution. When the housing market in Vegas went bust, he was laid off. Making a tough decision as to whether to stay and wait for a recovery in Nevada or return to his home in the Northwest, he decided to stay. Since he had to feed his family he started driving a cab.

Arriving at the Encore, we were astonished to find no other cabs waiting outside the hotel nor any other people waiting for transport. Every other hotel on the strip was crowded with people ready to check-in, check-out or move to their next stop on the strip. At the extreme north end of the strip, the Encore is the newest of the “new” hotels which populate Las Vegas Boulevard from Tropicana avenue to Sands avenue. Since it is so far north, the folks who walk up and down the strip haven't made it a stop as of yet. That seemed fine for the upscale clientel of the Encore who occupied the tables and slots inside the Encore. Unruffled by the riff-raff from outside they were happy to drop some of their euchre in the richly elegant surroundings designed by the original creator of the Bellagio. Both of Steve Wynn's hotels at the north end of the strip, the Wynn and Encore, have the same look and feel as the Bellagio. Beautiful, over the top, oversize decorations and calm elegance.

I won't dwell on each of our stops as we played tourist photographing and gambling in the Mediterranean elegance of the Pallazo, listened to the operatic overtures of the gondoliers at the Venetian and enjoyed the sweet, gritty sophistication of Paris. With the afternoon gone we returned to New York New York to catch the sixth game of the Stanley cup.

I had in mind watching the Cup on a room sized screen with screaming fans from both sides exchanging jibes and bets. ESPN was SRO so Dave and I wandered down to the quiet little Bar on Times Square where there were a few small screen TVs, one of which was showing the game. Unsuspecting, we sat down next to Tom and his friend from Western Pennsylvania who politely but firmly rooted for the Penguins Sitting between us was a sportswriter from Vancouver. Who would have thought that we could travel 2000 miles to a bar in Las Vegas and watch the Stanley Cup with a man who had played hockey most of his life in Pennsylvania and an expert scribe from Vancouver. Dave, Tom and the sportswriter exchanged hockey stories. We had a good time but the Wings were never in the the game.

After the game, we fueled up for a Las Vegas evening with a steak dinner at Gallagher's. Refreshed and refueled, we strolled across the street to the largest casino on the strip, the MGM. It was disappointing. Other than size, I feel the MGM has little to recommend it. We got lost, twice, inside. They run their blackjack tables like a Indian casino, always full. I don't care for that. We left shortly and returned to New York New York and decided to visit the storied Coyote Ugly bar. After paying the cover charge we found ourselves in the middle of a European nerd convention. Yes, there were girls dancing on the bar but somehow it missed, by a very large margin, the gritty coolness portrayed in the movie. We left there in short order after Dave scored a T-shirt from the gift shop. Yes, a gift shop in a bar.

We spent the rest of the night at a blackjack table with one of the sourest dealers I have ever had the played with. However, it was very profitable and we ended our night in Vegas on an upbeat note.

Next: Brothers on the boats.