USA-West Coast

Las Vegas:Enjoying the Spectacle

Few cities bring to mind such images of sheer excess as Las Vegas. Located in the middle of the arid Mojave Desert, at the southern tip of the state of Nevada, Las Vegas is an oasis of life, energy and money - a city whose raison d’être is entertainment. With soaring temperatures during the summer and moderate winters, the city is visited all year round. Over 35 million people visit Las Vegas every year, staying in the city’s 130,000 hotel rooms.

According to the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce, Las Vegas is now the fastest growing city in North America with an estimated two acres of land being developed every 24-hours and seeing approximately 50,000 people annually choosing to make the city and suburbs their home. At the outset, Las Vegas drew the droves of workers building the nearby Hoover Dam. Soon, it became a gambling and vacation Mecca for the entire country - it attracted stars like Frank Sinatra, Elvis and Liberace and became America’s premiere entertainment hub.

If you're a shopper, or going with one, check out the Forum Shops attached to Caesars Palace. There is an animated statue show every hour on the hour from 10 am to 11 pm in the first rotunda and one in the fourth rotunda near the large aquarium. The attractions and most of the shops are on the second level. They have circular escalators that take you up from the Strip-level entrance. Not surprisingly, the layout and strategic positioning of benches, etc. forces you to walk past all the shops on the first level to get to the escalators, and then go a round-about way past even more shops to get to the first rotunda.

If you're an art lover, or going with one, check out the Gallery of Fine Art at the Bellagio which routinely features works by van Gogh, Monet, Renoir, Cezanne, Matisse, and Gauguin. There's a $15 fee. Even if you're not an art lover you'll enjoy the painted ceilings in the Venetian. The painted ceilings are actually in three areas; the main casino entrance, the hotel lobby, and the Galleria hall that connects the two. Once you go in the main casino entrance and view that ceiling, the Galleria will be off to your right.

If you're a gear-head, or going with one, check out the auto collection at the Imperial Palace featuring antiques and vehicles owned by celebrities and presidents. Stated admission is $6.95 but you can go to their "players desk" in the casino (across from the Mai Tai bar) and ask for a free pass or go to their Auto Collections Website and print out the free pass available there. If you like roller-coasters, New York New York, Sahara, and Circus Circus (indoor) have them. If you're a hard core thrill-seeker, there's a roller-coaster (called the "High Roller") and a tower launcher (called the "Big Shot") on the roof of the Stratosphere Tower, and bungy jumping at Circus Circus.

If you plan to go "downtown" do it at night so you can check out the Fremont Street Experience. The canopy over the Fremont Street pedestrian mall is the giant "screen" several blocks long for a great, free light and sound show with 2 million individual bulbs. Shows start at dusk and are repeated until 11 pm Sunday thru Thursday and midnight Friday and Saturday. Another neat lighting display is at the south end of the Strip at night. While not a "show", the intersection bounded by the MGM Grand, New York New York, Excalibur, and Tropicana is a sight to behold at night with all the buildings illuminated in a rainbow of colors. This intersection has pedestrian bridges between all four corners so it's easy to stroll over all four of them to take in the sights.


Entertainment so dominates Las Vegas that it is the backbone of the city’s economy, creating vibrant hotel, retail and hospitality industries. Other industries, such as construction, to a large degree owe their existence to the fact that hotels need to be built or expanded. Its residents lead normal lives in normal suburbs but to visitors, it is an endless playground of neon lights, hotel lounges, topless revues, live entertainment and casinos.