This was my first trip to Vegas. Since I don't gamble, I'd never taken the time to visit. But after doing some research, I decided there was so much to see and do that I just had to check it out.
Walking through the
Bellagio lobby on the Monday afternoon of my arrival, I kept thinking of the song
"People are strange" by
The Doors. I'd heard words such as "wackos" and "characters" used to describe the tourist population of Vegas. Being from Miami where everyone is strange, I figured it wouldn't throw me. It did. Surrounded by glassy eyed gamblers, I noticed that everone looked glazed, doing the
Vegas shuffle from one gaming table to the next. The slow moving tourist parade ambled and waddled along, pausing, staring, photographing, and in general just standing in the way Maybe it was the result of an all night gambling binge, or drinking binge, or both, or simply the product of too many buffets, but for one of the few times in my solo traveling life, I was afraid.
I was supposed to take this trip alone and for the first time in my solo traveling career, I was starting to regret that. Fortunately, through some contacts, I had people out here to show me around. But, as it turns out, this is a real friendly city. Everyone caters to tourists here and even those who were on vacation were quite nice.
I had just 4 days and nights to explore and try to see everything, It was impossible to do, but I think I sampled a good bit of the restaurants, nightlife, shows and tourist attractions. I spent too much and ate to excess. The Vegas hot, hot hot sun burned my skin and melted my plastic jelly sandals. And I did manage to throw all of my quarters into the video poker machines. But the lights and sounds and the general Vegas vibe captured me more than any American city has been able to do.
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