Waking Up in Vegas....

Well, I can't say that I haven't been there any more. I have. And I now see why every grown up that I know holds the place in such high regards.

You know it's funny, when we got there it the visual imagery kind of hit me several different ways. On one hand, I just kept harkening back to Stephen King's usage of it in the movie The Stand. On the other hand, the biggest impression that I got was that I stepped into a hybrid of South Beach, Panama City, Adult Disney World and Cancun...kind of all mixed together.

((The strip at night//Courtesy: Me))

Of course I am talking about Las Vegas. In case any of you didn't know, that is where I've been all week. That is why you haven't been subjected to my wonderful blogposts.

It is probably a good thing that I didn't go there until now. Really, had I gone when I was in my early 20's, it wouldn't have been good. Sure, I would have had fun, but I would have been in trouble...bad trouble.

Just walking around, it is obvious. Everything goes. The beer and drink supply...endless. And it's cheap. Inhabitions...forget about them. Publicly doing things you'd never normally do...absolutely.

Since we are a bit older, we had more of a mellow trip. Yeah, there was a good amount of beer drank, but not a ton. Sure, we gambled a bit, but not much. Probably because I lost $40 bucks in about 5 minutes playing Blackjack.

((Me and TLB at the Wynn/Courtesy: Lisa Hart))

But damn! Anything you want to do is there. It isn't cheap. It's ballpark/vacation expensive....everything costs more there. But there is more of it. More food than you can imagine. Frozen Drinks, mixed drinks, cheap beer, imported beer....everything...and oh so much more.

Really, we didn't do much of that. We ate. We ate well. Very well. Gambled a bit and walked...a lot. And oh...we went to check out some Pawn Shop that a TV/Reality show is done in. I didn't get much out of that one, it looked like a smaller version of any generic Pawn Shop you could walk into.

But perhaps my favorite thing....or at least funniest is the handout guys. Mostly they are illegal immigrants or homeless folks trying to make a buck.

What do they do? They stand up and down the sidewalk trying to hand you brochures. Okay, cards or fliers to "Call Girls to your room" or "Girls at xxx Club". It cracks me up because when you are about to walk by, they "clap" the cards together and then try and shove one in your hands.

((Daytime Vegas/Courtesy: Me))

Are they annoying? Sort of. They don't actually stuff them in your hands. They back off if you ignore them...but they are funny never the less.

It probably could have been more fun with more money, but...you do what you can do with what you've got. I really did enjoy the trip. TLB (The Lovely Bride) and I had a lot of fun. Mostly we tried to relax and not think about our world at home...and that was a good thing.

Sure, the flight out sucked. 4 hours in an airplane is tough for me, most planes aren't built for people over 6-feet tall or people with broad shoulders. But it was worth it.

I'd go back. I'd go back in a minute. I'd go back armed with more money. I wouldn't go back for a long period of time because I did learn a lesson. As great a place as Vegas is, no, I wouldn't want to live there and I also wouldn't want to stay longer than the 3 nights that I did.

Enjoy Katy Perry's Waking Up in Vegas...the Unplugged version: Thanks Katy Perry.com/You Tube