Subject to Change

This week I attended a conference in Las Vegas. Call me crazy, but I recognized that this might be the only opportunity I’ll have to take Kelly somewhere special for a very long time. So she went along, and so did my seventeen month old son. My schedule at the conference was light enough that we were able to do quite a bit of exploring together.

There are a few things we learned about Las Vegas on this trip. Kelly and I are both glad that we had this chance to see the city before planning a real vacation there. I think we would’ve been sorely dissapointed by the Vegas nightlife had we gone there with larger expectations of a relaxing trip. In two days we walked the strip from Mandalay Bay to Treasure Island, which is about three quarters of the whole way. We’ve got blisters on our feet and a whole new perspective on the city. All three of us are completely wiped out!

We stayed in Mandalay Bay at THE hotel. From the airport Madalay Bay looks like it could be the largest hotel on the strip. You’ll never get an appreciation for the scale until you see Vegas for yourself. It takes twenty minutes just to walk from one location inside most of the Las Vegas hotels to any other location within the same hotel. I’m not kidding. One morning I dropped Kelly off at the pool, but she needed to go back to our room to drop off her valuables because there were no lockers. She told me the round trip from the pool to the room took 45 minutes. Of course any trip from point A to point B in Las Vegas takes you through a casino. That’s by design.

We didn’t really experience the legendary Vegas hospitality. I’m pretty sure it’s reserved for the customers who are spending big bucks in the casinos. We also didn’t find the city to be as family friendly as advertised. Vegas may have cleaned up its image, but it hasn’t gone out of its way to welcome children. By the way, did you know there’s only one changing table on the strip? I found it in a mall at the Venetian, and I never saw another one. We saw a few other babies and plenty of small children but I have no idea how those parents were dealing with their families. You can’t do much in Vegas except gamble and eat really expensive food. Kids pretty much rule out either of those things. Even taking in a show is pretty much out of the question with children, unless you’re looking to spend the big bucks. I would’ve liked to see Blueman Group, but wasn’t about to pay over $100 a seat when I can see them in Chicago for half that price. For kid stuff you can do there are the fountains at the Bellagio (free – every 15 minutes at night), the PG-13 rated pirate show and booty dancing at Treasure Island (also free), lions at the MGM Grand (free), a shark reef at Mandalay Bay ($16.95), a dolphin habitat at The Mirage ($16.95?), some malls, a few rides, and a few more indoor attractions that we didn’t have a chance to check out. Did I mention that all the swimming pools close before 8pm or earlier? What do you suppose the casinos want you to do after dark?

I mentioned that we learned a lot on this trip. First of all, I’ve always heard rumors of “the cheap Vegas vacation.” Having been there now I’m not sure where that legend comes from. We did discover that prices dropped dramatically as we traveled north on the strip. At Mandalay Bay the restaurants are fairly upscale, with most of them shamelessly boasting $40 plus entrees. The Red Square is a caviar bar, where you can expect to pay $200 for an ounce of Caviar. Once we passed the Bellagio we started noticing more buffets and meals under $20. We never did find the legendary five dollar buffet anywhere. The Coffee Shop inside Treasure Island treated us very nicely and gave us our money’s worth on each of our $13 entrees, and the twelve dollar fruit plate. I learned a valuable lesson with that meal, though. Smoked salmon and six glasses of lemonade do not sit well when you’ve been in the desert heat for the past four hours. If I’m ever in Las Vegas again I think I’ll make it a point to avoid eating anything uncooked when the temperature outside is above 90 degrees.

Another lesson we learned is that it’s not easy to get around Vegas on foot. Walking through the casinos adds time to any trip and it’s hot outside. Traffic on the street wasn’t terrible this time of year, I would’ve considered driving. There are free trams connecting Mandalay Bay to Luxor and Excalibur, from there you can cross bridges to New York, New York and the MGM Grand. Another free tram runs between Treasure Island and The Mirage.  If you walk all the way to the back of the MGM Grand you can hop on a monorail for 5 bucks (15 dollar all day pass). That will get you to almost the far north end of the strip. We entered the monorail coming south from Bally’s, and I didn’t make a mental note of all the other stops. Follow that link and you’ll see that the monorail may be expanded to connect to the airport. I’m all in favor of that! It would be a great way to reach the strip.

The reason I’m writing all of this information about our trip is because of one of the other things we learned in Vegas: nobody knows anything! Ninety nine percent of the people you meet on the strip aren’t from there and they’re just as confused as you are. The people who work on the strip don’t know much outside their little sphere of influence, so you can’t ask anyone how to get anywhere, what’s going on, or what time the show starts. You need to ask the bellman where your luggage is, ask the bartender what’s in a mojito, and ask your waiter for the check. Any other question is pretty much going to get you deferred to someone else twenty minutes away, across the casino.

I think all three of us had a really good time on this trip, but we’ll definately be sans children next time and there will be a much larger entertainment budget. All we were able to do on this trip was eat and see these legendary places for ourselves. In 48 hours, that agenda was plenty! I thought we’d all had enough of the desert by the time we left, but you should’ve seen Cole on the plane. He was hamming it up, introducing himself to the people all the way in the back seats.

UPDATE - Some second thoughts after sleeping on this post:

We didn’t venture off the strip, but it looked like prices drop dramatically if you head east or west. So does your ability to travel, though. I looked up room rates at THE hotel. This time of year the rates start at $169 a night. I imagine you could find cheaper along the strip, too. If you’re going for the once in a lifetime trip, budget for a place on the strip. It’ll be worth it not to have to find a way to get around! Otherwise, the Rio and Hard Rock are off the strip and I saw shuttles to both. Perhaps they’re the place to stay on a budget? I also saw Best Westerns and discount motels nestled in among the big casinos.

Vegas doesn’t photograph well, by the way. In the day the sun is too bright, at night and indoors it’s dark and the lighting is spotty. It’s also hard to get a good angle on anything you might want to shoot. The sights are huge and packed in tight. Practice at home with your camera if pictures are a priority! Find the best way to shoot neon at night, bright lighting in front of a dark backround, dimly lit rooms, and through glass. We found that video was often the best way to get a good shot of everything.

After reading through some of the fliers we brought home I can see that the family friendly activities could be on the part of the strip we didn’t manage to get to. Still, it’s not Disneyland and it’ll cost you to ride the rides.

Restaurants and shops close surprisingly early. In a city with night life like Vegas’, you’d think there would be more 24 hour food options. After 10 or 11pm, your food choices are very limited and you might need to eat fast food in one of the food courts.