Las Vegas stands out on the American landscape like Ski Dubai on the Arabian Peninsula. Even though the hotels use less water than you think (given the tropical greenery, water displays, misty evaporative cooling systems, and green lawns so perfect they look like astroturf) the contrast between the carefully contrived tropical illusion and the surrounding natural desert landscape makes me ashamed to visit and consume just that much more water.
Our trip was not very pleasant this year. Angry Father-In-Law is declining, and it was hard to see this once active and intellectual man struggle with simple tasks like walking and talking. He and I used to have great conversations, as we share some common research interests, and now he is unable to speak (although he is still lucid).
The last time we visited Las Vegas, Angry Baker and I spent a good deal of time hiking in the surrounding desert. There is no place on Earth more eerily beautiful than Death Valley; Red Rock Canyon has to be seen to be believed. Most of our positive recollections of Las Vegas came from these experiences. But now there is the Angry Kid.
We were unwilling to take the Angry Kid hiking in 110F heat, no matter how much the Angry Baker and I might enjoy the experience. This meant we had to stay on the Strip. If you don't gamble, and you don't like shopping malls, you will not have much fun on the Strip. We don't gamble, and we don't like shopping malls.
The Angry Kid had great fun in the hotel pool, slathered in SPF 60 sunblock. When we couldn't stand the sun any more, we took her to see the fake canal boats in the Venetian, or the moving statues in the fountain at Caesar's Palace. So, pretty much all we did was watch water evaporate into the desert air. (And Angry Baker lost $20 playing video poker.)
Thursday, June 29, 2006
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3 comments:
Correction. Angry Baker lost only $10 in video poker. And, half that was communing time with my father. The real tragedy, of course, is Angry Baker's self-absorbed siblings who seemed to not give a shit when it came to offering to mind Angry Toddler for just a couple hours while we hiked about.
The strip is NOT for toddlers. It's for crusty, brown, leather-skinned sun worshippers.
I once wrote a paper on Vegas. It was a good one, too. Did you know that most of the sidewalks on the strips are privately owned? That's what I was writing about (the consequences for public space, etc)
I'm not surprised, Lisa. The sidewalks are annoying: they wind through the casino entrances in a way clearly designed to funnel pedestrian traffic into (and not merely past) the casino. It takes about twice as long as it should to walk down the strip, what with all the meandering around past shops and fighting with people trying to sell you tickets and rent you cars and take you on helicopter rides. (I respond to these folks in French. They tend to not be so aggressive then.)
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