Viva Las Vegas!

By Trish Foxwell

Walking down the Las Vegas Strip, I felt like a child scampering through Disney World for the first time. Mouth slightly ajar and neck craned awkwardly backwards, my eyes sparkled with the overwhelming fireworks of thousands of flashing signs illuminating the street. My heart chased the screams of a roller coaster that tore through the night sky, and the buttery smell of hot popcorn tugged at my stomach. On my right rose a 150 foot replica of the Statue of Liberty, and on my left, the spires of a medieval castle worthy of the Magic Kingdom pierced the heavens. The magical moment was broken only by the bump of a promoter as he forced a colorful flyer into my open jacket. The advertisement offered, "Busty Babes," delivered to my doorstep within thirty minutes or they were half-off. After being confronted by the Domino’s version of the Las Vegas sex underworld, I realized that my Disney World metaphor had fluttered too close to the bright neon fire.
Las Vegas may not be Orlando, Florida, but neither is it Sodom and Gomorrah. If anything, I found "Sin City" to be a city of contrasts, where elegance, tastelessness, tawdriness, and glamour all sit at the same blackjack table. For every seedy Motel Six boasting a wide selection of in-room adult movies, there is a breathtakingly impressive Venetian Hotel, complete with authentic Italian gondola rides on an indoor canal. For every $6.99 Prime Rib steakhouse there is a restaurant creation by world-renowned chef Emeril Lagasse. And for every offensively tacky naked magic show there is an acrobatic masterpiece drama by Cirque Du Soleil. Truly, there is something for everyone in this multifaceted and overwhelming town, where dreams can be broken, hopes can be destroyed, but at least you get a free cocktail.
The most impressive hotel on the Strip has to be the Bellagio. This testament to man’s obsession with the excessive ascends behind its own lake and string of upscale boutiques. The lake explodes each day and night with a music and illumination show fired from a 40 million dollar fountain that incorporates 1,200 nozzles and 4,500 lights. The best view of this amazing display comes from a romantic table for two at the Eiffel Tower restaurant across the street at the Paris Hotel and Casino. The restaurant is situated within the half-sized replica of the real architectural landmark and its glass walls provide flawless views of the Strip. After indulging in an exquisite meal that will cost you all the money you won on the horses, take in the energy of the fountain show as you cross the Strip and enter the luxurious Bellagio lobby. Attend the "O" show, a tremendous fusion of the acrobatic and the aquatic created by Cirque Du Soleil. 81 performers dance, twirl, dive and swim their way into your imagination, acting out a mystical story in and above a 1.5 million gallon tank of water. This is a truly outstanding and unique production that will leave you short of breath with mouth gaping and hands either clasped over your heart or gripping your program tightly with taught, white knuckles.
Another less grandiloquent (and less extravagantly priced) evening could be shaped around the Tournament of Kings at the Excalibur. Walking into the hotel is entertainment in itself, from the very Disney-esque towers and moat to the interior design, an amusingly cheesy nod to medieval times. Those without a sense of humor and whimsy should skip both the hotel and the show, but if an inner child lurks within, these jousting vaudevillians put on quite a spectacle. Now the food is admittedly inedible, made more so by the fact that they refuse you ketchup or salt to mask the dryness of "ye olde chicken" because, though you eat off synthetic plastic plates and drink diet Pepsi, they didn’t have such amenities in the olden times. The show transcends the dinner, however, and before you know it, you’ll be standing and cheering for your section’s knight as he rides his steed into battle. If nothing else, you can join the rest of the audience in booing the always maligned French knight and his supporting section of diners.
I have barely scratched the green felt surface of the entertainment and dining options available to the Vegas visitor. That is the beauty of the city: whether your perfect vacation entails sucking down free Grey Goose while bemoaning the dealer’s luck amidst five chiropractors from Long Island until five A.M. or sharing an intimate table for two with the one you love at a five star restaurant or an intensely sensual lounge club, Vegas has something for you. So for one weekend. leave your inhibitions behind, roll the dice, and gamble on a Las Vegas vacation. I guarantee you won’t crap-out.