Last week, I was in Las Vegas on vacation. A couple of my friends go there every year on vacation, and since I moved to Arizona, I meet them there. We drove up, and anytime I drive through the desert, I’m struck by the beauty of the desert.
While we were there, I did a little gambling, a little drinking, a LOT of eating, and a little walking. We stayed at the Palm, and that hotel is way different than anything I’ve seen before. The gambling area is small for a Vegas casino, with only maybe a dozen table games. At the pool, I got my first inkling of what was different. As I looked around, I noticed that the pool had 98.6% attractive people. Shapely women posing in fashionable swimwear. Scruffy men with expensive sunglasses drinking beer talking to other men and scanning the pool area. Never in my life have I seen so many pretty people gathered together in person!
Suddenly, what everyone told me came into sharp focus. People go to the Palm to see and be seen! While I could have chosen to feel out of place, I instead decided to enjoy the show. I was definitely the only person at the pool who dipped underwater. Who wants to get their nicely styled hair wet? That’s not why you go to the pool!
The highlight of my trip (other than seeing my friends) was Fremont Street. We went out specifically to get a picture from the spraypaint guy. Most of what he was doing this time around was an interpretation of the Vegas strip, and I didn’t want that. He was nice enough to make a custom order painting for me. His work is amazing! Here’s a picture of my picture.
The drive home seemed much longer than the drive up. My theory is that when you’re going somewhere, the excitement carries you through. On the way home, you just want to get home. While it was nice to sleep and not get woken up by meowing (my dogs are too well-behaved to make more than rustling noises at night), I did miss all of them.
You know what the good witch said… “There’s no place like home!”
Doree Weller 