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10 September, 2001
VIVA
LAS VEGAS
I was a Vegas virgin until the Labor Day holiday weekend, when I finally got to experience this most American of cities and its many splendors.
| When we were down to our last three quarters and pulled the slot machine's arm, we won our $25 back. We knew it was a karmic sign to stop. |
I had always wanted to visit Las Vegas because of its reputation as a city that never sleeps, with its 24-hours-a-day gambling casinos, neon bright enough to light up the fabled "Vegas Strip" as if it were always daytime, and its kitschy, modernist architecture of its 1940s and '50s roots. Unfortunately, almost all of the original 1950s buildings have been torn down or given facelifts.
But I didn't miss the historic architecture because of the sensory overload that awaited me from all the new, flashier buildings, many with incredibly large video screens broadcasting commercials for concerts and shows including an upcoming Janet Jackson performance.
Vegas was built as a vision of the future - with state-of-the-art entertainment and gambling set in a futuristic landscape of sleek moderne buildings that symbolized the highest sophistication and glitz of its day. Today, it is more a place where people can immerse themselves in nostalgia for the past (and, with the Olde English theme of Excalibur, the distant past). It's is a high-tech mecca that still relies on a state-of-the-art aesthetic, but it uses technology to create amazing self-contained worlds such as Paris, which perfectly re-creates turn-of-the-century France with art, architecture, shops, cafes and bistros, and a wonderful painted ceiling of sky and clouds that keeps the interior feeling as if it were twilight on a summer Parisian day, forever.
Neither Erin nor I were that interested in gambling. We played with some of the slot machines but didn't waste much money. We were lucky enough that once when we were down to our last three quarters and pulled the slot machine's arm, we won our $25 back. We knew it was a karmic sign to stop.
We laughed at ourselves whenever we gambled, but everyone - and I mean everyone - else who was gambling seemed lost in a sad, frowning fog. No one smiled as they fed the slots or placed their chips on the green velvet tables. No one seemed to be having any fun waiting for the big payoff.
We had plenty to do without gambling. Las Vegas has nurtured a reputation as a destination for "family entertainment" in recent years, and the newer hotels all share a similar casino area but have added a perimeter of shops and eateries that rivals any great downtown, shopping mall or amusement park. They've added free entertainment that makes Vegas seem like a cousin to Disneyland - we saw a spectacular light show downtown, a thrilling water show in front of the Bellagio Hotel, and a fire-breathing dragon in front of the Excalibur. Pirates performed in front of Treasure Island and a volcano erupted at the Mirage. There must be half-a dozen roller coasters on the Strip alone, including one that snakes around the famous facades of Manhattan that make up the clever New York, New York (the interior is like walking through New York, complete with steam coming up from the manhole covers) and one that circles around the top of the Space Needle-like Stratosphere.
We were told that the intersection of Las Vegas Blvd. and Tropicana Ave. (the south end of the "strip"), which features the Tropicana, the MGM Grand, New York New York and Excalibur hotels, boasts more hotel rooms than all of the city of San Francisco combined. And the city is set to grow even more in the years to come, with a planned bullet train from Los Angeles which would cut the four-hour drive to 45 minutes, and the construction of the largest shopping mall in the country (larger than Minneapolis' Mall of America) as new inducements for both residents and tourists to come to Vegas.
Asian influence was in evidence everywhere, from the Imperial Palace Hotel on the Strip or the California Club in the older downtown district. The Imperial is a silly mix of Asian elements, confusing Chinese-style architectural flourishes and Japanese shoji screen-style exterior grid to interior bars with names such as the "Geisha Lounge." The California Club is owned by a Hawaiian, and the casino must spend most of its marketing in the Pacific Rim, because everywhere we looked there were Asians and Pacific Islanders sitting amidst the din, spending their money. A busy counter served up diner food as if from the 1950s, with added items such as saimin noodles for the Asian clientele. The Chinese Noodle restaurant in the Mandalay Bay served the best meal we had during our trip.
Without exception, all the newer hotels served sushi somewhere, either at Japanese restaurants snuggled within their rambling interiors, or at sushi bars promoted with huge letters on their matinees out front. But the one time I tried sushi I was terribly disappointed. The buffet at the Bellagio is reputed to be one of the classiest (it's certainly one of the most expensive) in town, and to our surprise, among the array of seafood was a display of maki-sushi, fat rolls wrapped in nori. The chef behind the counter was very proud of the sushi, which he had just made, and insisted I take some. I did but the sushi was soft and squishy, not firm. The ingredients in the center had no taste to speak of, the rice was overcooked, and it wasn't flavored with rice vinegar (the most common error of sushi made by non-Asians).
Still, the sushi snafu didn't ruin my view of Vegas. As I waited in line at the Bellagio for the buffet, I struck up a conversation with two young Japanese women on vacation, traveling for the first time in the US. They were thrilled to be in Vegas, and I shared their enthusiasm. Later I saw them videotaping each other as they ate. I didn't see any sushi on their plates, though - they must have known better.
After four days,
I was tired and sore from walking. But I had a great time, and plan on
returning to Vegas again. Now that I'm no longer a virgin to Vegas, next
time I'll try some of the crazy roller coasters and other rides and attractions.
And of course, we'll explore the culinary delights of the city - but only
order sushi at Japanese restaurants.