i love vegas

I love Las Vegas. It's a city flush with insanity and paradox. You have a desert, then smack in the middle is this freakin' oasis with some of the largest density water-usage IN THE WORLD. I love how the city changes completely depending on the hour of day - the Strip's charms are certainly different at 3 AM from 6 AM and so on. In an 18-month period around 2008, I visited Vegas on 3 separate occasions! I forbade myself from going for 12 months. I lasted 11 months.


Then Ray named me his best man which precludes many responsibilities. Not least, planning the stag. He was surprisingly excited at the prospect and agreed almost immediately. I was honestly expecting a little bit of a fight (early plans called for a hood, nylon rope and some ether... and we knew where his passport was stashed).

Well woohoo!

The planning started in earnest and it had to be good - this was going to be his first time after all. Something I learned from my last few trips - a car is indispensable in Vegas. The Strip is great and all, but there's so much to see and eat in Las Vegas proper and the outlying cities (Henderson, Summerlin...). One of the most celebrated eateries in Vegas is Rosemary's, a good 20-minute drive into Henderson. Having a car also makes exploring Spring Mountain Road (Vegas' Chinatown) so much easier.

Sure you have to tone down your drinking imbibement, but that's what designated drivers are for. You just cycle through your crew... and let's be honest, the bars don't sleep either so there's plenty of time for that long after dinner has passed.

So take that as an introduction to my little series on Las Vegas. And assuredly there will be more.