"This town, is a make-you town. or a break-you town."-- Frank Sinatra.
Yes it's true, there are no clocks in Vegas casinos. Yes it's true they pump oxygen into the casino to keep weary gamblers awake and at the tables longer. Yes it's true beautiful women will spend the night with you if the price is right. Vegas is a place where anything is possible and EVERYTHING has it's price.
Inside the grocery stores there are video poker machines. It is a strong probability that you will see a woman with a filled grocery cart, and an infant, sitting on a machine with a cigarette in her hand. A grandmother spending her social security money in $20 dollar increments. At any stoplight its common to count 5 or 6 cars over $80,000. I counted.
I looked down on my wrist to find a Platinum Rolex watch. the price tag read $50,488. On my way to the grocery store I saw 2 Bentleys and a Rolls Royce Phantom. I learned the difference in cut, clarity, and color of diamonds at Tiffany & Company. I ate platefuls of steamed crab legs dipped in butter and jumbo shrimp smothered in cocktail sauce. Prime rib. Sirloin steak, $170 bottles of wine. I saw two naked girls jump into a giant fishbowl. My pocket Jacks got lucky and turned into a Full House.
Top shelf alcohol flows freely, delivered by gorgeous cocktail waitresses. At any second someone is risking it all. people shout and clap out loud at blackjack tables. A guy in a big cowboy hat and cowboy boots has his girlfriend blow on his dice for him. This isn't a movie. This is real. In an elevator I counted 4 different languages being spoken. The latest fashions from Tokyo, London, New York, and Milan walk right by you on your way to the bathroom. Modern design and architecture is redefined with every new casino built. The week before I arrived, the $3.9 billion dollar Cosmopolitan Casino opened. World famous chefs from Italy to Peru have restaurants all over town. Elvis has a new show. Frank Sinatra has one too. Hopes are turned into elation, dreams are dashed with the flip of an ace.
Three football games are on television, next to a college basketball game two NBA games, a hockey game a soccer match from England, and a car race of some sort. You can wager that Kobe Bryant will score more points than the number of the winning Nascar driver (Jimmie Johnson's car is 48). The waitress asks you if you'd like another cocktail. or beer. or anything you want.
In Vegas, celebrities are on vacation just like you. In one week I saw Mathew Fox (from Lost) and magician Penn Jillete (Penn & Teller). I saw Chris Angel get into a Bentley with the license plate: B-LEEVE.
I hadn't been to the Mirage poker room in over 18 months. Every dealer there recognized me and asked how I was. One of them gave me a hug. A dealer named Bobby asked me how my trip was. I told him it was great and I'll be back as soon as I can. He said:
"It's Vegas. Everyone comes back". So true.
You ready to come back? It's a hard place to leave and not just because the grocery stores are 24 hour.
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