I have been to Las Vegas more times than I care to remember; and yet here I am again.
I have never had a love and hate relationship with Las Vegas like Ben Schlappig of the One Mile at a Time weblog has had.
Rather, I simply never liked Las Vegas. Period.
For starters, its ostentatiousness might be a novelty at first; but it wears quickly. Everything looks so fake — probably because virtually everything is fake. I can see New York and the Eiffel Tower from my hotel room, for crying out loud. I do not enjoy gambling, smoking or drinking…
…and there are long lines for just about everything — including for a taxi cab.
I have read about the taxi scams with the tunnel and the Interstate highway. I still feel bad for poor Kendra, hours after I first read about her plights here in Las Vegas.
Sure enough, there were the long lines for transportation, for which I did not want to wait for who knows how long; and I did not want to get involved in any taxi scam anyway. I have driven the Interstate highways here in Las Vegas — there is no need to give me a sightseeing tour.
Screw that. I walked.
It was little more than an hour for me to walk from Terminal 1 at the international airport which serves Las Vegas to the Mandalay Bay hotel property.
Exercise: good. My legs are more than adequate to handle what probably was a distance of approximately two miles. Cost: $0.00.
The trouble with walking is that there is this pesky runway separating Las Vegas Boulevard — otherwise known as The Strip — from the terminal buildings. I think that the taxi commission must have lobbied to have the airport designed that way. If the runway was on the other side of the terminal building, there would be little need to use transportation to get to the airport.
There is a sidewalk all along Tropicana Avenue, which parallels the north end of the airport. Stand in the right spot and you can “planespot” as airplanes come in for a landing. There is also a sidewalk along the western side of Paradise Road, which parallels the east end of the airport between Tropicana Avenue and the terminal buildings of the airport. Easy — unless you are incapable of walking long distances in the desert sun.
As I walked, I was reminded once again about all that I do not like about Las Vegas. It is all good, however: I am not here for Las Vegas. I am here to be with some special colleagues — some of whom I have not yet met before today. I also plan to wish a happy birthday to Randy Petersen in person, as today is his birthday.
Like I said, there is very little I like about Las Vegas…
…well, I do like the song Show Biz Kids by Steely Dan. Lost wages, indeed…
