It will stun you and amaze you: THINGS TO DO AND NOT TO DO IN UNBEATABLE $ LAS VEGAS $$$ Words and Photos By Dallas Sherringham "Bright Light City Gonna Set My Soul on Fire"......Elvis sang those lines in 1964 when Vegas was just a Pup. Now it is full grown the words from 'Viva Las Vegas' still sum up the place perfectly. I find myself singing that song at Caesars Palace while swimming in the umpteenth cocktail of a never ending evening on 'The Strip'. You see,Las Vegas is one of those places that you have to visit to understand what all the hype is about. Put simply, by day it is stunning, by night it is out of this world. In arranging my first visit to Las Vegas I must admit I was cautious about what to expect from the gambling capital of the world dubbed “Sin City”. Visions of Robert De Niro throwing drunks out of his casino or poor wretches digging their own grave in the desert were Hollywood versions of what it was like…or so I thought. It came as quite a shock to find it was a friendly town devoted to the gambling industry and containing the best and worst of the American dream. Most tourists wandering the streets were average people in shorts and T shirts and you could just as easily have been in Surfers or Waikiki, it was so laid back. It all started when I arrived at Las Vegas Airport, just next to the main drag, known as ‘The Strip’. I had flown Hawaiian Airlines from Sydney via Honolulu and stepping out into the warm desert air was invigorating. Hailing a cab, I was lucky to strike a lady cab driver who loved Australia and especially surfing. The cab ride to the Excalibur was all of 10 minutes. How to beat the Hotel At the resort I was given the old “you’re early and your room is not quite ready” routine. I had outsmarted them because I had booked the room inclusive of the previous night so my wife and I could check in when we arrived. Reluctantly, we were given a card to our door and we were able to enjoy a good rest after a long flight. This is a good idea when you travel anywhere around the world and your flight gets in way before 2pm hotel check-in. If you book through an online booking agency, make sure your payment includes “resort fees”. Otherwise, this controversialVegas charge will be added to your bill daily and can amount to quite a sum. The hotel may still charge you, but if you contact the booking agency they will refund it, providing you have the contract. Going to the pool for an afternoon swim involved finding a pool chair to stash our gear and there was actually a waiting list, they were that rare. So I did what any good Aussie bloke does and stashed my gear beside a palm tree and jumped in. Nothing like a swim to relax and the pool was deserted, surrounded by 2000 posers soaking up the sun. Normally hotel concierges are your best friend in a hotel, but our concierge at the Excalibur was more interested in selling us tours than helping with advice.\ Everyone catches the bus So, I set out to explore Las Vegas with a recommended $8 all day bus fare. What a bargain. I highly recommend you avoid taxis and hire cars and get the bus that takes you all the way to old Las Vegas and back, stopping at all casinos and attractions along the way. Or you can take the monorail from the rear of the MGM Grand all the way to the convention centre, again with major stops along the way. Getting around town was a lot safer by day and night than I had imagined. There were so many people around that you were safe as long as you didn’t wander off on your own down back streets. There is crime in Las Vegas, like all cities, but they obviously spend a lot of money on security at casinos. I didn’t spend a cent gambling in Las Vegas because I don’t bet, but you can still have a great time going to shows, eating out and shopping. The trip comes alive at night with big crowds turning out at the Bellagio fountain display and taking selfies with the lights as a dazzling background. However, the best place to go is Fremont Street, the original Las Vegas strip which contains the authentic casinos and hotels of Las Vegas from the early days. The city rose up because workers from the Hoover Dam project came to town on weekends to drink, gamble and party. The city’s Mafia past is commemorated at The Mob Museum , a nonprofit organisation with a mission to "advance the public understanding of organized crime’s history and impact on American society”. This is the best museum in Las Vegas and well worth a visit. It's a recommendation "you canta refusea,ok?" Fremont Street is enclosed by a huge roof which is alive with lights and LED videos. It also acts as a weather shield for visitors who flock there in their tens of thousands every day. Now, you can’t visit every casino and hotel on a visit, but I highly recommend The Venetian, Wynns, Caesar’s Palace, MGM, Mandalay Bay, The Bellagio and The Luxor. If you stay at the reasonably priced but dated Excalibur, you can walk across to MGM or New York New York easily on the skybridges complete with outdoor escalators. Or you can take the separate monorail to Luxor and Mandalay Bay. I recommend you dine at “all you can eat” restaurants if you are on a strict budget. Try a different one every night. A Cocktail at Bugsy's Bar Finally, no visit is complete without a day at The Flamingo, which is the original hotel and casino in the new section of down which sprung up in the 1950s. It was the creation of The Flamingo which Bugsy Seigel “took over” during construction that started the boom along The Strip in what was dusty desert a decade before. Bugsy kept a getaway car in a secret tunnel under The Flamingo and his story is told in the garden and zoo at the rear of the property. Bugsy’s Bar is a favorite drinking spot inside the hotel. There is something for everyone in Las Vegas and you can have a great time without gambling, The one sad thing I witnessed was thousands of people at the tables and on machines wasting their money chasing the American dream. There was enough cash being spent in one hour to save a third world town or house thousands of people. If $10 from every one of the 50 million annual visitors was donated to worthy charities, imagine how much good it would do. Dallas flew direct to Las Vegas with Hawaiian Airlines via Honolulu, the quickest way to get there.
What would Vegas be without Showgirls
Fremont Street's covered roof
One of the original casinos from the 1930s
Bellagio Fountain display in the heart of The Strip