A coworker recently asked us here at the Chronicle where we had been on vacation. When we told them we had spent 10 days in Las Vegas, the usual response was forthcoming: “10 days?! I could never do that!”
This comment begs the question: why do we feel the need to justify our choice of vacation spots? The answer is due to the image the city portrays ~ gambling, alcohol, sex. The average visitor spends 3.5 days, and that is all he or she can handle consuming copious amounts of cheap rum, losing money to the Wheel of Fortune slots and staying up past bedtime. They return home hungover and broke, but in another year they only remember the bright lights and extravagant decor, and book yet another 3 days on the glamorous Las Vegas Strip.
Most certainly we must be addicts in some way if we choose to spend so much time in that environment, often several times a year. Perhaps we are independently wealthy bored jet-setters looking for excitement? (Sadly, we must scratch KAOS off our list; who the f- is Marshmallow anyway and who the f- cares?) Or we might be legit gambling degenerates, scraping together every last dollar and maxing out the credit cards to fund our bad habits? Either way, “10 days in Vegas – again!” is accompanied by raised eyebrows, concern, or awe.
It is no secret that Flynn, Ollie, and the editors of the Chronicle like to play poker. Being in Las Vegas gives us options & a variety of poker rooms we don’t have in the Pacific NW. That is a plus. It should be noted that the last trip, and the one before that, we went several days in the city without playing a single hand.
Las Vegas is the opposite of our normal lives. The lack of humidity, the sunshine, and the warm temps are a radical change. When we are in LV, we do not have to go to work, respond to pages, wake up to an alarm, do ironing (as if), or interact with people we don’t choose to interact with. We do exactly what we want, when we want <- the most glorious thing ever! There are lots of photo ops, hikes, events, and people watching to keep us entertained. No vitamin D supplements needed.
We know the city and the surrounding area. We rarely eat on the strip unless it’s Dirt Dog. We order salad with our comps when we eat in a poker room, and we don’t pay for parking. We have not been on the High Roller, nor have we seen a Prince, Elvis, or Michael Jackson tribute show. We have seen Absinthe, and it was wicked good. Speaking of which, the Wicked Spoon is still on our list of places to try ~ if we ever eat at a buffet again.
Red Rock, Death Valley, and Valley of Fire are our kind of places. We own hiking boots designed for the desert and Camel-backs. Bigfokkerdog loves ghost towns. Art co-ops and museums are on our to-do list, often more than once. Wanna get out of the heat? Take a drive up Mt Charleston.
We do not always stay on the strip, and if we do we bring our own coffee maker & tip housekeeping daily. Since we often use the 5th wheel or a rental condo, we don’t eat out every meal. When we do go out to eat, we enjoy good restaurants and cocktails off-strip (Echo & Rig, soon to try Herb & Rye) . We support local owners and don’t pay stupid rip-off prices. (Hiya to Jessie Rae’s BBQ, Roma Deli, EAT, and Fat Choy) We are willing to pay a fair price for good service and quality. We are not willing to pay ‘service fees’.
We crave sun, downtime, outdoor activities, and an endless variety of entertainment. There are plenty of other places in the world we could make our home-away-from-home which would provide many of these attributes. No other place, however, has the same level of over-the-top grandeur, bright lights, long hours, and number of poker options as Las Vegas. It is a short flight or a long road trip away, and does not bust the budget.
Turns out we are addicts after all. Go figure.
Fin
Flynn
Great answer. I rarely stay as long as you do, thus my other activities outside of poker are tempered by this. But yes – Las Vegas is a way of life for some of us.