Impressions of Vegas

So my boyfriend happened upon a few notes I took while visiting Las Vegas last October, so I decided to share. These are mainly summarizations of some jottings I wrote down in the hotel room Thursday evening.

I was in Vegas for a conference, and it was my first time on the west coast. We flew out on Wednesday, stayed at the Luxor (which is the giant glass pyramid on the south side of the strip). The conference was in Mandalay Bay so we spent a lot of time there as well. Also visited MGM and the Venetian, and possibly a few others. Had a blast but spent most of the time doing conference-y things, so for example did not get to lounge around Vegas pools which look like fun and trust me, even in October the heat is enough to make you want to dive in.

Anyway, onto the Jottings!!

(Note, this is only a short impression of my Vegas trip that is solely based on the specific notes that I took.  There was a lot more I could talk about too, but all in good time).

Atlantic City, Super Sized

As we made our way through the hotel lobby, weaving around penny slots and in between old couples, Vegas seemed nothing more than a larger version of Atlantic City. If I had woken up in the Luxor in Vegas or in the Tropicana in AC, and not known where I was, I couldn’t have told the difference.  Okay, well, there was one major difference: the scantily clad women dancing on tables around the casino floor.

Me in the Venetian

Theme Park for Adults

In Vegas you are transported from one world to another simply by walking down the street. Or taking the monorail. This stop: ancient Egypt. Next stop: medieval times. Just like in Disney World, there are different sections. Instead of Hollywood Studios there’s MGM. Instead of Magic Kingdom there’s Venice. It is a theme park for adults, with roller coasters, flashy shows, and interactive CSI exhibits.

"A Whole New World"

The song seems almost like it was written for Vegas, especially if you’re staying at the Luxor like we were. Although instead of a magic carpet there’s a monorail that slides past a sphinx. “Shining, shimmering, splendid. Take you wonder by wonder. A hundred thousand things to see.” – lyrics by Tim Rice (okay maybe I enjoy Disney songs too much for a college graduate). Thankfully I only saw the PG-13 version of Vegas… while we did go out late to clubs (for social events related to the conference), we avoided the seedy Las Vegas portrayed on television.

Vegas Nature

Today, 5:00pm Thursday is the first time I see any wisps of clouds in the normally clear blue sky. I look out my south-facing window, nearly bumping my head on the angled glass of the Luxor pyramid. To my left, towards the east, brown mountains shrug out of the dirt and sand. They seem to sit there, wrinkled and dry and large, like giant sleeping elephants. What ancient secret do these keep in their memory? They are beautiful; probably the only real natural beauty here, where everything is brown and blue and shining in the blistering autumn sun. There are patches of green “grass” – astro turf really – but nothing lush like the mountains of the Alps. The lack of green, red, orange, the lack of flowing water gets to me. My mouth is dry and there is a thirst that never quite goes away. No need to use the blow dryer on a Vegas morning.

Final Thoughts

I definitely wouldn't say that Vegas is my kind of place, but it is an interesting world of its own that I would definitely be intrigued to visit again. If I were to return, I'd definitely have to stay at the Venetian.  It was so beautiful (see picture above) and the food was amazing.   There's so much to do that I feel like I hardly got to see much. To be honest, we weren't all that impressed with it in the beginning and were expecting... I don't really know, something more maybe. The hotels do impose. Every building on the strip is indescribably tall. But they are spaced out enough, so distances and perspectives were a little off. Everything is so flashy and fake, but even so the sheer amount of planning and hard work that had to have gone into building the hotels is something to be in awe about. It's a different place.  An escape.  A fantasy world. And that's fun now and then, but I much prefer New England's green forests!

Great Article for Tips to Save Gas

I spend a lot of time on the road, as my previous posts have mentioned, so when I saw this NY Times article, 13 Ways to Save on Gas This Summer, in my Google Reader I had to check it out. I plan on driving down to Washington D.C. at least once this summer, since my friend lives down there (in fact we're thinking about planning a trip this Memorial weekend but we still need to check our schedules).

Since a more recent fill of my tank cost $38 (as opposed to the usual ~$30-$32) I was especially interested in learning ways to save. You'll notice that one of the suggestions on there is to use EZ-Pass! Just another great benefit of using EZ-Pass.

Happy driving!

The Road Less Traveled Makes the Journey Quicker

Alas! It has been far too long since my last post, I am sad to say. Unfortunately little travelling has been happening to talk about. The last trip I went on was a few weeks ago.

My boyfriend and I drove up to Wesleyan University to visit his friend from high school. I hesitated when he first asked me if I wanted to go -- first of all, it was super short notice (as in, like, a day) and I'm the type of person who has to plan everything. Everything. I hate going somewhere without having a plan. I'm okay with departing from the plan in certain circumstances or if I'm in a particularly whimsical mood, but I need that safety net of having a plan. Second of all, it's a looooooong car ride.

So I had had the idea in my head to enjoy a nice long weekend of nothingness, a plan which my boyfriend was suddenly challenging with his whole concept of getting out of the house and having a life. Psh. What foolishness! ;)

Seeing my hesitation, he said he was going anyways and could just take the train.

And I thought of him sitting on the train lonely and bored, and then having to deal with the hassle of several transfers along the way. I couldn't let him do that! I'd feel too guilty.

I had to admit, getting out of the house would be a fun thing to do. Probably my hesitation was due to the fear of meeting The Best Friend. I've only met my boyfriend's brother, and none of the rest of his family, since they all live out in Ohio and there's never been any opportunities for that. So the next thing is The Best Friend, which is intimidating if you're a shy person like me.

So we drove.

Hopefully this long, roundabout way of getting to that point can help you sense the length of a carride up to Wesleyan. Granted, it's nowhere near as long as the car ride to Boston, which we did back in March, but 3 hours each way in one day is a lot of time on the road.

The Alphabet Game
The Alphabet Game is a game my family (along with many others, I'm sure) likes to play on long car rides.
How to play:

• Find a word on a sign that begins with the letter A
• Can look at anything: a road sign, a billboard, even a bumper sticker
• Once you find a word that begins with "A", move on to the letter "B"
• Can be collaborative or competitive
• Can use "Exit" for a word that starts with "x", but in this case, cannot use "Exit" for "e". This is to prevent the game from stalling

If you're going to be spending that much time on the road, and if you're going to be leaving New Jersey, then you'll inevitably be passing through a toll. You better have your EZ-Pass ready! Fortunately we did have our EZ-Pass all set up and it was our first chance to use it. We cruised through the EZ-Pass lane without having to stop to toss some change into a basket. Yay!

The next thing you need if you're going to be spending that much time on the road is entertainment. Whether it's the Alphabet Game, a good conversation, or awesome music, you need something to keep your mind occupied. It just so happened that we chose The Scenic Route.

Our decision to take Connecticut Route 15 was mainly to avoid 95, but it turned out to go through a park. Blah blah blah, road less travelled. So glad we took it because it was beautiful. Specifically, the Merritt Parkway section. A gorgeous spring day, with the sunlight streaming through the tree canopy as we sped along. It’s a 3 hour road trip for us up to Wesleyan, so anything that can make the time pass a little quicker is welcomed. Sometimes you can find little treasures on your journey in unexpected places. The road can be long and tedious, but finding ways to break it up and make the trip less monotonous can make the time pass all that much quicker.

Sometimes part of the fun is in the journey, and keeping these things in mind when planning a day trip or even a long road trip can make hard car rides a little bit more bearable. We certainly enjoyed our venture and I would definitely encourage people to take the road less traveled. You never know what you'll find. :)