Sin City

Greetings followers!

My first night here in Las Vegas certainly was wild. My friend and I had an absolute blast walking up and down the Strip, taking in the sights, losing some money on the blackjack tables and observing the countless number of people celebrating and cavorting. It was a very interesting experience and it will only add to the multitude of memories that accompany a baseball roadtrip.

The Las Vegas Strip is a collection of about 20-30 mega casinos that span about a 5 mile stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard. We're staying at the Circus, Circus hotel that is on the extreme northern end of the Strip around other famous casinos like the Stratosphere and the Riviera. From here, it took us over an hour of walking just to get to the middle of the Strip and the Belaggio, Caesars Palace and Venetian casinos. While I can see these casinos from my window, the enormous size of the casino complexes make the observed distance a lot closer than it actually is. They refer to this optical illusion as a "Las Vegas Block."

Walking is definitely the preferred form of transportation on the Strip. From a standpoint of green, sustainable development, I would ordinarily be praising this sort of ideology. However, it is obvious that each casino that is on the Strip was in charge of constructing and designing their own section of sidewalk. As a result, the sidewalks along Las Vegas Boulevard are very discontinuous and wind in and out of the casinos and their own respective gimmicks and gadgets. A five mile walk quickly turned into a ten mile walk with all of the weaving.

It is amazing just how the infrastructure has developed here. Each one of these mega casinos not only has a hotel, but various shops, nightclubs, theaters, etc. It is like each casino is it's own little community in itself. All these amenities have to put an enormous stress on water, sewer and electrical grids. It would be interesting to speak with a city planner from the City of Las Vegas and see how the grid handles the enormous stress.

Las Vegas is a definitely a resort town. All the casinos up-and-down the Strip are so touristy and tacky. While it certainly appeals to the vacationing tourist, I was not overly impressed. I come from modest roots and I feel that people do not need all the stimulation of neon lights, slot machines, cheap beer and fake re-creations of Venice and New York to have a good time. But maybe that is why we, as a society, need places like Las Vegas to greater appreciate the simplicity and modesty of our lives elsewhere.

I played two games of blackjack at Treasure Island, and two games here at Circus Circus. I lost all the hands I was dealt, so, obviously, lady luck wasn't on my side. I stuck to the cheap five dollar minimum tables, so even though I lost twenty dollars, I wasn't too upset about it. However, when we toured the more upscale casinos of the Venetian and Wynn, people were laying bets of ten-thousand on a single hand of blackjack. It amazes me that people have that type of money and that they are willing to gamble it all on a single hand of blackjack. When they lost that money, they barely showed any emotion and laid down another ten-grand on the table. Simply stunning.

Considering we didn't get back to Circus Circus until after 4am, we're chilling here and taking some naps before leaving for the game. We'll be taking Las Vegas public transportation for the first time, so I am really excited about that. The bus will let us off about a half-mile from the ballpark, so we'll walk the rest of the way. The game starts at 7pm and weather is supposed to be hot and windy with temperatures in the low hundreds and steady wind gusts of twenty miles per hour.

After the game, we'll walk down to Fremont Street and experience the atmosphere there. This is the second gambling district in Las Vegas and is home to some of the more older casinos. I am very interested in drawing comparisons and differences between Fremont Street and the Strip. Not just the gaming experience, but the layout, ease of walking and just overall sense of entertainment.

Keep an eye out on the Twitter updates from the game and from Fremont Street. I will certainly update the blog after tonight's festivities.

Always take on a 3-0 pitch ;)