Las Vegas was not my first choice for a destination on this vacation. Nor was it my second, third, or twelfth choice. I’ve always had an aversion to places that only exist to separate people from their money. Many years ago we went to the Trump Taj Mahal with Julian’s aunt and uncle. It was an interesting sociological field study, nothing more. I’m approaching our two days in Las Vegas the same way.
Here are a few of the contradictions I’ve seen so far:
- The hotel encourages us to reuse our towels, yet they probably spend plenty of water on the fountains and plantings on the property. Las Vegas is in a desert.
- The dining situation is supposedly one of a kind, but the Strip is chockablock with chain restaurants that we could find in Seattle or Sheboygan. Chili’s? Check. P.F. Chang’s? Got it. Denny’s? No problem.
- Vegas is attempting to appeal to a more family-friendly demographic. So why is there an “adult intimacy package” in our minibar? Try explaining that to your ten-year-old.
- Last night we watched the fountain show in front of the Bellagio. The music selection was Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring, which is a variation on the Shaker hymn Simple Gifts. Somehow I can’t see the stolid, thrifty Shakers roaming the Strip.
Luckily, tomorrow we head off to the Grand Canyon, where the natural world provides the glitz.
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We met an employee of the Las Vegas city water department down there a few years back, when we were in the area on a rock climbing trip. He told us that although the fountains seem wasteful, actually they were not using clean water (they have a greywater system for irrigation), and by approving a fountain, they were able to get extra water-saving concessions from hotels (such as installing better water-saving toilets and shower heads).
That said, obviously having so many tourists and residents is a huge drain on the water table!