Las Vegas

I was lucky enough to be able to attend a conference hosted by the UK institution that I am Chartered with (it was actually their inaugural conference in the USA). It was a 3-day event (mostly over the weekend), with the initial festivities on Friday, main conference & Gala Dinner on Saturday, & a technical tour of the Hoover Dam on Sunday. Las Vegas is one of the locations on my 'wish-list' of places to visit in the US. It seemed logical for Cheryl & Beth to accompany me, so I paid for an extra night at the hotel, two extra flights, & two extra tickets for the conference activities (i.e. the dinner & tour) so that we could all go.

Las Vegas is located in the Mojave Desert & has a population of approximately 2 million people, although approximately 40 million people per year visit 'Sin City'. A couple of other interesting numbers associated with Las Vegas include: 5034 (the number of rooms in the MGM Grand hotel), & $39,713,982.25 (highest ever slot machine jackpot). 'Vegas is definitely a place of excess &, unsurprisingly, not particularly child friendly (although there were attractions suitable for younger people such as: M & M World & the Treasure Island Show). I think what surprised us the most was the huge number of people walking about, the continual traffic gridlock on 'The Strip' (irrespective of the time of day), & the way that 'adult' services were openly advertised (trucks with billboards & 'gangs' of people standing on the pavement flicking cards at you with personal service contacts). I'm really glad that we were able to make it to Las Vegas & see the hype for ourselves (it really is crazy); however, since we don't drink, don't gamble, & don't need adult services (hmmm, I think I may just have turned into a grumpy old man), there isn't that much in downtown 'Vegas that would make us want to go back!

Aerial view coutesy of The City of Las Vegas