| Recreation in Las Vegas, Nevada |
Las Vegas is a great place, which must be experienced. There is nothing comparable around the world. Las Vegas is not a big city, there is only half a million people living here, however, nearly 30 million people came to visit last year. It is a fast growing small town on its way to become a city. It is located in one of the driest deserts on earth, the Mojave Desert, with summer temperatures up to 120 F (close to 50 C) in the shade. The energy and water consumptions to make this place livable is gargantuan. Keeping the 29 golf cources and all the gardens green drains Lake Mead. But all this makes Las Vegas what it is --- the biggest mirage on earth.
Gambling is legal --- PROSTITUTION IS NOT!!! You can have a drive-thru wedding with "Elvis Presley" singing for you. Hotel rooms are quite cheap, but you have to book them in advance --- NEVER come on a Friday/Saturday night to Las Vegas without a confirmed booking! The 100,000+ hotel rooms have an average occupancy rate of 98%.
Down Town The Freemont Street Experience (FSE) is a very impressive show every hour, on the hour after dark until midnight. It is free of charge and a MUST for a Las Vegas visitor. A roof covered with thousands of light bulbs stretches across Freemont Street and is the canvas for a light and sound show. Here are a couple of photographs I took with my Minolta 7000 with zoom lens and a 400 ASA film.
The Stratosphere Tower opened at the end of April 1996 and gives visitors a spectecular view of Las Vegas. On the roof of the tower, 1,000 ft (300 m) above ground, is a roller coaster as a family attraction and die hards can go even higher (160 ft, 50 m) on the "Big Shot". There is a revolving restaurant (once an hour) and an outdoor observation area. I took the following photographs on the opening day of the Stratosphere Tower.
Here are some views from the top of the Stratosphere Tower, along the Strip (south). Keith, Susan, Anne (my wife), Nina and Thomas had a good time up there and we enjoyed the views.
Caesars Palace with the Forum Shops and the Magic Empire is one of the casinos most of my visitors have heard about before, and they are very interested in seeing it. The Forum Shops is the most fantastic shopping mall in town if not the world and everybody I have taken was very impressed. The mall is designed to resemble a Roman street complete with fountains and Roman gods. The artificial sky simulates a day within one hour. One of the fountains comes to life from 10 am every hour on the hour with a water and laser show and is free to the public. Somebody said, "it looks like Rome (Italy) but much cleaner."
Treasure Island and Mirage have the wettest shows in town, both for free and after dark. Two full size battle ships (of the 18th Century) fight against each other (one moving and sinking) in a $9 Million a year show, by far the most spectecular free show in town and a MUST for every Las Vegas visitor. In front of the Mirage is a waterfall which would be an attraction on it's own in the middle of this dry desert. But since it is Las Vegas, it turns into an erupting vulcano every 15 minutes to be able to compete with the battle ships of Treasure Island. The Mirage is also home of the white tigers of Siegfried and Roy, dolphins and a shark tank behind the reception.
Flamingo Hilton and down the Strip to the Luxor takes you through different themes all worth seeing. Here you can find the giant hotels lined up with a total of about 30,000 hotel rooms.
Sams Town is one of the bigger casinos mainly catering to the local population who try to avoid the busy Strip. The casino has a large indoor atrium/park with a water and laser show - one of the best free shows in town.
State Line is a place for people who like very fast roller coasters. It is located on the Interstate 15 on the border between Nevada and California. Coming from Las Vegas it takes about 45 min to drive (south, direction Los Angeles).
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hemmers@nevada.edu.
