The Real Vegas

The Real Vegas

$39 room in Las Vegas

    Ooooh, Las Vegas.  I can still hear Emmylou Harris uttering those words, almost becoming the theme song for that city (at least in my head).  It was all part of our getaway of sorts, a quick bucking-headwinds journey that took longer than we thought and shortened our already short itinerary in that city...it would prove to be enough.  Arriving at evening on the Strip, the city holds different meaning for everyone.  We were driving in so to us, the city represented another Los Angeles, its borders beginning far beyond the relatively short blocks of the Strip, the growth seemingly unrestricted (and if you haven't been to the Strip in awhile, you may be surprised at the number of new hotels currently under construction and the new hotels already there such as the SLS and the now-complete Linq, part of the Caesar's chain).  For us, passing the aging parking structures and crowded Spring-Break throngs, this glittery electricity-guzzling city was living up to its name with $30 burgers and people almost zombie-like in their effort to spend cash and hoping for a big win.  For us, it was a $39 room (almost all hotels in Las Vegas also add some sort of a "resort" fee which adds an additional $29 to your daily room rate, plus tax) which was large but bare bones, a comfy bed for sure but little else, not even a flyer of the hotel (the concierge has those, we were told).  Which was fine...we just wanted to eat, play a bit, then hit the sack.

View from the buffet at the Flamingo Hotel

    Okay, we were tired and a bit grumpy but to be honest, the room was quiet, which was amazing considering all the noise just outside.  And in the morning, we faced an entirely new world as if we (well-rested) were now part of an elite group that had missed the party but was more than ready to start the morning fresh.  And our $20 morning buffet (gasp, but there's no escaping such prices on the Strip unless you head to McDonald's located nearby) was not only elaborate (smoked salmon, freshly made crepes and such) but included drinks as champagne and Bloody Marys...only in Vegas.  But none of that mattered.  What most surprised us was the small but removed wildlife area just outside the buffet area.  We were at the Flamingo Hotel* and here, away from pools and crowds and the street sat an oasis of quiet and tranquility.  It seemed not to fit in an area where every available corner was taken with something else that could produce more revenue, and yet here it was, complete with yes, flamingos!  With small placards everywhere, we discovered that hibernating water turtles (now out and moving) hold their breath for four months, their heartbeats slowing to just five beats per minute.  There were sturgeon and hummingbirds and palms and waterfalls, all commingling peacefully and apparently oblivious to the orderly chaos just beyond the hotel's windows.

The flamingos

    But we were leaving (check-in is at 4 PM and checkout is at 11 AM so your stay is limited...move those hours and an extra charge is added).  As with today's airports, the crowds have grown and grown so there are kiosks to reduce the lines (which are still rather long) and lots of aging security workers who appear closer to my age and perhaps better at calling for help than in actually tackling a beefy inebriated 220-lb. patron who might be in a bit of a don't-bother-me mood.  But the wildlife had calmed us down and prepared us nicely for our trip to the views just an hour or so away, another location plopped down in the desert.  Still, one had to marvel at Bugsy Siegel (founder of The Flamingo, where we stayed) and his Mob-money bringing Hollywood to this desert town (Siegel was assassinated a year later so perhaps it wasn't his best decision).  Turning this city (loosely translated into "the meadows" since it was once filled with grassy waters) from an old railroad town into a bustling desert landscape puzzled my wife and I as we drove for hours over desert canyons and apparently barren landscapes.  Why here, why the decision to stop, whether they be the early Indian and Mexican settlers or the Mormons deciding to build and abandon a fort here (their abandoned fort led to the railroad stop and creation of downtown Las Vegas).  Later, a dam would be built and 15 years later, Bugsy and his partner Meyer Lansky (made rich, coincidentally, from Mexican drug running) arrived to start the Strip.

    Still, our 18-hour stay was enough, the numbing Novocaine of the noise and lights now wearing off and leaving us wondering what had happened.  We were back on the road, heading to someplace that had existed far before all of this and likely would still be there long after this city ran out of water and money (although from what we saw, there is an obliviousness to that vision)...that of the desert mentioned in the last post, the name itself (desert) belying the beauty of the area.  No buffets, no comfy beds, no flamingos...but lots of quiet and hidden discoveries.  We were back where we belonged...we had arrived.

*For those of you considering a trip to the Flamingo Hotel, my more detailed review (for better or worse) can be found at Trip Advisor.