By request, below is what the neighborhood (and practically every other neighborhood) looks like.  The older parts of Vegas look different, but for the most part everything built since the 2000s(?) looks like this. 

I ventured out of the neighborhood last night when Pammy took me for a spin in the convertible down the strip. We left the house as the sun was setting around 7:30 PM.  Even at that time, it was still 100 degrees.  With the wind from an open-top vehicle, it really is like you're being blasted with a hair dryer.  Add the heat of the surrounding cars when you're actually on the strip, and it's pretty intense.

That is THE sign you hit as you enter the strip on Las Vegas Blvd.  It's surrounded by a giant median with two rows of parking beside it so people can get out and take their pictures in front of the sign.  When we left the strip around 9PM last night, there was probably a crowd of 50 or so people surrounding the sign.

It's hard with my dinky camera and bad vantage point from a moving vehicle to capture the scope of the place.  For only being a few miles long, the famed strip packs a lot in.  Or maybe it doesn't.  Maybe it's just a big array of light bulbs and sweaty people wearing tank tops and ill-fitting daisy dukes.  Whatever it is, I was enchanted.  I like that everything is gaudy, tacky, and fake.  New York is fake.  Venice is fake.  Paris is fake.  Egypt.  You name it.  The tans are fake.  The smiles are fake.  The money probably isn't fake.  

Speaking of fake Egypt, I also like the fact that while astronauts can't see any lights illuminating North Korea from space, they can see the light coming off of the Luxor.  

                                       

And speaking of fake money, at the north end of the strip, just past the closed down Riviera, there is an abandoned casino project that never got completed.  It isn't falling down, but the i-beams are rusted, and it's a stark sight to see after all of the brilliant lights.  

But back to the pretty, glitzy, tacky parts!  As I said, I loved the look of the strip and loved it so much that I couldn't wait to go back and see it during the daytime.

Pam and Dennis took me for a walk through a few of the casinos.  Our first stop was Caesar's Palace.  Yes, there are tons of slot machines and gaming tables about, but a lot of the real estate is dedicated to the malls.

While there were a lot of people about and a lot of stores about, it isn't precisely clear to me who does any of the shopping.  It was $7.50 for a plain hot dog and $6.00 for a single scoop of ice cream.   What also confused me is that the three hotels all had the same high end stores.  Gucci, Armani, Harry Winston, Hermes, Guerlain, Prada.  All the same stores repeated throughout the casinos.  Seems excessive since no one seemed to be shopping in them.  Hell, you're lucky even to get in.  Several of the stores seemed to have bouncers positioned outside to ward off unemployed mammo techs like myself.  Check out the nice black man strategically positioned to bounce people out of the Fendi store below.

Meanwhile, the check-in desk at Caesar's Palace resembled crowds I've seen at the ticket counter at the Indy airport.  Blech.  Unacceptable! 

The Bellagio mall was nice and bright.  Same stores.  Same bouncers.  

 

Same crowds at check-in.  The flowers overhead are blown glass.  Fake Chihuly or real deal?

 I guess if you're a hipster The Cosmopolitan is the place for you.  Dark with a club-like interior, its gimmick is that it boasts the world's largest crystal chandelier.  Meh.  I'm not buying it.  In the spirit of the city, I'm banking that quite a few plastic pop beads made their way into this monstrosity.

Donny and Marie Osmond are currently playing to sold-out crowds.  Britney Spears spends her evenings lip-syncing to her own music across the street at some other casino.  Something is definitely wrong out here, but I appreciate it nonetheless.