Bright Lights. Big City.

I finally got to fulfill a dream: I went to Vegas.

For the last several years my two best friends Matt and Seth have been discussing with me how we could get to Las Vegas for a vacation. It has always been one thing or another in our schedules that have kept us from going. Sadly, I had to go on a work-related collision reconstruction conference without my friends, but I did take my wife down with me a few days before the conference and make a vacation of it.

As a child of the 70's my images of Las Vegas were formed pretty much on pictures and reputation. It was "Sin City," full of nightclub singers, whores and gamblin'! What I found really kind of impressed me. Las Vegas is far from the drunken, lascivious rampage I envisioned. Really, it's a tourist trap on meth, but an awfully FUN tourist trap on meth (with only the occasional drunken, lascivious rampager hanging around). The thing that strikes you the most is how HUGE everything is.

My wife and I saw a lot of shows, walked The Strip, ate a lot of really rich food, and generally had a great time. I even did some gambling, but lost my limit and quit (a whopping $80). We rode gondolas at The Venetian, walked-through Madame Tussauds Wax Museum, and (the highlight of my trip) went to The Star Trek Experience. More on that, later...

Overall, this was one of the best vacations I have ever had. I will definitely be going back as there is far more to do than can be done in three days...can't wait. :)