I've Landed!

Well I had a good flight from Portland. I sat next to a couple who had the cutest 7 month old little boy. He was very entertaining. The view from the plane coming into Vegas was awesome!

I got my bags, and found a taxi. It was so weird... when you go to get a taxi you get in a line, and a guide tells you what corral to stand in. There were 20 corrals, and taxis would stream by and pick up people. My driver was this sweet guy from Africa that had lived in Chapel Hill NC for 5 years before coming to Las Vegas.

I got to the hotel, unloaded my stuff, got out the map, and went down to the Strip. I had been told that Vegas truly is a 24 hour city, and it is safe to walk around at all hours. It did feel safe. My hotel is about 1/2 mile off of the main Strip. I got down there and it was just totally overwhelming. I guess the only thing I could compare it to would be Pigeon Forge. The buldings were taller... and instead of mini golf there is real golf. At 9:30 on a wednesday night, the traffic was really dead, and there were tons of people out on the streets.

I milled around for a bit, and then headed for the Stardust Casino. It is one of the more famous ones, and they are closing it down in November. So I thought... I'll give them some money! It was huge, smokey, bright, and loud. There were people of all ages. And waitresses walking around offering drinks. The first machine I sat down in front of was a dollar machine - which I did not know! Whoops! I walked all around before settling into a penny machine.... my favorite - I dream of Jeannie. I called mom, but she did not prove to be a good luck charm! All in all I only lost $20 - not bad for 2 hours of entertainment. The people watching was AWESOME! They had dancers milling around in the room, there was live entertainment, and of course lots of squeeling from the tables. I stuck to the slots! I got in about 12:30 am, and realized I had to be up early for work.