With the conclusion of a long year of classes and work, my girlfriend and I decided to go celebrate amid the dazzling lights and sounds of Las Vegas. Our plane took off the very Friday afternoon of finals week, and we were in for a week of fun and excitement. We booked four hotels in advance: two days at the towering Stratosphere; one in the luxury of Paris; two in the Monte Carlo and two in the Egyptian pyramid, the Luxor. A vertical beam of light from the latter pierced the night sky as we descended into the glowing metropolis.
The first hotel and casino we hit was the Stratosphere, taking a taxi to the far north end of the strip. Since it was late, we were disappointed to find the buffet was closed, but we enjoyed some crappy-yet-expensive bar food instead (we hit the buffet the next night, and it was excellent). My girlfriend introduced me to slot machines, something that was previously outside my reality since I was raised with the idea that gambling was a wicked tool of Satan. Actually it'd be more accurate to say it's a wicked tool of the casino's shareholders, but in limited doses it's fun and I'll write more about that later. In one of the games, I got a near-jackpot (7 "quickhits", 8 or 9 would be jackpot) but it was with only a five cent bet so I only got about seven dollars or so, a max bet would've gotten me over a hundred. We walked the "strip" a little and took advantage of the lack of open-container laws, drinking giant cans of beer while walking the callgirl-card-strewn boulevard.
The next evening was one of the most fun ones of the whole trip: the thrill rides atop the Stratosphere. Since we actually booked in at the hotel, we got a two-for-one deal on an unlimited day pass up the tower and into the rides. This was singularly awesome and if I had to pick just one hotel to stay at, it would definitely be the Stratosphere, exactly because of these adventures.
There are three rides on the tower, roughly a thousand feet above the ocean of Vegas lights. First was the Insanity, where you sit in the grasp of a giant mechanical arm which swings you in wide circles with nothing but emptiness below you. The Insanity experience cannot be described in words: when the radius of rotation reaches its peak, your brain can't even tell which direction is up and down. We followed that with the X-Scream, a short track of "roller coaster" which abruptly ends after a few dozen feet: if the car were any "normal" roller coaster car, you'd plunge off the end to certain terrifying death. Instead, you jolt to a stop inches before that happens, only to have the track swing upwards and you retrace the path but this time in reverse. All the while, the only thing below you is the narrow track and a whole lot of empty air.
The third ride, oldest of the three but still the most profound, is the Big Shot. This is a floor above the previous two. At the uttermost peak of the actual building, a giant dark metal shaft rises up an additional hundred feet or so. At the bottom of this shaft, the rider takes a seat facing outward, looking down on the city far below. The seats rise slowly at first, only a few feet-- and then, within about one second's time, you're blasted all the way to the top. Time itself seems to freeze as your brain fumbles to parse this situation, a situation totally unaccounted for in all the millions of years of human evolution. And then, just as fast, the plummet back down turns your heart to dust. I'm not talking freefall, I'm talking significantly faster than freefall, and the mind doesn't know how to make sense of it, except to be terrified. After the initial ascent and descent, the ride takes you up and down a few more times, but slower and not to the very top; the main thing is that initial rise and fall, which is indescribable.
The next day, we checked out from the 'sphere. Our next destination would be the Paris Hotel and Casino, further south, in the heart of the strip. We ate breakfast at a very authentic, mom-and-pop Thai restaurant right next to the Stratosphere, and then it was into a taxi and off to our next adventure.
NEXT: The Paris Las Vegas (Not online yet!)
FURTHER READING
69 Things I Did in Las Vegas
If You've Never Drunk Alcohol, Try It!
Hashigo: The Japanese Art of Barhopping
The first hotel and casino we hit was the Stratosphere, taking a taxi to the far north end of the strip. Since it was late, we were disappointed to find the buffet was closed, but we enjoyed some crappy-yet-expensive bar food instead (we hit the buffet the next night, and it was excellent). My girlfriend introduced me to slot machines, something that was previously outside my reality since I was raised with the idea that gambling was a wicked tool of Satan. Actually it'd be more accurate to say it's a wicked tool of the casino's shareholders, but in limited doses it's fun and I'll write more about that later. In one of the games, I got a near-jackpot (7 "quickhits", 8 or 9 would be jackpot) but it was with only a five cent bet so I only got about seven dollars or so, a max bet would've gotten me over a hundred. We walked the "strip" a little and took advantage of the lack of open-container laws, drinking giant cans of beer while walking the callgirl-card-strewn boulevard.
The next evening was one of the most fun ones of the whole trip: the thrill rides atop the Stratosphere. Since we actually booked in at the hotel, we got a two-for-one deal on an unlimited day pass up the tower and into the rides. This was singularly awesome and if I had to pick just one hotel to stay at, it would definitely be the Stratosphere, exactly because of these adventures.
There are three rides on the tower, roughly a thousand feet above the ocean of Vegas lights. First was the Insanity, where you sit in the grasp of a giant mechanical arm which swings you in wide circles with nothing but emptiness below you. The Insanity experience cannot be described in words: when the radius of rotation reaches its peak, your brain can't even tell which direction is up and down. We followed that with the X-Scream, a short track of "roller coaster" which abruptly ends after a few dozen feet: if the car were any "normal" roller coaster car, you'd plunge off the end to certain terrifying death. Instead, you jolt to a stop inches before that happens, only to have the track swing upwards and you retrace the path but this time in reverse. All the while, the only thing below you is the narrow track and a whole lot of empty air.
The third ride, oldest of the three but still the most profound, is the Big Shot. This is a floor above the previous two. At the uttermost peak of the actual building, a giant dark metal shaft rises up an additional hundred feet or so. At the bottom of this shaft, the rider takes a seat facing outward, looking down on the city far below. The seats rise slowly at first, only a few feet-- and then, within about one second's time, you're blasted all the way to the top. Time itself seems to freeze as your brain fumbles to parse this situation, a situation totally unaccounted for in all the millions of years of human evolution. And then, just as fast, the plummet back down turns your heart to dust. I'm not talking freefall, I'm talking significantly faster than freefall, and the mind doesn't know how to make sense of it, except to be terrified. After the initial ascent and descent, the ride takes you up and down a few more times, but slower and not to the very top; the main thing is that initial rise and fall, which is indescribable.
The next day, we checked out from the 'sphere. Our next destination would be the Paris Hotel and Casino, further south, in the heart of the strip. We ate breakfast at a very authentic, mom-and-pop Thai restaurant right next to the Stratosphere, and then it was into a taxi and off to our next adventure.
NEXT: The Paris Las Vegas (Not online yet!)
FURTHER READING
69 Things I Did in Las Vegas
If You've Never Drunk Alcohol, Try It!
Hashigo: The Japanese Art of Barhopping
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1 comments:
never been to Vegas. Interesting post (found it on the blog carnival.)
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