Las Vegas: May 2018

All photos taken with a Sony A6300 except those on the iPhone 7 Plus, as noted in the captions

Las Vegas, Nevada
10-13 May 2018
Miles Walked: 28.2

Mattskrit Notes

In April, I returned to New York City for the first time in five years, spurred on by the opportunity to check out a phenomenal off-Broadway production of Sweeney Todd. In May, I returned to Las Vegas for the first time in 11 years. I've described that last Vegas trip as the “The Hangover: ‘Special Kids’ Edition” and that's all I have to say about that because what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. (Unless it's a collection of cool photos like the above gallery.)

In between trips, I had heard the usual mix of stories, but overall had the impression things were changing in a less-than-positive sort of way. With a decline in gambling, the city as a whole was looking for alternative revenue streams and that (allegedly) led to some unhappy visitor experiences.

Cut to the chase: Las Vegas is in great, great shape. I had a fantastic time, even with the self-induced "stress" of holding a general admission ticket to U2's show on 12 May.

Yeah. There are definitely some alternative revenue streams in place and on the horizon. Granted, they don't necessarily impact the casinos' revenues, but they do make Vegas all that much more attractive as a vacation destination. Here are the “Lucky Seven.”

The Las Vegas Golden Knights, in their inaugural season (at the swanky new T-Mobile Arena, where U2 performed on the current e+i tour), are on the verge of entering the Stanley Cup Final.
The Oakland Raiders are packing up and heading to a new $1.8 billion stadium in Paradise, Nevada; they should be up and running for the 2020 season.
There are loads upon loads of cool stage shows, a number of them from Cirque du Soleil.
Residencies by top pop stars are a relatively new thing, attracting the likes of Elton John, Celine Dion, Jennifer Lopez and Britney Spears for extended runs at various new venues, typically on casino grounds.
For those who like it old school, stars like Donny & Marie and Wayne Newton are performing on the strip right now.
Fremont Street is thriving as an attraction all its own, including the option to zipline across blocks of the video screen-covered casino area.
Even the Las Vegas 51s, a New York Mets MiLB Triple A farm club, are planning on moving to a new ballpark in Summerlin next season. And with the move, they're looking to rebrand to a whole new name and theme — and, unfortunately, ditch what I think is the coolest logo in all of sports(!).

And that's not to mention the fact more casinos — with more rooms — are in the pipeline. Monte Carlo has been refashioned as the Park MGM and relatively new spots like Aria and Cosmopolitan ooze of luxury.

I also enjoyed pristine weather while I was there. It was the kind of pleasant weather I didn't even know was possible in Vegas.

Add to all that a highly informative Uber driver who took me back to the airport. He clued me on how Vegas is the country's most forward-looking city in terms of capacity, infrastructure and planning. Granted, the strip gets congested, but the rest of the city seems to be relatively easy to get around, with lots of extra-wide streets.

But, sure, it's not all sunshine and rainbows and unicorns. The beers are too pricey, although most places offer attractive happy hour deals. And the couple of steaks I had (at pubs and diners, not proper steakhouses) were on the tough side.

And it's certainly a town with its quirks.

The airport, for example, has Terminal 1 and Terminal 3, but no Terminal 2. I can't help but wonder if that has something to do with Area 51. Come on now. We all know it's real.

While on the topic of Area 51, here's a footnote for future history. It's the Las Vegas 51s logo, commemorating the final season at Cashman Field. (Courtesy of the Las Vegas 51s.)

Las Vegas 51s Commemorative Cashman Field logo