The old adage was "Las Vegas is a 24-hour town", often interpreted as
you’ll be bored and/or broke by then (though others cited the 24-hour
availability of liquor.) And it was easy to get bored in Vegas if
you didn’t gamble. The attraction of staring at others plinking
quarters into a slot machine and watching walls of neon blink off
and on paled quickly. Once you’d done the buffet and strolled the
lobby shops, there sure wasn’t much else to do.
In the past decade, Las Vegas has become such a non-gaming entertainment capital that on my recent trip, I felt it was impossible to see and do everything in a week! It’s got that Orlando feel – so many attractions and so far apart, lousy public transportation, the mounting expense and that panicky feeling that you’re not seeing enough stuff fast enough. Now, the return home from Vegas is greeted with cries not of "Did you hit the jackpot?" but "Did you see the volcano, the pirate ship battle, the pyramid, the jousting tournament, the 21st century video arcade, the roller coaster on the top of the tower, the white tigers, the water slide, the place shaped like New York?!" Hell’s bells, I tried!