#134 He Turned T-H-I-R-T-Y

Hubby isn't the type for surprises or big parties, so when we realized he was turning 30 this year (umm....how did that happen to the gangly 17-year-old I started dating a trillion years ago?) we decided we would take a 30th birthday vacation to Las Vegas instead.

I love Vegas.  This was our second time going, and I'd go again, and probably again and again still.  Vegas is my kind of town, for many reasons which you will have to wait until my next post to read about.  This post, however, is dedicated to:

My Top Five Dislikes About Las Vegas

I figured I would get my complaints out of the way so I can go into detail about all the things I love later!

1. Cigarette smoke is everywhere

I suppose I've been spoiled since New Jersey banned smoking in restaurants.  The only times I've had to endure cigarette smoke in Jersey is when I've been right next to someone outside who is smoking or when I accidentally walk near a smoking zone in Atlantic City casinos.

The luxury of signified smoking areas does not exist in Vegas.  The whole town is an open smoking area.  It's the worst in the casinos, so much so that when we went a few years ago in December all our clothes reeked of it.  This year it wasn't quite as bad, but there were moments.

2. Girls! Girls! Girls! propaganda is everywhere

This sort of thing is to be expected, I suppose, in Vegas.  What annoys me is that these people are practically side by side, lined up, slapping their business card sized brochures to an unknown rhythm in an effort to attract any passerby's attention.  

3. Wyndham employees attack at every turn

If you don't know what I mean by this, consider yourself fortunate.  We got talked into this racket on our honeymoon and have learned from our mistake.  Here's how it starts: A friendly looking person who looks rather official with their bright colored polo and sparkly smile approaches you and asks if you have a few minutes, and of course you do because you're on vacation.  They then proceed to tell you how they can get you a free show, dinner, or an extra night's stay.  If you've entertained them to this point, they'll tell you all this can be yours if you just give them another thirty minutes (which really turns into three hours) of your time.

In Vegas, they are in every casino.  It got to a point where Hubby and I would have to blatantly ignore them when they would approach us as we were plowing through to our next destination.

4. People don't know how to stay to the right

This might sound vaguely familiar if you read my post about NYC last October.  Vegas is packed with people, especially at night.  Streets and casino hallways are only so wide.  So why on earth can't people understand the basic concept of keeping to the right so that the left is open for oncoming walkers?

5. There is a lot of walking

Unless you plan to do what my grandmother did (play slots only in the casino where you are sleeping), plan to walk a lot.  We knew this from experience when we booked our trip, so we chose to stay at a casino that was in a pretty central spot: The Flamingo.  Yet somehow we still walked so much that by the second day we decided to go to the Jacuzzi in 102 degree heat just to relax our feet.

 
Note: This list is information that is worth knowing, but definitely not worth hindering any trip to Vegas.