I’ve never really had any interest in visiting Las Vegas and – through some quirk of fate – have never had to attend a bachelor party, convention or shotgun wedding there. I don’t gamble. Smoky casinos, cheesy stage shows and heart-clogging buffets aren’t really my cup of tea. But everybody’s got to see Vegas once, right? So recently I suspended my better judgement and checked out Sin City for an article in BC Business Magazine. It was as bad as a thought – and also better.
Las Vegas: Sin City Reconsidered
By Remy Scalza for BC Business Magazine
At 6:30 a.m., the casino floor of the Aria Hotel is hardly a postcard for Vegas bliss. The hardy few gambling at this hour have been at it all night: poker fiends with morning-after stubble, glassy-eyed geezers plugging away at slots, chain smokers nursing warm scotch who look like they’ve just bet the farm and lost.
Full disclosure: as someone who can do math, I don’t gamble. And Vegas – a town mathematically rigged to empty wallets – isn’t my idea of a dream vacation. But the flights are cheap, the sun shines and hotels practically give rooms away. So here I am, determined to prove there’s more to Vegas than casinos, Céline Dion and buffets.
I tiptoe past the blackjack table and hustle to the exit to do something that only the most intrepid Vegas visitors ever do: leave the Strip. First stop this morning is Red Rock Canyon, a vision of the Wild West a half-hour drive outside the city. “There’s people who lived here all their lives and never been to Red Rock. Unbelievable!” says Tommy DiPasquale, a former New York City construction worker turned driver and tour guide.
Read the full article on the BC Business website here.
