As written on Tuesday morning, 8/3/2010
"Fifteen cents? Do you have fifteen cents?"
This is the most specific beggar I have ever seen, I think to myself. He shows me his filthy hands, which are full of change.
"I only have eighty-five cents and I need a dollar."
Fifteen cents is really not bad, and for once I have change since we've been paying cash for everything. I dip into my pocket, pull it out, dig around. I have a couple quarters, couple nickels, and several pennies, but nothing that equals fifteen cents.
"Or a quarter." He's observant.
I hand over a quarter, and Linda and I start walking again. He decides to reward my "generosity" by walking along and recounting a risque story of something he told some waitress sometime. I wonder whether he would leave if I gave him another quarter. Does that make me unfriendly?
I guess we got lucky, because that was the only beggar to approach us directly while we were walking down The Strip last night. Although I did notice a guy who was checking used beer cans for leftovers. I might have mistaken him for an avid recycler, but he put them back and left when he saw they were empty.
Yesterday morning Linda and I jetted away from Alamo City and landed here in Sin City. It's a good thing we were in no hurry, because after landing, it took us an hour and a half to claim our bags, rent a car, and drive up Las Vegas Blvd. South (a.k.a. The Strip) to our hotel, the Wynn. And it's only a few miles. Driving anywhere on The Strip can be a frustrating undertaking.
Besides all the cars, half of which seem to be taxis or limousines, one can find a constant throng of revelers flowing both directions along the boulevard. They cross intersections without regard to the crossing signal and might allow an opening just as the light turns yellow, at which point five or six vehicles zoom through. All the cars crossing on a red signal make it impossible for the opposite ones to go immediately on green, but they have to wait for the pedestrians anyway.
Linda and I are perfectly content to spend our nights at La Quinta or Motel 6, so I have to admit our standards aren't that high. But we were immediately impressed with the five-star Wynn and continue to be impressed. Each employee we meet is polite as can be, which is extremely important for the experience. The decor is luxurious and obviously expensive, as well as clean and well-maintained. When we turn on the TV it says "Welcome Mr. Dunn." The telephone has a small screen which reads "William Dunn RM 3847" on the top. When I call the front desk, which I have done several times already, they say "What can we help you with, Mr. Dunn?"
Oh yeah, that 3847 means our room is on the 38th floor. Each room here has a view of either The Strip or the Wynn Country Club, and ours is the former. We are high enough to have an expansive view of The Strip, the surrounding city, and the mountains off to the west. We have already spent a good amount of time just watching the people and cars stream by down below.
As far as gambling goes, so far we are ambivalent. After dinner last night we broke a couple $20s and hit the "Megabucks" dollar slots. With each play you can use from $1 to $3. If you play $3 and get three Megabucks symbols, you will win over $10 million. I'm sure the chances of that are as high as the Moon learning to talk and singing us to sleep. We also spectated (not expectorated) at the roulette tables for a little while, where we saw some folks lay down astonishing bets which promptly went back to the house.
We rounded out the night by walking down to the Bellagio to see its fountain show. It does live up to the hype! It is barely over a mile of walking, one-way, but the walk drags on due to the crowds, traffic, and heat. We made the right decision to go at night. At first the people wearing GIRLS GIRLS GIRLS shirts and handing out cards for prostitutes were a bit shocking, but we learned to ignore them.
One final note from the first day - Vegas is not cheap. At least, where we are staying it is not. We had a couple margaritas - $12 each. Our dinner, which consisted of a couple sandwiches, one side of fries, and two waters - over $30. We had food left over, but we found our hotel room lacks a fridge. Housekeeping is happy to lend you one - $25 a day. A Ferrari store is downstairs, where folks can walk around and salivate over the fancy cars, as long as they don't mind paying $10 each for the privilege. We'll gaze at them through the window, thank you.
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