Las Vegas is a love/hate destination. A place I’m excited to visit, and also happy to leave. 

Could there be any city anywhere that’s as entertaining and bizarre? People flock there like wild geese. Ginormous casinos and other-worldly attractions and major-league sports teams keep popping up, bringing yet more reasons to go and more humans to fill the bottomless void. So what happens in Vegas? I’d say…pretty much anything and everything!

But I’ll limit this travelog to a mere ~5 teasers of what I experienced. For now, at least, that’s quite enough.

• A son may show up!

Since my son plays football for the Las Vegas Raiders, I went to see HIM. And a game. Few feelings can compare to watching my little sportster perform on a stage like that with, oh, 80,000 of my best friends watching. Of course, the shock and awe of the violence hits me head-on, also—and he DID have a concussion this year, but was good-to-go for this game.

All to say, Daddies: Don’t let your babies grow up to be ballers. But if they do, keep cheering, coaching, and covering your eyes when necessary. As this was the last game, we had a blast for a few days after the season’s end. And indeed, we enjoyed both some touristy treats and some laid-back R&R.

• Surrogate sons may show up

What’s better than having friends you’ve known since childhood? Nothing really, except maybe gathering as a gaggle to root for one of your own on a faraway sports field. I’ve known these ‘boys’ since, well, babyhood in some cases. My thanks to them for letting me join the gang for all the partying and craziness. Yes, boys, I’ve still got it! (Whatever IT is…)

• You will see ostentatiousness that passeth all understanding

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, right? So out of respect for strangers I don’t know, I’ll admit I watched all, but will only tell some. Like…the dozens of beauty queens serving small ringside groups of rich fans nonstop treats (including these bottles of Dom). Like gussied-up groups emerging from larger-than-life limos to gamble their lives away. Like enough omnipresent security to trump the Secret Service.

Bright lights, big city? Blindingly so. Returning to a quiet hotel suite, thankfully, happens too, albeit at some absurdly late hours.

• You’ll experience attractions that dazzle and bedazzle

Who comes up with this stuff? Seriously, I want that job! Casino-resorts painstakingly modeled after Paris, Italy, and New York New York are just the beginning. Because within these mammoth structures are endless top-notch eateries, exclusive boutiques, blow-your-mind bars, and live entertainment that never sleeps.

Warning: Your eyes…and your brain…may explode. With glittery fountains.

• Cool stuff will surprise and delight

Stuff off the Strip happens in Vegas, too. And some of that may provide the best sight-seeing of all. The Freemont Street Experience—4 covered blocks of the original LV with a mind-blowing animation + light show on the ceiling—offers unique small(er) bars, limitless live entertainment (indoors and out), and a sense of history that’s an antidote to the sparkly new sprawl that has taken over.

Nearby, the Arts District brings a fresh, yet revitalized neighborhood packed with dozens of F&B establishments, thrift stories, galleries, boutiques, and buskers.

Also worth a mention: The uber-creative, hands-on attraction that comprises Area 15 (sampled in a recent post).

About Area 15: We cannot explain; you would not understand. So suffice it to say, when in Vegas…Go there! 

Would we say the same about Vegas…Go there? Hmmmm. I can think of, oh, 555 places I’d recommend first. Still, I know MANY folks who enjoy it, and fly there often. So yes, take that BreakAway and see for yourself.

You’ll have fun. Be wowed. And find yourself pondering did that just happen? for days to come.