Jason Sandford
Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.
The clever Las Vegas advertising campaign tempts you to come and play and let your hair down, do things you’d never do at home, then leave and go back to your pedestrian life.
It’s a temptation to walk on the wild side, only these days in Vegas, that’s all just a show, like everything else in the desert city.
We just got back from five days in Vegas, and we had fun. But we left feeling a little cheated. Vegas is now so marketed to the masses that all it’s quirky nature has delved underground. It has most certainly lost that old allure as an exclusive playground for the rich and famous.
There are more freaks on display in Ashvegas than what we saw in Las Vegas. Granted, we didn’t really explore every single titty bar and aging casino, but still, we expected to see plenty of outlandishness on The Strip. It’s not to be found. We figured it’s gone underground, as the city continues to play to the lowest common denominator.
Instead, you’ll find hordes of everyday tourists from all walks of life, from all over the world. Walking Las Vegas Boulevard, you feel as if you’ve been transported to a different country, not a different state (or state of mind). You’ll hear every language imaginable and see more ethnicities than I can list here.
It’s amazing how many people take their kids to Sin City. Kids were everywhere, in massive strollers and pouting on benches in the shopping malls and being drug through video poker machines and blackjack tables.
When we checked out, the couple behind us could have been a couple from a Leicester trailer park. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. We just figured that if we traveled all the way across the country, we’d see a different breed.
I guess I new all this before going. I new Vegas was going to be more amusement park than elegant class. But I was hoping to find some pockets, some vestiges, of vintage Vegas.
Maybe I just didn’t know where to look. I left with the feeling, though, that the glory days of Vegas had crumbled into so much desert sand, long ago swept away with the rest.
