Last week I embellished on all that I enjoyed about Vegas and this week I am flipping it to the not so loving it about Vegas. On a positive side I do want to go back and see and do more there but in 72 hours which was the extent of my visit you can't conquer all that Vegas has to offer.
Ten things that bug me about Vegas:
1. It is crazy expensive!!!!!! The good ol college days when we trekked to Vegas are long gone. Vegas was cheap and fun. Not all puffed up like it is today and yes you would lose your money gambling (most likely) but you didn't feel ripped off in other areas of your visit. I would guestimate you pay 20-30% more on everything today. Gone are the $2.00 blackjack tables, prime rib dinners for $9.99, and affordable cocktails. This last trip I paid $18.00 for a Vodka Martini.
Entree's ranged between $30-45.00, this was the start of a $50.00 lunch not including tip
Resort Fee's were $20.00 per day. Even Walgreen's was marked up by $20%. I can understand these prices in New York, Europe, but Vegas????
2. Fake Architecture and Facades. Caesar himself looks pretty weak in my opinion in front of Caesar's Palace. 
Not to mention the horribly faux painted Roman Columns. 
The Interpretation of the Colosseum is a sore site to the eyes and the cheap gold accents on many buildings give it a sense of cheap.
Paris Hotel
Venetian,
Luxor, 
These hotels were not convincing at all. I felt as if I was in a Marvel bad comic book. If you haven't traveled to these real destinations then you don't know what your missing, but I have and I like the beautiful richness of real buildings, architecture, design. I can't do FAKE! Oh Extreme Fake Boobs too!
3. Vegas Overload.
When Madeleine and I first arrived we walked down the strip. One word: Overload. I kinda wanted to turn around and head to the airport to come back to Tucson. Tucson is so quiet, majestic with natural beauty, not overpriced and no traffic.
There was so much marketing and advertising of everything--
Strangers were coming up to us trying to get us into VIP Parties, Women in scant clothing trying to get you to buy shots to drink on the street, and sidewalk bars everywhere. Employees trying to lure you into their establishments and pushy at it.
There was music blasting on the street from store to store, you actually heard a different song every 2 minutes. Crazy heavy pedestrian traffic, billboards in your face everywhere suggesting the latest show, restaurant, bar, gambling scene,
party scene, and minivans constantly driving by with escort signage. 
Too much information!!
4. False Sense of Reality. After gambling at the Bellagio for a 30 minute victory at the Blackjack Table as hours passed, I realized the money I won was not really real. When it is in "chip" form you don't really have a sense of value. 
This was so true I had no idea of the money value at all while I was gambling. When we decided to walk away from the table the dealer shocked me with the winnings! I could of easily walked into a boutique and blown it all on something frivolous. Which would of been okay, we all have to have a little fun but if I had earned that money at home the temptation to walk into a boutique and spend it like that wouldn't have happened. Thus a false sense of Reality. I think that concept can be dangerous and destructive.
5. Ugly Tourists. They are everywhere!!!!! What I mean is bad dressed, unkempt, and ill mannered tourists everywhere!
From a fashion standpoint I was not surprised I knew it would be coming down the pike but in hoards??? I give presentations and workshops on Travelling in Style and I guess I needed to be part of the Strip Overload and give out Fashion Citations left and right.
That would of been interesting!!!!! What you wear on your back says alot about you and the communication I got was "I dont care about myself , and everyone else dresses this way why should I make any effort???
6. All the young girls got the memo to look like SLUTS. 
You don't have to look like a slut to gain the attraction from a man. Confidence is the main ingredient along with elegant, fun, and sexy attire. This is my idea of how to dress for evening in Vegas and clearly the young girls have a different concept. The sad thing was they all looked the same regardless of there size or shape. Well let me back up on that. They did not look the same, they wore the same. And some body types shouldn't be allowed to wear tube dresses that skim the derriere and boobs hanging out everywhere. The saddest part was they were all trying to wear sky high 4-5 inch heels and they couldnt walk in them gracefully. That was almost comical. I am not even going to go into makeup!!!
7. Public Drunkenness. 
If there is anyone who likes to have a few cocktails and have fun it is me!! BUT.... perhaps at a stylish bar, or your own home, with dinner?? To observe so many drunk people in the street, actually smell it in a large cloud as they walk past you, or to see a group of homeless swigging down an ecomomy size of whisky, well that is just a downer in general. Not to mention dodging barf pools on the street so you wouldnt slip. As the night progressed more and more public drunken behavior was noticible and much more aggressive.
My friend and I were getting rude comments slung our way as we walked back to our hotel. Who needs that or wants to see it???
8. Nude Girls now! While walking on the strip, there were "lowlifes" I am not kidding with handfuls of "playing cards" of explicit nude girls. Very aggressive and basically on every block on the strip. Apparently you could get an escort AKA hooker in ten minutes if you bought into one of these cards. Alot of pedestrians were curious, had a card handed to them and then discarded it on the sidewalk. The sidewalk then became a confetti mess of sleazy nude playing cards- everywhere.
It looked pretty bad to look down and see so much sleaze. What about all the children walking with there parents on the strip??? What kinda of message is that?
9. Ugly Day. Unfortunately I think Tucson parallels with Vegas when it comes to ugly day. When driving down Speedway or any city road for that matter in the day it is not very attractive at all. Lots of ugly strip malls, dirt, road damage, nothing really great to look at.
I am referencing the city roads. Vegas is similar with the description I just mentioned along with deserted construction sites with left over supplies, dead trees that were once promising and now neglected.
You see the big casinos and hotels in the day and they just look like huge boxes. 
They don't come alive until night with all the lights, or you walk inside and hopefully stumble upon a beautfiul foyer and vibe with the interiors.
10. It is so much work to get from point A to B!!!
Perhaps with my bad knee I have less will and energy to get around these days. So this point I suppose is personal. The Casinos and Hotels and so many of them are huge and it takes forever to get where you want to go. 
So thats what bugged me but if you asked me if I want to go back, the answer would be yes. As I said in Part 1 of my Vegas blog I did enjoy alot of aspects and my goal would be to keep searching out all of the positive in Vegas. I know it is there, I just think perhaps my visit needs to be short for my Sanity!
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