Las Vegas Through My Eyes – Part I

Las Vegas has had a major impact on my life. I experienced it both as a tourist and as a resident over the course of twenty years. For better or worse, it’s part of the fabric of who I am.

Yesterday, I read with sadness that the Folies Bergere in Las Vegas is closing. The Folies Bergere was the last of two traditional Vegas revues with gorgeous topless showgirls and fantastic costumes. When I first began visiting Las Vegas some twenty years ago, shows like this not only provided entertainment, they made the audience members feel glamorous as well. They were unlike anything that could be experienced anywhere else in the United States and they had an effect on me, along with the rest of the Vegas experience, of removing me from the reality of daily life. They transported audience members to a gentler time when people still dressed up to go to dinner. It made me nostalgic and I thought I'd write about some of my experiences in Las Vegas and how I watched it evolve over the years.

I first experienced Las Vegas while passing through on my way from Denver to Los Angeles. I had just turned twenty one and I was flat broke. My younger brother had an available bedroom in his apartment in Southern California and had invited me to come and start a new life. Real estate was booming in California and I quickly landed a job shuffling mortgage paperwork for World Savings in Costa Mesa, California while I was still living in Denver. On a July Friday afternoon, I loaded up my convertible with what few possessions I had and that night I hit the road.

My mom had booked a room for me in a motel that she had seen from her hotel window during past trips to Las Vegas. The motel had looked clean to her and it was cheap. I drove all night long through the Utah desert and arrived in Las Vegas just before noon the next day. I hauled my television and my microwave upstairs to my motel room to keep them from being stolen. Those of you who remember how heavy even small appliances used to be will know that this was no easy feat. I cranked up my noisy wall air conditioner and quickly passed out from exhaustion. Several hours later, I woke up refreshed and ready to see what I could see of Las Vegas that night, knowing I had to hit the road in the morning. I had a new job to start on Monday and I still had three hundred miles to drive.

To be continued…