La Vegas

13-6-2010 Fresno - Shopping at factory outlet - Las Vegas

Leaving Holiday Inn, Fresno. Heading for shopping at factory outlet on the way to Las Vegas. The highlight of the day while on the way to Las Vegas is the shopping at factory outlets. The outlets are selling American branded goods at ex-factory price, so as they said. The Chinese tourists are the most happy group they seems to be the cheerful shoppers. Tonight, we are staying at Hotel Circus Circus Las Vegas, in the Disneyland for Adult.

14-6-2010 Las Vegas - Hoover Dam - Grand Canyon - Las Vegas

We spent two nights in Las Vegas. Las Vegas is more than Casino, it is the Sin City, the Disneyland for Adult, Entertainment capital for adults. You can get anything with money here....You can also get married here. But I was wonder if you have lost all money in casino here, how are you going to marry here?. The tip is get married first before you enter casino.....

Our accommodation for the two nights were at Hotel Circus Circus. Circus Circus, 2880 Las Vegas Blvd South, A cheaper and less upscale casino that caters to families. The Manor is in poor shape, the Tower rooms are somewhat better. Scheduled for demolition and rebuilding. $50-60.

Las Vegas

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Las Vegas is the most populous city in Nevada, the seat of Clark County, and an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping and fine dining. Las Vegas, which bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, is famous for the number of casino resorts and associated entertainment. A growing retirement and family city, it is the 28th most populous city in the United States with an estimated population by the U.S. Census Bureau of 567,641 as of 2009. The estimated population of the Las Vegas metropolitan area as of 2008, was 1,865,746.

Established in 1905, Las Vegas officially became a city in 1911. With the growth that followed, at the close of the century Las Vegas was the most populous American city founded in the 20th century (a distinction held by Chicago in the 19th century). The city's tolerance for various forms of adult entertainment earned it the title of Sin City, and this image has made Las Vegas a popular setting for films and television programs. On the other hand, Las Vegas also has the highest number of churches per capita of any major U.S. city[citation needed]. There are numerous outdoor lighting displays on Fremont Street, as well as elsewhere in the city.

The name Las Vegas is often applied to unincorporated areas that surround the city, especially the resort areas on and near the Las Vegas Strip. The 4 mi (6.4 km) stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard known as the Strip is mainly in the unincorporated communities of Paradise and Winchester, while a small portion overlaps into Las Vegas and the unincorporated community of Enterprise.

Las Vegas is situated on the arid desert floor within Clark County. The surrounding environment is dominated by desert vegetation and some wildlife, and the area is subject to torrential flash floods.

When The Mirage opened in 1989, it started a trend of further development of the southern portion of the Las Vegas Strip. This resulted in a drop in tourism in the downtown area but many recent projects and condominium construction have increased visitors to downtown.The major attractions in Las Vegas are the casinos and the hotels. The most famous hotel casinos are located on Las Vegas Boulevard on the portion of that road known as the Las Vegas Strip. These larger casinos are located outside of the city. Many of these hotels are massive, providing thousands of rooms, with their large adjoining casino areas. There are many hotel casinos in the city's downtown area as well, which was the focal point of the city's gaming industry in its early days. Several large hotels and casinos are also located somewhat off the Strip, as well as in the county around the city.

Some of the most notable casinos involved in downtown gaming are on the Fremont Street Experience which was granted variances to allow bars to be closer together, similar to the Gaslamp Quarter of San Diego.



Las Vegas & Hover Dam

Compared with other cities in the West, Las Vegas is a relatively recent arrival. It was founded in 1905, and for many years it was merely a small settlement in the middle of the desert. However, several pivotal events would come together in less than twenty years to make Las Vegas what it is today:

The construction of Hoover Dam in 1928 brought thousands of workers to the area.
Nevada legalized gambling in 1931, and what is now downtown Las Vegas became an entertainment center for the dam workers, with casinos and speakeasies.

In 1941, the luxurious El Rancho Vegas resort opened on what would later become the Las Vegas Strip. Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel later opened the Flamingo Hotel in 1946, starting the building boom and one-upmanship that would continue largely unabated for the next 50 years and creating a precedent of Organized Crime involvement in Nevada's gambling industry that arguably persists.

Las Vegas City

The city is laid out as follows: Main Street as well as the numbered streets run north-south, starting with Main Street in the west. The bus station is on Main Street. Downtown has several hotels and casinos, as well as the "Fremont Street Experience", a pedestrian mall lined with casinos, near the western end of Fremont Street. South of downtown starts the "Strip" (Las Vegas Boulevard South), a north-south street lined with large casino-hotels. The northern end of the Strip's casino section is marked by the tall Stratosphere tower. Frequent shuttle buses run up and down the Strip and connect the Strip to downtown. The convention center and the University of Nevada at Las Vegas are located east of the Strip, which is where the Las Vegas Monorail runs. The airport is east of the Strip near the southern end.

The Strip

If traveling around the Strip, walking is a reasonable option as hotel-casinos are found close to each other. In fact in most cases, at least two hotels are connected to each other either by bridge or underground or in the case of Excalibur, Luxor and Mandalay Bay, by a complimentary rail shuttle. Be aware that during the summer, the oppressive heat during the daylight hours may make walking a very uncomfortable activity, as you are in desert environment. The best time to walk the strip is at night. We enjoyed our walk around the strip, until pass mid night to early morning. The colorful night and the entertainment at night will let you forget the sleep.......just like in casino.

The free attractions at Las Vegas

Fountains at Bellagio
http://www.vegas.com/attractions/on_the_strip/bellagiofountains.html



Bellagio Conservatory
Each year more than 5 million visitors, 15,000 – 18,000 per day, take time out from gambling, clubbing and shopping to experience the floral extravaganza of one of five horticultural shows in the Bellagio Conservatory and Botanical Gardens.
“The conservatory is so unique that it is a must-see destination in Las Vegas,” says Andres Garcia, Bellagio’s Director of Horticulture. “It is unique; it is beautiful; it is magical.”

Las Vegas Strip



http://www.vegas.com/attractions/on_the_strip/bellagioconservatory.html

Gondola Ride at the Venetian
http://www.vegas.com/attractions/on_the_strip/gondola.html

The Eiffel Tower Experience
http://www.vegas.com/attractions/on_the_strip/eiffeltower.html

Mirage volcano
http://www.vegas.com/attractions/on_the_strip/volcano.html

Fall of Atlantis and Festival Fountain shows at Caesars Forum Shops
http://www.vegas.com/attractions/on_the_strip/fountainshow.html

Fremont Street Experience
http://www.vegas.com/attractions/off_the_strip/fremontstreet.html

Gambling

Las Vegas is casino, gambling is the main activities. but I am not a gambler; it is also the place to get married in Las Vegas. But I wonder how to get married when you lost all your wedding capital in casino?...and there are more losers than winner in casino, gamblers need to set a limit, either time or money; otherwise the chances are you will lost everything.....the city of entertainment will become a place of sadness and bankruptcy....so it is a double edge sword, be careful when enter the casino.

One reason to gamble, aside from the hope of winning money, is that by doing so, you could receive complimentary ("comp") rooms, meals, and even airfare depending on your play. Most casinos issue free "player cards." It is generally to your advantage to show or insert your player card every time you play a table game or slot machine. At the end of your trip, you can ask the hotel if you are eligible for any comps, you might be pleasantly surprised. And if you arrive at the casino prepared to lay out $1000 or more, don't be bashful; ask the pit boss to be "rated" for comps before or while you begin playing. Separate from comps, many hotels offer discount packages for travelers who book a Sunday-Thursday night arrival. Most of these packages offer gambling coupons or a matching play

If you are under age...

If you are under age(below 21 years old) or without a valid ID to prove your age and found in the gambling premises, hotel staff will ask you to leave, and could ask the metro police to issue you a citation. Moreover, underage gamblers cannot collect any jackpot; such bets are void and the casino will at best return your wager before asking you to leave the premises. There is a curfew for anyone under the age of 18 and metro police are comfortable transporting violators to a juvenile center.

If you win...

Chances are that, if you win it big in Las Vegas and you are not a US citizen your winnings will be subject to a 30% withholding tax from the IRS. That $10,000 slot winning can dwindle quite quickly if that is taken off the top. Not to worry though you can reclaim your gambling winnings tax through a 1042-S form. You should get this from the casino so don’t lose it...it is your starting ticket to getting your gambling winnings back.

Related websites:
http://www.visitlasvegas.com/vegas/index.jsp
http://lasvegasnevada.gov/
http://www.vegas.com/attractions/on_the_strip/eiffeltower.html
http://www.lasvegaslogue.com/