Okay, let's see, I'll try and concentrate on two places: where I grew up and where I live.
Las Vegas, Nevada (where I grew up)
What I love: - Open 24/7. 2:30 in the morning, can't sleep? You can go shopping, eat at a restaurant, go work out, gamble, go clubbing, get married at a drive through wedding chapel, buy alcohol. - Sweeping vistas of magnificent mountains (yeah I'm romanticizing dammit, they're not the best looking mountains, they're drab looking, not very tall, I'm sure the Rocky Mountains are more profound). Mountains. Mountains. Everywhere you turn. Las Vegas is basically a bowl, we nickname it The Valley. It's really hard to get lost because you can use the mountains and the casinos to determine where you are. - The Desert. Especially when it sweeps up those magnificent mountains as if Bob Ross took his brush and swept happy strokes of dirt from the floor of the desert to the sides of the mountains. But there are many beautiful places outside the city. The Red Rock Canyon which looks like its name - a bunch of BIG RED ROCKS. Okay, you can see the different strata caused by sediments on the side of the canyon. There's a line in a movie called Fools Rush In that sums the place up: And I know a canyon where if you sit there long enough... ...nobody finds you. And you die. By the way, none of the movies or TV shows portray Las Vegas with any accuracy. This movie, IMO, is the only one that really showed it the way it is. Even prettier than Red Rock Canyon is the Valley of Fire.I won't describe what it looks like, I think you can probably find pics of it on the net. So I'll describe what it feels like. If you want to do some soul-searching, this is the place to go. Also, the place to go if you want to feel like a teeny tiny speck in this vast universe. When you're there, you can almost be convinced that there are no other people in the world. - People you work with are family. Seriously. It doesn't matter where they came from. And they come from all over: Schenectady NY, Mexico, California, Philippines, China, Nigeria, Ecuador, Germany, Turkey, Albaquerque NM, Hawaii. When I say family, I mean they support you and bicker with you and you have dramatic schisms with them and they'll be there for your parent's funeral and they'll get you all the stuff you need for a new baby if you get pregnant. - The skyline is never the same. They're always. Always. Building a new casino. - The best prime rib in the world for $5.99. - Tourists are funny. For example, most casinos' nametags include the employees hometown, upon seeing a tag that indicated New York, a lady remarked, "That must be some commute!" and she wasn't kidding. - Drive 30 minutes out of the city and you hit the Arizona border which is on Hoover Dam. Lake Mead is not a particularly wonderful lake, the beaches are full of pebbles, sharp stones and algae. One thing I do have to point out are the carps: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5WwxSIKnwA - No matter how strange you are, you're never strange. Yes, you can walk around in costume and you won't really feel out of place. - Best place to people watch. Or 'shop' for fake boobs. - In the summer, the Utah Shakespeare Festival is only three hours away (okay for us, a three-hour drive is nothing). - Good deals on hotels (specials can include spa treatments). - People are strange. We have a higher than normal non-conformists per capita than most other places. - Legal prostitution within an hour's drive (it's illegal in Las Vegas but legal in the neighbouring county). Not that I use their service or have recommended it to friends, but I suppose it's nice to know it's there... you know, just in case. - Outlet malls.
no subject
Las Vegas, Nevada (where I grew up)
What I love:
- Open 24/7. 2:30 in the morning, can't sleep? You can go shopping, eat at a restaurant, go work out, gamble, go clubbing, get married at a drive through wedding chapel, buy alcohol.
- Sweeping vistas of magnificent mountains (yeah I'm romanticizing dammit, they're not the best looking mountains, they're drab looking, not very tall, I'm sure the Rocky Mountains are more profound). Mountains. Mountains. Everywhere you turn. Las Vegas is basically a bowl, we nickname it The Valley. It's really hard to get lost because you can use the mountains and the casinos to determine where you are.
- The Desert. Especially when it sweeps up those magnificent mountains as if Bob Ross took his brush and swept happy strokes of dirt from the floor of the desert to the sides of the mountains.
But there are many beautiful places outside the city. The Red Rock Canyon which looks like its name - a bunch of BIG RED ROCKS. Okay, you can see the different strata caused by sediments on the side of the canyon. There's a line in a movie called Fools Rush In that sums the place up:
And I know a canyon
where if you sit there long enough...
...nobody finds you.
And you die.
By the way, none of the movies or TV shows portray Las Vegas with any accuracy. This movie, IMO, is the only one that really showed it the way it is.
Even prettier than Red Rock Canyon is the Valley of Fire.I won't describe what it looks like, I think you can probably find pics of it on the net. So I'll describe what it feels like. If you want to do some soul-searching, this is the place to go. Also, the place to go if you want to feel like a teeny tiny speck in this vast universe. When you're there, you can almost be convinced that there are no other people in the world.
- People you work with are family. Seriously. It doesn't matter where they came from. And they come from all over: Schenectady NY, Mexico, California, Philippines, China, Nigeria, Ecuador, Germany, Turkey, Albaquerque NM, Hawaii. When I say family, I mean they support you and bicker with you and you have dramatic schisms with them and they'll be there for your parent's funeral and they'll get you all the stuff you need for a new baby if you get pregnant.
- The skyline is never the same. They're always. Always. Building a new casino.
- The best prime rib in the world for $5.99.
- Tourists are funny. For example, most casinos' nametags include the employees hometown, upon seeing a tag that indicated New York, a lady remarked, "That must be some commute!" and she wasn't kidding.
- Drive 30 minutes out of the city and you hit the Arizona border which is on Hoover Dam. Lake Mead is not a particularly wonderful lake, the beaches are full of pebbles, sharp stones and algae. One thing I do have to point out are the carps: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5WwxSIKnwA
- No matter how strange you are, you're never strange. Yes, you can walk around in costume and you won't really feel out of place.
- Best place to people watch. Or 'shop' for fake boobs.
- In the summer, the Utah Shakespeare Festival is only three hours away (okay for us, a three-hour drive is nothing).
- Good deals on hotels (specials can include spa treatments).
- People are strange. We have a higher than normal non-conformists per capita than most other places.
- Legal prostitution within an hour's drive (it's illegal in Las Vegas but legal in the neighbouring county). Not that I use their service or have recommended it to friends, but I suppose it's nice to know it's there... you know, just in case.
- Outlet malls.