Recently, I had a discussion about Las Vegas with a person who was ignorant of Las Vegas. I'm not calling him stupid, just ignorant, since he's never even been to Las Vegas. He asked me where I was going this year on my summer vacation. I told him, "Las Vegas!" He said," I'll never go there! I don't like to gamble." I explained to him that there are a thousand things to do in Las Vegas, and gambling is only one of them. My wife and I frequently have days in Las Vegas where we never gamble a dime. OK, we gamble every day! But not all day! I explained to him about the world-class restaurants, shows, shopping, golf courses, conventions and conferences, events, sites to see, indoor skydiving, excursion trips to Red Rock Canyon and Hoover Dam, fabulous swimming pools, day clubs, nightclubs, and many more things that we all know. For an adult such as myself with attention deficit disorder, it's the perfect vacation. I can relax by the pool in the morning. I can even enjoy the sandy beach at Mandalay Bay. By afternoon and evening there can be exciting choices. We're never bored and never run out of things to do. In fact I have to keep going because there's always new things. I'm sure we've all had these conversations. I think I intrigued him, not sure I convinced him.
I don't engage in these conversations. I would have just said "okay" after he said he'll never go to Vegas.
Those that have never been usually have no clue, but still have firm opinions. We have some friends in that boat. The conversation is usually not worth it.
I mean let’s not pretend that it’s weird to not want to go to Vegas because you don’t enjoy gambling. Take away the casinos and Vegas has the same stuff every other city has.
I have a friend I met through Vegas boards. Vegas addict. I asked her why she never goes to Hawai'i. She said she doesn't like Hawai'i. Now she's never been to Hawai'i to form such an opinion but there you have it. We have had this chat so many times over the years. The assumptions and stigmas and what not about "Sin City" ...
Exactly. Everyone makes assumptions. Same goes for Disney World, Disneyland, LA, Miami, Hawaii, China, Cruising, etc...
As someone who works in politics and public policy, this statement is true of an alarming percentage of the population.
I once was that very same person the OP is talking about. Then Vegas became all I thought about, talked about, and dreamed about. I might have come full circle though, lol!. Once in a while I still get the urge to go, and still do but not as often.
As stated previously on several threads, it’s for some folks and for a lot of people, perhaps it’s not for them. Both of which are okay as everyone has things they like/don’t like (or think they may not). I’m not really sure how this is surprising frankly or worth getting agitated over lol.
I've convinced people to give Vegas a try. Some loved it. Some hated it. Everyone's different. Now I have a buddy who won't go unless I'm with him. Lol
Yep, that's the nut. And unless you enjoy gambling, in the sense that you're just peachy keen with losing stacks of folding green, it's hard to spin. Would I be going to Vegas if Vegas were void of casinos? Nope. New York city, New Orleans, Boston, Washington, D.C are all much shorter flights.
Also, when people talk about going on vacation, they normally are talking about a timeframe lasting at least a week. Even for a lot of people on here, at least 99 percent of which enjoy gambling, a week is still a long time to spend in Vegas. I think for non-gamblers, Vegas is a good spot to fly into and spend a night either upon arriving or departing (perhaps both?) before going onto other destinations, such as the national parks of Utah.
Vegas is a great place to see major artists with all of the residencies going on, which is one non-gambling thing that it has over other major cities. But other than that and gaming, there isn't that much to differentiate that and, say, Phoenix, and Phoenix arguably has better Mexican food and high end shopping in Scottsdale.
Sometimes you have to, based on your own experience. I love Disneyland in Paris and in Hong Kong, so I will probably love it everywhere. When out in nature, while I love seeing things, after 30 minutes I’m like ‘I’ve seen it, let’s go’ while I can marvel at high buildings and big city atmosphere in NYC, Hong Kong or London. So I just know my trips have to be centered around big cities with a little nature sprinkled in, and not the other way round. As for Vegas, in Europe it’s even more difficult to explain. I used to try and defend it but now I just love really shocking people and tell them I go to ‘gamble all night, get drunk from early on and stuff my face 24/7’
This reminds me of a debate my wife and I had regarding treacle tart. She absolutely hated it, despite having never tried it. I absolutely love it, so I decided to put on my baking hat, roll up my sleeves...and drive to the grocery store to pick one up. She tried a tiny slice, ate the whole thing, then vehemently denied liking it and said she was only trying it to make me happy. Reasonable excuse, but this treacle tart...it began to slowly vanish over the following days. Only crumbs remained.
I had to look that one up. Sounds like a better version of Shoe-Fly-Pie. The only place on Earth I really don't like and would never go. Well, never go again. I did give it 3 trips because I just couldn't believe I really couldn't stand the place. Once was even during 'Gay Days', which in my book, always makes the day more fun. Yuk. Never again. But, at least I'm not basing my opinion on nothing, I was there.
