What I loved most about Las Vegas

Recently, I was in Las Vegas to cover the opening of a gorgeous hotel on the Strip. It’s funny: if it weren’t for the work-related comps, I would never have been able to afford everything that I did on this trip, yet I’m responsible for telling people with money how to have taste if they come here. And that’s the real reason I got an educamation…

Anyhow, Las Vegas is a surprising place that you can’t possibly expect, even if you read everything about it. You can go into it with all these prejudices, and you’ll be quite right about most of them. But once you’re there, you learn to embrace it because there ain’t no getting out of this libertarian paradise, I tell you what…

So here’s what I loved about Las Vegas, narrowed down to a Top 5.

Everywhere you look, no matter where you are in the city, you’re surrounded by salmon-coloured mountains.
There are lots of fake boobies and bleach blondes in Las Vegas, but they don’t try to act like it’s natural. They know their assets are artificial, and they’re upfront and proud. It makes them look more comfortable in it.
If you’re lucky enough to have a room in one of the towering hotels on the Strip, you’ll get to see Las Vegas all lit up every night. It’s enchanting.
Black, white, rich, poor: every demographic is there, and nobody judges you. In fact, nobody ever really says “no.”
Las Vegas is in the middle of a huge desert, far from any known…anything. No matter which direction you take, it’ll be a worthwhile roadtrip and almost always an adventure.

Honourable mentions: Designer shops (a freakin’ Barney’s at the Venetian–which I hate); Strip Burger; that Burlesque Show girl passing out flyers wearing a hat with a neon pink feather sticking out of it; Jerry the afroed tour guide en route to the Grand Canyon; my hairdresser Dee who said my hairdo, pre-Dee, was “almost cute”; the staunch Republican I met during a press lunch, who, despite being a staunch Republican, made for the most delightful conversation I was to have in Las Vegas.