Sunday, July 7, 2013

My First Night in Vegas

May 2003.

The excitement is just too much. I can not sleep. There is no point in lying awake in bed at my apartment in Wilmington, North Carolina.

So I get up, shower, put my suitcase in my pickup truck and drive out to the airport around four in the morning.

Hardly anyone is there, and during the hours before boarding the plane, I do manage to drift in and out of sleep in the uncomfortable airport chairs.

I have been out west once before. When I was in college, I was part of a group that the school sent to Reno, Nevada. So the desert is not entirely new to me, but like everything else in Vegas, it will be fascinating. I have been looking forward to this vacation for weeks.

After landing at McCarran International Airport, I drive my rental car to the hotel/casino, the Jackie Gaughan Plaza. As I take the elevator up from the parking garage to the casino floor, an old man rides with me.

"Is this your first time to Vegas?" he asks.

"Yes, it is," I answer.

"You're going to love it," he says.

I smile and agree.

It is early afternoon in Las Vegas, and my hotel room window looks out onto Fremont Street. Later, I will learn why the street is covered almost its entire length by a strange steel structure. But for now, I call my parents to let them know I have arrived safely. Then I collapse on my bed and sleep for a few hours.

Again, the excitement is what wakes me up. I get ready quickly and put on what I think is a nice outfit- khaki pants and a brand new white Nike shirt with a small swoosh mark over the left chest.

Downstairs in the casino, I smile at all the slot machines, neon colors and people walking around. For my first night in Vegas, though, I want to get outside and see the sights.

A security guard stands next to a wall. I go up to him.

"Excuse me, sir?"

"Yes, sir?" he answers.

"I am new to Las Vegas, and I just wanted to ask what you might recommend seeing first?"

"This is your first night here?" he asks.

"Yes, it is."

"Have you been to The Strip, yet?"

"The Strip?" I ask.

"You know what The Strip is, right?"

"No, actually I don't."

"It's where all the big casinos are, and all the big shows."

"Ah, ok. Is it right outside here?"

"No, no. You're in Old Town right now. This is Old Town Las Vegas."

"Can I walk to it, then?"

The guard smiles patiently at me.

"You're going to be walking a long way if you try to do that. There is a bus stop outside the casino. I recommend riding the bus to the strip.

"How much is it to take the bus?" I ask.

"Like two dollars," he says.

"Okay, thank you."

The guard gives me a curious look as I walk away, a look that I do not understand.

I find the bus stop, just as one is arriving. I notice a cute girl along with three of her friends walking ahead of me, and all of us run to catch the bus before it pulls away.

The girl is laughing as she boards the steps. She has a beautiful smile and laugh. She goes to the back of the bus to sit with her friends. I choose a seat more in the middle, next to a guy who looks to be about my age.

As the bus rides down the streets of Las Vegas, my head is on a swivel trying to take in as much as I can and orient myself as to where I am going.

The guy sitting beside me asks if I am new to Las Vegas, and we have a conversation about the things to do and see. We do not talk for very long, though, before he gives me what I would call a worried look.

"This is my stop," he says as the bus slows down. I move out of the way, and he promptly hops off the bus.

As the bus continues, I know that I am on the strip, now. Massive buildings that have to be the casinos are lit with millions of neon lights. It is mind blowing. I smile and look toward the back of the bus, at the cute girl to see what her reaction might be to all of this.

She immediately notices me, and a look of fear comes over her face.

This puzzles and hurts me a little. Do I scare her? Why would I be frightening to her?

I take this as my cue to get off the bus. This is where I want to be, anyway, in the middle of all this action.

Las Vegas is great at any time of the day or night, but as I hop off the bus, I now understand that the city transforms into a different thing at night, when the neon lights turn on. It truly feels like the closest thing to paradise that humans can build on earth, and it generates a sort of "high" for me.

As I walk down the street with the throngs of people, I also begin to appreciate how long The Strip is. There is no way that I will want to explore the entire length, not in one night.

I realize that I am hungry. Places to eat are everywhere. I duck into a Quiznos to get a quick sandwich. There is just too much I want to see right now to spend a lot of time eating.

As I go through the line, a Hispanic guy working behind the counter with a black baseball cap looks at me. I try to order, but he points at my shirt.

"You know your shirt is on inside out, right?"

I look down, and to my horror, I see the seams crisscrossing all over and some strings hanging loose. I reach back and feel behind my neck. Sure enough, the collar tag is sticking straight out.

Now, I understand all the strange looks from the security guard, the guy beside me on the bus, and the cute girl in the back.

"Holy smoke!" I exclaim.

The Quiznos guy begins laughing.

"You guys got a bathroom?" I ask.

He points around the corner. I go inside and fix the problem.

When I come out, I thank the Quiznos employee for telling me.

"I've talked to all these people tonight, and no one said a thing," I say. "They must have thought I was crazy."

The Quiznos guy shakes his head, smiles and looks down as he starts to prepare my sandwich.


No comments:

Post a Comment