What's In A Name

Las Vegas is a Spanish for "The Meadows." Our oldest shopping mall is called The Meadows Mall. Back when the Valley got this name in the 1800s, there was wild grass growing and a water supply.

I think I speak for most Las Vegans when I say "it's Las Vegas, NOT Vegas!" A telltale sign that you're a tourist/outsider is if you say "I've been all over Vegas..." You might as well get in your out-of-state car and start shouting "Vegas Baby, Vegas!"

Saying the full name can be a drag, but I never resort to the crass shortened version. If you want to sound like a real native, say "the Valley" (i.e. the Las Vegas Valley). This refers to the whole Las Vegas metropolitan area (600 sq miles) which includes much of Clark County. The county contains: the cities of Las Vegas, North Las Vegas (where I live), Henderson (the suburb to the South), and Boulder City (by Hoover Dam), as well as unincorporated communities and other surrounding areas (about 8000 sq miles.) "Southern Nevada" refers to Clark County and I think Nye County (home of the Nevada Test Site, Yucca Mountain, legal brothels, etc.) as well.

The famous Las Vegas Strip is actually not in the city of Las Vegas. It is in an unincorporated part of the county, which makes it officially just "Clark County." When I was a kid on vacation I struggled for hours with my mom and sis to understand this concept of a land without a town. They tried to explain that there are some places where people live that are part of a county but are not part of a city or town. What, like in the middle of the desert? It made no sense to me, being from a place where counties have no function other than as a way to divide a map. It's still a little confusing, but it doesn't boggle my mind the way it used to!

BTW, you can say "the Strip" or "Las Vegas Boulevard" (that's the official name), or if you really wanted to you could get away with "the Las Vegas strip" but I wouldn't encourage it. "The Strip" is the street most of the major hotel/casinos are on (MGM, Flamingo, Luxor, Bellagio, etc.) The Downtown area (officially part of the city of Las Vegas) is home to the Fremont Street Experience--the canopy of lights (like a fancy, giant Lite Brite) that covers a couple pedestrian-only blocks of Fremont Street. The hotel/casinos in this area are older and cheaper (Binion's, Four Queens, California, Fitzgerald's, etc.) Steps from the souvenir shops are other attractions like the County jail and courthouse, homeless shelters, pawn shops, and more seedy--I mean fabulous--sights!

Another out-of-stater give away is mispronouncing Nevada. Before I moved here I was convinced it was Nev-AH-da, like the dentist tells you to say AH! It sounds very proper and Bostonian. My mom, who was from Ohio, went for the midwestern, flat Nev-AAA-da. Like....Ben AAAAfleck or that duck from AAAAflack. She was right. If you say NevAHda, you definitely don't live here. Wikipedia says that residents "resent" hearing it pronounced wrong. I just think it makes you look like a fool. At least a non-native fool.

Nevada is Spanish for snow-covered (like the Sierra Nevada mountains). It was the 36th state admitted to the Union on October 31, 1864. Therefore October 31 (or the last Friday of October) is a state holiday--Nevada Day. Halloween being a real holiday always seemed appropriate for Nevada to me!

Oh, one more pronunciation tip.... There is a long standing major casino on the Las Vegas Strip called the Sahara. It is located on the corner of Sahara Ave, a street that runs the width (E-W) of the valley--about 15 miles. It is a large, centrally located boulevard, so even if you don't set foot in a casino, you should know how to pronounce the name of the street. It's Sa-HAIR-a, not Sa-HARRR-a. Again, a flat American "A" sound. My bff from Massachusetts lived with me here for a few months and every time she said Saharrrra she sounded like a snooty Bostonian. The pseudo-DJ on 100.5 JackFM calls out "coming to you from the love shack on Sahara and Rainbow." By saying "Saharrra" he gives it away that he is probably some New Yorker who is actually the voice of ALL the JackFMs of the nation!

Venetian

Aesthetics
B-: open, airy, muted colors
Touchy Feely
D: not much, some water
Layout
B: flows pretty well, doesn't feel too big
Bathroom
C: plain
Games
B: didn't play much but found a couple machines right away, pennies available, Gold Fish
Attractions
B-: front of property (outside) is nice, gondolas, etc.

Not just another talking fountain: The Palazzo

Aesthetics
B-: open, airy, muted colors
Touchy Feely
D: not much, some water
Layout
B: flows pretty well, doesn't feel too big
Bathroom
?
Games
?
Attractions
B: Living Garden Show is free and very nice. Also shops, gondolas
Comments
Today I went to the Venetian for breakfast with a cousin who is in town for the weekend. After we parted ways, I decided to explore a little. Fergie is going to be playing there on New Years Eve, so I wanted to check out the venue (as if I can afford to go!). I wandered around a little (played a dollar on Gold Fish) and found myself in the Palazzo. The Palazzo is a casino that was a bit of a mystery to me. I don't remember hearing about it opening, and I was a little confused about its connection to the Venetian. Turns out there is actually a physical connection. Just like the Grand Canal Shops turn into the Venetian casino, the Venetian casino turns into the Shoppes at the Palazzo which turn into the Palazzo casino! So I wandered through the whole spectrum, which was actually a pretty short wander. When I got to the Shoppes I noticed a lot of people sitting around a little mall fountain/courtyard area. Saw a sign for the Living Garden Show, and realized I must be just in time for some cheesy Las Vegas "the shops are alive" experience.
I decided to check out the show and was prepared to be underwhelmed. These kind of mall shows tend to be pretty simple, and after a while in Vegas you get the attitude "you seen one talking fountain, you seen 'em all!"
Since I hadn't staked out a spot to watch from, I wound up just taking the escalators up and down four or five times. This turned out to give me a great view and none of the crowds. At first it just looked like three "statues" had come to life in the fountain and were doing a Luau type dance to some pretty, piped-in opera music. On my second trip up the escalator I realized: there's water shooting out of their fingers and heads! It was a very cool effect. The music, the water, the statuesque dance...I could feel the beautiful sorrow of these ladies eternally encased in stone, overflowing with water.... Very nice.
Then, when the last song (they did 2) was coming to its close the crowd started exclaiming "Look at the trees!" There on the second floor (where I had just been four times already!) were two vines/trees growing on some columns/doing a tree dance! I scurried back up the escalator (now there were more people going up) and got a close look at the tree people. They finished their dance and the security folk that were with them told us to back up. They started walking out through the mall, stopping to pose for the cameras and do some fancy tree moves. How cool. They were slowly making their exit when I headed back down the escalator. The fountain ladies were down there and they were out of the fountain, walking through the crowd--a couple of people with mops following right behind! They slowly made their exit through the mall. The whole thing was oddly touching and really cool. Definitely a free attraction worth catching!!!