#VegasHalloween 2017 (day 2): Go with what you know

My girlfriend said that she wanted to designate chunks of time to relaxing during our vacation. She wanted to spend chunks of time lounging by a pool in the modest Vegas sun and reading one of her books.

Sometimes I spend my morning laying in bed and watching TV if I can't sleep. Monday wasn't entirely intended to be that way, but I did have plans to watch "The Price is Right" that morning, specifically because a guy I've followed via YouTube for a couple of years, Adam the Woo, was in the audience for the taping of the show, scheduled for Oct. 30. He didn't say if he was a contestant on the show, and I still don't know. Due to what I have to assume was a hastily scheduled episode meant to promote the "Bad Moms" Christmas flick being released on Nov. 1, his episode was bumped, and not to the next day. It is now scheduled to air on a Wednesday in January.

But I watched the actresses from the flick parade around the stage and screech too often when they'd open their mouths. I miss the simpler days when the show wasn't constantly looking for some sort of promotional gimmick to tie into the show.

I mad eggs, over easy, and bagels for our breakfast. I soon realized that without purchasing any sort of butter or nonstick spray, the eggs didn't flip so easily, despite having an alleged nonstick pan. It didn't help that I didn't have a large, flat spatula for flipping the eggs. There were utensils provided, but the only spatula in the bunch was the kind you use to scrape the side of a mixing bowl when you're dumping the contents into a pan. The eggs looked less than glamorous, but they were edible. I guess I should have made scrambled eggs that first morning.

We spent plenty of time in the pool, and it was a warm day. The average high temp in Vegas on Halloween is 74F. On the day before Halloween it was in the low 80s, and we loved it. (By comparison, it was 45-50 degrees cooler back home in Minneapolis that afternoon.) We soaked up plenty of sun, and I went for a dip in the pool occasionally to cool off. The Tahiti Village pool is heated, most of the time. It was like bath water on that Monday.

Yes, I drink cheap domestic beer in aluminum bottles when at the pool in Vegas. Shame on me. 

We also spent some time floating in their lazy river, which is adjacent to the main pool. The lazy river doesn't seem to get much sun, at least in late October, and the water wasn't as warm. It was pleasant enough, and I'll bet it's great in July, but I wasn't going to spend two hours floating around the river, especially since I had to steer my girlfriend away from every water feature that rained down upon the river. She seemed to have an aversion to the pool water.

We didn't plan ahead, so we didn't have any pre-made sandwiches for our lunch. We decided to go to the Denny's on the perimeter of the property for a late lunch and spend more on that meal than we'd spend on dinner. Go figure.

Our evening was built around my desire to return to Las Vegas Haunts, the other local haunted attraction with a history in Vegas. Las Vegas Haunts has two mazes, an asylum and a hotel. They're run very similar to the Freakling Bros. mazes, you have to send small groups into the maze because there are areas that take time to pass through.

My girlfriend, not wanting to visit the attraction, fond a nail place nearby, so I dropped her off there prior to my showing up for the haunted mazes, which opened at 6:30 p.m.

I was near the front of the line when the entry gates opened, so I decided I could skip spending the extra $10 for the VIP ticket. I spent $25 for their two mazes and got in line for the hotel first. I worked in an asylum maze for years at my seasonal Halloween job, so I have an affection for the asylum theme, and therefore wanted it to be my finale.

As I said, I was returning to Las Vegas Haunts, as I visited their attraction in 2011 when I made my first Halloween trip to Vegas. (I went to both haunted Las Vegas Haunts and Freakling Bros. on the same Sunday night that year.) My return visit was six years to the date of my first visit, Oct. 30.

Since it was the beginning of the night and I had no friends with me, I was able to go through the hotel by myself. I assumed I'd be added to a family or other group, but that wasn't the case. Although I had been there six years prior, I didn't remember much about their attractions, so it could have been exactly the same and I wouldn't have known it.

Following the hotel, there was already a decent line that accumulated for the asylum. I forgot just how long the stagger is between each group, and it took longer than I anticipated to enter. I regretted not spending the $10 for a VIP ticket. I would have been done 30 minutes sooner, and my girlfriend wouldn't have been stuck waiting for me.

I won't win an award for my iPhone photos, but this is the entryway into the asylum at Las Vegas Haunts.

Both Las Vegas Haunts mazes have really good set decorations and plenty of actors. They don't put on as spectacular of a show overall when compared to Freakling Bros., but it's entertaining. They have a great effect using fog and a room in their asylum, and there's a room in the hotel with several doors that you have to open before you find your way out.

I wouldn't say Las Vegas Haunts is fun for the whole family, it will creep out children and scare those who jump at the site of their shadow, but it's not as intense as Freakling Bros.

Somehow they get away with not paying the actors in their haunted attractions. I don't get it. Their website claims you do receive perks for your effort. The only perk I'd accept is straight cash, homey.

After picking up my girlfriend we headed back to Ellis Island. Las Vegas Haunts was set up in the parking lot of Meadows Mall, just west of Springs Preserve, so we were somewhat close to downtown, but we decided to go back to Ellis Island for a 2-for-1 meal at their BBQ restaurant.

We arrived after 8 p.m. and didn't have to wait to be seated. We ordered the same meals we always do, the half chicken, half rack of ribs combo. After our order I ran out to the casino and put $5 into a poker machine to play hands of video blackjack at $2 a hand. I wanted to print the player's club discount coupon for running $5 through the machine, and managed to win $2 for playing a few hands. With our Las Vegas Advisor coupon and our player's club discount, we spent $14.30 on two meals, pre-tip.

I don't look creepy at all. Yes, I'm wearing a five-year-old T-shirt representing the amusement park of death in Minnesota, where I work each fall. 

During our dinner I was able to see the end of the Broncos/Chiefs Monday Night Football game. Remember that sports bet from Sunday. I bet $40 on the Chiefs at -7. The Chiefs kicked a field goal  in the waning minutes of the fourth quarter that gave them a 16-point lead. I was quite confident that I was going to win. Then Denver runs a two-minute offense that ends with a touchdown and cuts the lead to 10. The failed two-point conversion pretty much iced the game for Kansas City with a couple of minutes left, but Denver did get the ball back with a little time to attempt to score once more. A late, meaningless touchdown would have made me a loser against the spread, but thankfully that didn't happen.

After dinner we cashed in our three free rounds of drinks coupon at the bar, and I continued to play really cheap video blackjack and keno. I ran enough cash through the machine to redeem two free play coupons, and each coupon gave me $10 in free play. I used the free play on $5 hands of video blackjack and won three of four hands. That free play, and my modest winnings at 50-cent and $1 video blackjack gave me $40 in winnings.

I also spent 30 minutes or so playing blackjack in the pit. I wouldn't say I had great luck, but I won a hand with a $10 match play, and I received a free $25 bet for buying in at $100 and having a Las Vegas Advisor coupon. When I finally played that free bet I was dealt a 14. The hand was against some high card, so I hit, and made 20. The dealer also made 20, so we pushed. I was dealt a lousy 13 or 14 hand again, and had to hit against a high card. I made another 20, and the dealer didn't beat me, so I won $25. When I cashed out I was $25 up, so that tells me I didn't have a winning session, but I was happy to walk way with more than I bought in with, and I left Ellis Island that night with a modest $101 in profit. My girlfriend won a little money playing cheap slots, too.

Our night concluded with pints of Bud Light in the hot tub, which wasn't very hot. The heat had been cut, so the hot tub was merely warm. But we chatted with a couple from Cleveland for a few minutes and drank our beer before retiring for the night.

#VegasHalloween 2017 (night 1): It's good to be home again

Most people like to hit the ground running when they arrive in Vegas. That seldom seems to be the case for me these days.

Despite that, I logged several hours of activity during my first evening in town, although gambling wasn't much a part of it.

I enjoy spending Halloween in Vegas, and this year was my fifth time doing so in seven years. The drawback to traveling to Vegas in late October, it comes after the busiest month of my year. As a suburban newspaper reporter, I have some sort of election to cover every fall. There's a lot I have to do, besides my regular weekly routine, during the weeks leading up to an election. As demanding as that is, I make my life more exhausting by working most Friday and Saturday nights leading up to Halloween. I do security work at a local haunted attraction, so that means long hours on my feet during an already busy and challenging month. I'm an idiot, but I chose to be.

So in the 48 hours prior to departure I tend to get little sleep. By the time I sit down on a plane, I'm exhausted.

This year's trip was with my girlfriend, flying via Southwest. And it was super cheap because we worked their credit cards to earn not only a boatload of points, but a companion pass as well. Given the annual fees for two credit cards and a few bucks in tax for our tickets, we spent less than $200 on two round-trip tickets, and we have tons of points left to use for future travel.

The drawback to flying Southwest from Minneapolis to Vegas, you can't get a direct flight. We flew through St. Louis to get there.

My brother uses Southwest quite a bit, and he provided us with four coupons for free drinks. We didn't order any on the short flight to St. Louis, but we ordered two rounds on our way to Vegas. Our flight attendant didn't collect them initially, and we wondered if she would. Uncertain, I decided I'd spend the $10 for a third round, should she collect for our tab at the end of the flight. She didn't, so we kept the four drink coupons and each had three free drinks on our way to Sin City. I was winning before I got off the plane.

Once again I rented my car through Alamo, via my Costco membership. Costco beats the price Alamo gives me, even as an "insider," or whatever they call their free program I signed up for. Costco usually offers a comparable vehicle for a little less through Budget, but I like Alamo 100 times more, so I gladly pay the extra $10 or so.

Our destination this year was Tahiti Village, a time share property near the car rental center, south of the strip. It's on Las Vegas Boulevard, and it's huge, but there's not a lot nearby to make the location ideal. But there's a lot to like about it, and it worked out well for us this trip. I did not get a promotional rate to stay for three nights and sit through a tedious presentation. I bought a seven-night stay outright from an owner, in a one-bedroom unit with a full kitchen. I didn't need the full kitchen, but I did make use of it. The cost for seven nights, only six of which we used: $400. There were no fees on the back end, and I didn't have to sit through a presentation.

There was a lot to like about the property, and it turned out to be a good deal for us this year. I'll detail all of those things in a couple of weeks, whenever I wrap up my trip reports.

Before checking in, we stopped at the nearby Total Wine store to buy some beers to get our week started. Inside the store was a guy carrying what I could only presume was a "therapy" pet. It certainly wasn't a service dog, but it had one of those little jackets on. Call me a jerk, but I'd argue that if you need a therapy pet in order to go shopping, you probably shouldn't be buying alcohol.

After checking in and hauling our luggage and beer to our unit, we headed to Ellis Island for our first meal. I'm a big proponent of the Las Vegas Advisor coupon book, and we immediately put it to use in the cafe, ordering two prime rib dinners with a 2-for-1 coupon. Two good meals for under $20, it's hard to knock that. My only mistake, ordering the $5 shrimp cocktail. I didn't pay attention to what they serve, I only wanted decent shrimp and sauce, and they serve a true cocktail, modest shrimp mixed with disgusting celery. Live and learn.

After dinner I dropped $40 on the Monday night football game and we left the building. I saved the free drinks and free play coupons from our book for another night, as I knew we'd be back a couple of times.

We headed to a Walmart store to pick up groceries. We bought breakfast food, fruit, bottled water and more beer, at a better price than we paid for beer at Total Wine. (We were buying aluminum pint bottles of Bud Light. The craft beer we bought at Total Wine, we weren't going to find that at Walmart.) I also bought three bags of Halloween candy, as I had a delivery to make.

Last year I traveled to Vegas with four friends from the haunted attraction where I work. Our first night in town included a visit to Freakling Bros., a brilliant, well-crafted haunted attraction which features three mazes. The folks who run Freakling Bros. had no reason to treat their Minnesota guests like royalty, they didn't own us anything. But I had contacted them prior to our arrival, and they rolled out the red carpet. I was stunned.

My friends couldn't afford a return visit to Vegas this year, but I wanted to say thanks to Duke, the owner, and his staff for their hospitality and great show. We took a group picture of all of us outside the "Gates of Hell" last year, and I had a copy of the picture printed, which we signed. One of my friends suggested we stage a similar picture at our haunted attraction this year, in costume, and give them that picture, too. So that's what I did. The bags of candy were for their staff, as well.

My group's visit to the Freakling Bros. Trilogy of Terror, Oct. 30, 2016. 

The same group at the entrance to one of the haunted attractions where we work, Oct. 20, 2017.

Duke didn't immediately recognize me, but he remembered our group when I explained who we were. (He remembered the picture of us, too. We realized he took it for us last year.) He was touched by the gesture, and this shouldn't surprise me. He had no reason to expect that a member of the group from Minnesota that he had forgotten about would show up again this year, and I'm sure he wasn't expecting simple thank you gifts.

Duke and I talked for a bit, and he asked if I was planning to go through the mazes. I wasn't since I was there solo. I explained that my girlfriend stayed back at the resort, as she had visited Freakling Bros. with me in 2012. She had been to a few haunted attractions with me prior to that night in 2012, but after three Freakling Bros. mazes, she decided it was time to retire from haunted attractions. She hasn't been to one since.

Duke wasn't going to send me on my way without giving me some sort of show. He practically insisted that I go through a maze, at least "Gates of Hell," their R-rated attraction. He noted that one of the rooms had been redesigned this year.

I wasn't surprised that Duke offered me a free visit to his attraction, given how generous he was to our group last year. I agreed to visit "Gates of Hell," and was inserted into the VIP line.

I won't spoil the details, but I will say a few simple things about "Gates of Hell." It's the only attraction where they'll make physical contact with you. It's mild, but it's an element of the maze. They will use mild profanity during the maze, and they mock traditional Christian beliefs. If you're offended by that sort of show, you probably shouldn't visit the "Gates of Hell."

The mazes at Freakling Bros. are designed to accommodate small groups, typically no more than five. There are design elements that prohibit the operators from pushing through large groups in conga lines, and that's what makes it such a great attraction. It also costs a bit more than your standard haunted house, and the wait in the main line can take quite a while, but I suspect few people complain when the experience is over. It's that good. I can't recommend the place enough to those who enjoy a good Halloween show.

I went through with a couple. The guy was our leader, and his girlfriend was in the middle. She was a little freaked out by the very first element of the maze, and I thought she was going to chicken out immediately, but she survived. At some point during our adventure one of the monsters not only touched her, but picked her up as if he was going to carry her off. That freaked her out a bit. She not only insisted upon holding onto her boyfriend ahead of her, she insisted upon holding my hand as I followed behind her. She really didn't want anyone coming up behind her and scaring her like that again.

We all shared a good laugh during our conversation after we exited. I talked with Duke further, and without asking he answered a question I had wondered about. How did the Oct. 1 massacre affect his attraction, particularly since the "Gates of Hell" relies upon gun violence as part of its show. (His opening weekend was the same weekend as the massacre.)

Duke said he was nervous about public backlash to his maze, but he kept it as is. He said that his overall receipts were down a bit in comparison to the previous year, and that the numbers were finally comparable toward the end of the season.

After chatting with Duke again, I departed for the resort. The Freakling Bros. mazes were about 20 minutes from Tahiti Village. I returned to find my girlfriend had fallen asleep waiting for me. She wasn't surprised one bit that it took me more than an hour to make my visit. She knows I like to chat, and she wasn't surprised I ended up going through one of the mazes.

We finished our night with beers in the adult hot tub, which is accessible 24 hours a day. That's a great benefit of staying at a time share property, and we took advantage of it multiple times.

My #VegasHalloween itinerary

For the fifth time in seven years I will spend Halloween night in Las Vegas. (Three weeks from now Halloween will be over.) Damn, I wish I was having as much fun on Halloween night when I was in my 20s.

I have a lot of plans for my visit to Sin City, and not all of them will come to fruition, I know. Here's a rough list of things I plan to do during my time in The Meadows.

Halloween fun: I haven't been to Las Vegas Haunts since 2011. I plan to see their show again, as they do a nice job. They have two mazes, one is a hotel, one is an asylum. During a recent conversation I had about their attraction, I came to realize that they should have redesigned their haunted hotel to pay homage to the Riviera after its closing two years ago.

 I also plan to stop by the Freakling Bros. Triology of Terror when I get to town, as I have a thank you gift for them, given the hospitality they showed my group last year.

Halloween night will be spent downtown. Yes I will have a costume. No, I won't be the "Macho Man" Randy Savage again this year.

Lunch with a friend: It turns out two friends will be in Vegas during my trip. Rachel will be arriving the same day I do, and will be staying at Luxor. Karla will arrive after Halloween and will be staying at Mandalay Bay. Since I'm staying at Tahiti Village, south of the strip, it should be easy to meet up with them on the sound end of the strip for lunch. Karla will be there for all of 48 hours, so there's a decent chance she won't have time to meet for lunch, but you never know. There's something magical about seeing friends in Vegas when your trips coincide.

Magic: There's one show on my itinerary for this trip, and that's Xavier Mortimer's Magical Dream. It comes recommended by the folks at Vital Vegas. (It's one guy.)

Art: My girlfriend was not with me last Halloween, but she was intrigued by Seven Magic Mountains, so we'll probably take a road trip south to visit the site, and use it as an excuse to have lunch at Steak 'n Shake. There's only one in Vegas, and it's at South Point. I love that place, and I can't get it in Minnesota.

I'm also planning to visit the Wheel of Misfortune. A peculiar art installation in the desert which I didn't know anything about until I read about it at Vital Vegas.

My trip will include visits to plenty of my usual properties. I'll play cards at the Orleans at least one night, I'll eat cheap food at Ellis Island a couple of times (with coupons) and I'll spend a few hours, at least once at the Pinball Hall of Fame. When I'm in Vegas, it's the one thing I must do. Hard to believe I've never finished my blog post about it.

Vegas will never be the same

Exactly 48 hours ago I was sitting at this computer, reading tidbits about the Vegas massacre online, wondering exactly how bad it was.

I watched overnight coverage of the situation for two hours. I was on fumes at work all day Monday.

Plenty of people have shared thoughts about the chaos, theories about why it happened, conspiracy theories on what actually happened and sentiments of resilience.

I live in the Minneapolis area. I live less than 10 miles from Mall of America, one of the largest malls in the world. It was built to be that way 25 years ago. And since Sept. 11, 2001, it has been carefully monitored as a potential target of terrorism, not unlike Las Vegas.

Whether a perpetrator is a foreign terrorist with a vendetta against America or a U.S. citizen determined to cause domestic chaos, popular gathering places are a magnet to such people. Safeguards have been in place for years, but we all know that there's a limit to how much any shopping mall, sports venue or city can do to prevent a mass casualty incident from happening.

I was talking with a police officer months ago, an officer I know well. I told her that I'm certain a mass casualty incident will occur at the mall in my lifetime. It's not a matter of if, but a question of when. She agreed. Law enforcement agencies prepare for such events, never knowing exactly how they'll unfold, but expecting that they will at some point.

Vegas has been cited as a terrorism target by the fear mongers that spout hatred. Likewise Mall of America. I haven't been anticipating a mass casualty incident in Vegas, but like Mall of America, I expected it in my lifetime. I never imagined an incident on the scale of what unfolded late Sunday night in Sin City.

There will be plenty of rhetoric in the weeks and months to come about how we prevent the next Vegas massacre from happening elsewhere. It seems plenty of us agree on one thing, when it comes to gun control, nothing will change. I'm not sure greater gun control would make a difference in the future of our country. It wouldn't prompt an increase in mass casualty incidents, and perhaps it would prevent one or two from year to year. But at the end of the day, we'll never put an end to the gun trade, legal and illegal, and we won't see an end of terrorism, mental illness or whatever it is that drives mass casualty incidents in our country.

Four weeks from right now I'll be wrapping up my Halloween in Vegas celebration. I'll forget, for the most part, what happened on that horrific night at the beginning of the month. I'll enjoy my evening, and not worry about my safety. I'll be thankful I've never been personally affected by any of the mass casualty incidents that have scarred our country. I'll go back to life as normal, even if I'll never forget.

I can decide what should or shouldn't be done for the betterment of our country. But the reality is that I personally cannot resolve the issues that plague our country and prompt mass casualty incidents. All I can do is pray (and be thankful) that I never have to endure or live with the pain associated with experiencing a mass casualty incident, or lose a friend of family member because of one.

For those whose lives will never be the same because of the Vegas massacre or other such incidents, you have my deepest sympathy.

I will enjoy my time in Vegas, and I won't change the way I go about my business because of one horrific night. But I will think back to that night for the rest of my life, and will always remember the sorrow associated with it. For me, and many others, Vegas will never be the same.

How I spend my time when I make a solo trip to Vegas

I didn't intend to take the summer off when it comes to writing about Vegas, but that's what happened.

I'll have a few thoughts to share in the weeks to come, as forthcoming trips always inspire creativity. I'll be spending Halloween in Vegas again this year.

This morning I responded to one of the many online discussions about the merits of traveling solo to Vegas, and wrote enough that it should be memorialized here. (I need to keep my answers short and sweet when it comes to online forums.)

Here's a slightly edited version of what I posted: 

There was a time in my life when I wanted to go to Vegas, and friends claimed they wanted to go to with me, but wouldn’t pull the trigger. I got tired of waiting for somebody to travel with and realized that Vegas is a city I knew well, and that I could find enough to do without somebody to do it with. My first solo trip wasn’t inspired by online discussions about the merits of traveling solo to Vegas. I had no idea it was such a common thing to do when I made my first trip.

I wasn’t getting comps, but I could afford to go solo if I was frugal about my accommodations.  I wish I had better records of my solo trips regarding when I went and where I stayed. My first solo trip was more than 10 years ago. I stayed at Westward Ho. Pretty cheap for a handful of nights, and just fine. Zero complaints about my room, and more than adequate as I didn’t have to impress anybody. (My most depressing solo stay was four nights of a six-night trip at Vegas Club. The room was almost free, and included a Friday night, so I didn’t care. But I really had to stick to the “I only sleep and shower in my room” mantra. I do appreciate a decent room for a morning of relaxation during a multi-night visit.)

I have made a handful of solo trips since the early 2000s, although not since May 2012. (My one solo night last fall doesn’t count; I was with friends for the first four nights.) I have stayed downtown, off-strip and spent a couple nights at the Riv several years ago. Location dictates some of the things I've done on solo trips, naturally, and a Halloween 2011 trip changed things forever as I needed a rental car to do some of the things I had planned. From then on, I became a rental car guy.

So what have I done, and what wouldn’t I do again?

I don’t dine anywhere fancy or trendy. Personal preference, even though solo diners have been known to eat at the bar at finer places. I stick to the cafes and simpler places… paying for atmosphere or fancy service isn’t of much enjoyment to me if I’m not sharing the time with somebody.

It it's pool season, I'll spend time soaking up the sun and reading. Being solo at the pool can sometimes be a bit lonesome, but if you’re there to relax, relaxing solo shouldn’t be too painful.

Gambling is often a solo activity, so when you do, it shouldn’t be a big deal. You just won’t have a friend or loved one to hug moments after you hit for $1,199 on the slot machine.

I go for five nights minimum when I go, and am not compelled to gamble every day. I need time to see and do things outside of the casino. I use to be into geocaching, so sometimes I scouted out places I could access for geocache searching, be it on the strip or elsewhere nearby. I always make sure to find my way down to the Pinball Hall of Fame, which is a great place to spend time solo.

I recommend solo travelers find something they're into and finding a way to check out the local scene. Is there a craft brewer that’s not at Neonopolis? I went to Hop Nuts a few years ago, a bit far to walk from Fremont St., but a short cab ride or Uber from the Plaza, right on Main Street. 

Collect comic books? Check out a local shop. (Alternative Reality Comics on Flamingo, east of the strip, is a great one, and another short Lyft ride away.) 

If you're there during sporting events, particularly football season, find a local bar where fans of your favorite college or pro team congregate. My friend did that a couple of years ago during the NCAA hoops tournament and ended up going to a Wisconsin Badger bar twice, and met a former Green Bay Packer while he was there. 

If nothing else, find one of those smaller, secondary museums or points of interest that your drunk, gambling buddy would never want to waste his time seeing. This is your chance to visit the Burlesque Hall of Fame. (And it’s close to Hop Nuts.)

When I have a rental car, which is just about every trip these days, I take one of my days or evenings to go see something I haven’t seen before. This might not make sense for those who are only in town for three nights, but I have enjoyed driving north to Valley of Fire, more than two hours northwest to Rhyolite, a “ghost town,” and up Mt. Charleston. Getting away to see something is a great way to spend a day, and there are ways you can do a few things like that even if you don’t rent a car.

What I wouldn’t do: Go to shows solo. I did that several years ago, when Caesars had its all-access pass for 48 hours. I used it to see a bunch of secondary shows in the CET empire. I paid a little over $100 and got good value out of it. I deliberately waited until close to show time to take my seat, even when I had claimed a ticket 30 minutes or more prior to the show. The seating arrangements made it awkward occasionally to have to sit there minutes before the performance. Crime? Not a chance, but just not as much fun to see a show and not have a friend to chat with before or after. Yes, I chatted with people sitting next to me, but it wasn’t the same as being solo at a blackjack table.

Vegas: Fun for the whole family, sort of

The Five Hundy podcast Facebook page has a rule about not discussing the merits of children in Vegas, as it will never end, and few poeple will change their minds on the topic. I tend not to get heavily vested in such discussions elsewhere for those reasons.

Thie topic came up in another Facebook group discussion recently, and I provided some food for thought to lobbyists on both sides of the aisle. Here's an expanded, edited version of that:

Vegas is not a family-oriented place, yet at the same time there is plenty for families to do in the Vegas area. The Dirty Circus amusement park would not survive if it relied upon adults only, I'm certain.

There are plenty of shows and attractions that are family friendly. Mac King's magic show is a perfect example. And there's nothing adult about the attractions atop the Stratosphere, other than you may need to be with a parent to ride them, or perhaps have more courage than a parent to ride one. The Ethel M (chocolate factory) tour and outdoor gardens couldn't be less about Vegas. The Pinball Hall of Fame is fun for all ages. Plenty of attractions at Excalibur are designed with children in mind.

Is Vegas the first place I'd think to take a child? Hell no. I wouldn't want to explain to my child why there's a giant rolling billboard on the strip showing a hot babe in a tiny outfit, with the promise she can be at my door for just $69. I wouldn't want to parade my child past porn slappers, even if they were to respect the fact I have a child with me and not try to pass off a handbill. (Unlikely.) I wouldn't want my child to see the realities of alcohol and homelessness on display nightly at the Fremont Street Experience, no matter how much fun that zip line appears to be.

Reality: I've stayed at the Orleans and watched plenty of girls young enough to be my daughter walk around the property. They were there, along with their parents, for some sort of big cheerleading competition. I'd rather not see that, but who I am to tell the Orleans how to run its business, or tell the parents where they should or shouldn't travel to spend money on their child's oh-so-important cheerleading competition? There are likely hundreds of youth-oriented events all over the Vegas area, filling casino hotels, each year. Shame on those hotels, they're as guilty as the parents who drag a 1-year-old child through the Orleans food court at 2 a.m. (seen it) and the parents who are walking a 4-year-old child down the strip at 1 a.m. (seen it).

Another reality: Disney parks are designed for kids, and it costs an arm and a leg to spend a day there. Vegas ain't Disney, by a long shot, but I wouldn't be surprised if part of the appeal of Vegas for families is that with planning and care, you can see and do a vareity of things at less of a cost than a trip to Orlando. That doesn't mean people shouldn't take their families to Disney, but I can see reasons why folks would give careful consideration to Vegas as a family vacation destination.

Sad reality: Many folks bring their children to Vegas and don't seem too concerned about what they're exposing them to at an early age. That's because we live in a Jerry Springer society. And that's not going to change.

Yes, some consider it a crime to bring children to Vegas. And for a variety of reasons, people are continually guilty. Likewise those casinos that you love and adore are catering, in some fashion, to those families you loathe. They want you, the hedonistic big spender, and the family of four, to all co-exist on the same property. No, not all casinos, obviously.

I don't usually say much about the topic, which finds its way to forums and message boards on a recurring basis. I'm not smarter or better than any of you. (And I have no children, for what that's worth.) I've obviously thought a lot about both sides of the coin, and can't damn either side.

Paid parking in Vegas: Where are the apples?

I’m like many others, I don’t like paying for something that has been free for decades, especially when there’s no meaningful reason for charging the fee.

Therefore, I’m irked by the idea that casinos along the Vegas strip are charging for parking. I think the MGM conglomerate initially tried to sell the idea that paid parking would offset all sorts of improvements to their parking ramps, etc., but I’m not buying it. It’s simply a cash grab that many people will tolerate, as far as I’m concerned.

The fine folks at the Vital Vegas blog (it's still one guy) pointed out today that paid parking is now in effect at the Cosmopolitan. Everybody else along the strip is in on it, so it's only natural that Cosmo is, too. I'd argue the folks running the Cosmo need to be at this point, otherwise their parking is going to be overrun with cheapskates like me, if it wasn’t already.

Scott, the CEO, editor, reporter and photographer of Vital Vegas, points out that paying for parking is the norm in major cities across the United States. He's right. But his logic is a bit flawed. Here's how:

He wrote, “While parking fees are annoying, they are becoming the norm in Las Vegas, just as they are in other cities.”

I would expect to pay for parking when I go to Harrah's in downtown New Orleans. I would expect to pay for parking if I were to go to one of the downtown St. Louis casinos. I’ve been to both, but I didn’t have a vehicle in my possession during those visits.

I expect to pay for parking in downtown New York. I expect to pay for parking in downtown Chicago. I expect to pay for parking when I go to a Pirates or Steelers game across one of the three rivers in downtown Pittsburgh. I even expect to pay for parking when I go to downtown Toledo, Ohio, for a Mudhens game.

There’s usually adequate parking to accommodate those parking in a major downtown, but it comes at a premium. Downtown New York, Chicago, Pittsburgh and many others cities were first developed as the central business district for a trade area, long before people were driving cars, which it seems like about 80 percent of adults do these days. (That’s a wild guess.) I suspect these downtowns weren't developed with the anticipation of thousands of cars flooding in and out of them every day. Ask Mrs. O'Leary, whose cow kicked over a lantern and started the great Chicago fire of 1871 (allegedly), what a car is. She's tell you it is part of a train.

Downtown New Orleans and downtown St. Louis were established long before they had major casinos, so I expect to pay for parking. A free parking ramp for a downtown casino would a nightmare, without a doubt.

When I go to a Native American-owned casino in Wisconsin, I park for free. Even the one near downtown Milwaukee had free parking the last time I visited years ago. (And it still does.)

Casinos in major downtown areas will need to charge for parking. Free parking in a major downtown, with or without a casino, is hard to come by most days. Casinos built in the middle of nowhere, such as casinos I’ve been to in Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin and North Dakota, do not. They’re casinos built away from major downtown districts. When I shop at a suburban Target store, I don’t pay for parking. When I gamble at an outlying casino in the Midwest, I don’t pay for parking.

So how does this apply to Vegas? The casinos on the strip aren’t in a downtown district. Granted, they weren’t nearly as big when they first sprouted up along a desert highway in the 1950s, but they managed to expand and provide parking for decades without much of a problem. Nothing about that has changed in the past two years.

Yes, real estate around the properties is far more expensive, and harder to come by, but there wasn’t exactly a shortage of parking when the fees were instituted, despite the fact millions of people visit the strip each year.

It may be the norm to pay for parking in a downtown district, but applying that logic to the strip casinos, which developed and redeveloped without difficulty thanks to the fact they aren’t in downtown Vegas, is flawed.

Yes, there’s a cost of maintaining the parking ramps, and providing minimal cleaning and security within them. Target stores can maintain their parking lots without charging a fee. Same goes for my grocery store. I’m not convinced the casinos are unable to do so.

Scott makes a good point about parking. We pay for it elsewhere, why let it ruin our trip to Vegas? I agree. And it doesn’t affect me much, as I spend so little time on the strip these days. Fortunately, the casinos I stay at, either off strip or downtown, provide free parking or validated parking for me as a hotel guest. (I typically rent a car in Vegas.)

But his comparison of paying for parking in Chicago versus paying for parking on the Vegas strip is not apples to apples. There’s evidence that people are staying away from strip properties because of the parking fees, but in the end that will wash away, much like the outrage and boycott of casinos that charged “resort fees.”

Whatever fees a casino charges, we need to add it all together and compare it to other cities. Is the cost of a weekend in Vegas a good value for a person driving in from California when the room rate, resort fee and parking fee are added together? Probably when compared to downtown San Francisco.

But we shouldn’t normalize these fees simply because they exist in some other form elsewhere around the country.