What Happens in Vegas Stays in Vegas!!

So the last time I was in Vegas was sometime back in 1994 or 95, and I knew things had changed, but not to the extent I encountered. Hubby hadn't been to Vegas since he was 18, and it felt like he hadn't been there at all. Let me first start out with that the "newer" casinos are amazing and not at all what I remembered. The old Sands and Frontier are gone replaced with up and coming casinos. Was shocked to hear, that Harrah's owns practically everything on the strip. More shocked to see the amount of "families" with their kids out on the strip. When did
Vegas turn into a mini Disneyland???? The amount of people up and down the strip was MIND BOGGLING!! The amount of money I saw being exchanged for gambling and drinking.....well let's just say I felt completely out of my league. Are we going to go back anytime soon, probably not, but it was a great getaway for the hubby and myself.

HOWEVER, I slowly began to realize, that I'm finally growing up. Back in my twenty's the amount of people drinking, gambling, partying, carousing etc......would not have bothered me at all, in fact I don't think I would have even blinked an eye when I would encounter someone in a drunken stupor. But this time around, the amount of people, the heat, and the party goers took me by surprise, and I was always looking behind my back. I just didn't feel all that comfortable out on the strip. I was actually fearful that something would happen to us. Where did the party girl of the 80's and 90's disappear to??? This would have never bothered her in a million years, in fact she would have probably joined the crowd of party goers. But suddenly, I fear, the party girl is no longer with us, and is now replaced with a more mature and cautious persona. In a way it saddens me, I wanted to be as carefree as the next person on the Las Vegas strip, but I just couldn't. Don't get me wrong, we saw two great shows: The Rat Pack is Back and Legends in Concert which were great, but I suddenly realized at one of the shows that we were partying with people my parent's age and not those in there 20's or 30's. But you know what, that's o.k. I'm o.k. with it and we still had a great time. (Sorry about the poor quality of the pics.....they were taken with an old fashion disposable camera, we left the digital behind by mistake.)
Oh, and I do have to say this.....IT SURE IS EXPENSIVE IN LAS VEGAS, AND WHAT'S UP WITH ALL THE TIMESHARE PEOPLE. Goodness that was super annoying, not to mention the open solicitation for prostitution ( see what I mean, when I say that I've turned into my mother!!) All in all it was a fun trip, but it's really good to be back home.

I'll try to post more pictures from the second camera as soon as I get it developed.