This week, I’m out west visiting my niece and her husband.
They live in one of the most interesting cities in the world.
Sin City…. The Entertainment Capital of the World… The Marriage Capital of the World… Lost Wages…
Or, as the locals call it…
Vegas!
The first time I visited Vegas was on my 21st birthday.
That’s when Americans are legally allowed to drink.
My friend and I went to the famous Las Vegas strip, where you find all the casinos.
The second time was a few years later, in October 2001.
It was just a few weeks after the terrorist attacks and the city was empty because Americans were afraid to fly.
But it was a great time to find a cheap hotel room!
So I met a few college friends here for a long weekend.
We went to the strip.
The third time I visited was a few years later with my family for Thanksgiving.
We went to the stip.
This time, it’s different: I’m staying with locals.
The Locals Tour
What do the locals do for fun in Las Vegas?
Well, Sunday morning, we went for a hike.
The Southwest is beautiful.
The air is different; the light is different; the rocks are so strange it’s like walking on Mars; and if you stop and listen you’ll hear… nothing!
Just a few minutes outside of the city of over two million there are thousands of miles of absolutely nothing.
But locals don’t hike at any time: they hike early.
Already by 11 am it’s dangerously hot.
And they also don’t feed the wild horses or burros:
Fun fact: When the Europeans arrived in the Americas, there were no horses. So all the wild horses in the Southwest are descended from the horses the Spanish brought over in their ships from Spain.
Tomorrow: What do locals do on a Sunday night in Vegas?
Cheers,
Mr. Vig
P.S.
Americans say “out west.”
But do they say “out east”?
Vegas is in the Southwest; is California also in the Southwest?
What’s the difference between “America” and “the Americas”?
Listen to today’s Vitamin V: Extra Strength and find out some interesting ways Americans talk about their country.
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thank’s a lot
Glad you liked it!
Thanks Mr. Vig.
Hi, very interesting story! I knew that called this city just Vegas, I heard that x time in the movies. But I dont knew what Sin City means?! In slovak language – mesto hriechu…🙃And landscape around city is wide and only rocks and silence.🌞 Because – Nevada desert… Are there wild horses. It might be interesting. I imagine there indians clearly. $500 fine – ufff high fine.
The sound of your lesson is a little different with the had set microphone and a few time I even heard the dog barking that I liked, it’s a real sound…
But what ‘s so interesting to me is that the Americans say out west and back est probably on the sense of Sun movement. I imagine the landscape you described from outside of the city, in southwest and I think is magnificent.
Hi,
I like very much visiting Vegas with you Ryan.
I’ve never been to a Casino. For me the word Casino evokes the brilliant movie of Scorsese, with Sharon Stone, Joe Pesci, de Niro, etc…
But I’ve been to different deserts in Tunisia ( Nefta ) and in California ( Coachella Valley preserve and the Joshua tree national park.
Desert is always magnificent, intense, majestic, and disorieting.
It humbles you.