{"id":836,"date":"2011-04-27T13:05:07","date_gmt":"2011-04-27T20:05:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/traveltattler.com\/?p=836"},"modified":"2011-10-07T09:46:14","modified_gmt":"2011-10-07T16:46:14","slug":"what-happens-in-vegas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/golf\/lifestyle\/836\/what-happens-in-vegas","title":{"rendered":"What Happens in Vegas…"},"content":{"rendered":"\"\"<\/a>\n

Chances are, pardon the pun, you either have a friend or colleague who just got back from a trip to Las Vegas; or you know someone who is on their way to the glittering gambling gulch in Nevada. Business and pleasure are often mixed into the concentrated cocktail of gourmet restaurants, golf courses, entertainment, and gaming Vegas is. The town both stirs and shakes with convention-goers and pleasure seekers.
\nTake the case of two dealers: Bob Wyklige and his sister Sherrill Freeborough. Wyklige is a card dealer; Freeborough is a car dealer. He deals Blackjack to the all-night crowd at the Bellagio in Nevada; she sells automobiles at her Hyundai of Lansing dealership in Michigan. The enjoyed a reunion when Hyundai staged a nationwide dealer meeting at the Mandalay Bay Hotel.
\n\u201cI really like the Venetian Hotel, too,\u201d says Freeborough, who had no trouble moving between these landmark properties stacked right along the Strip. Wyklige has seen lots of changes and fads in Vegas. He\u2019s been dealing cards there for more than two decades.
\nLas Vegas, for a period, seemed to deny \u2013 or at least hide \u2013 the gambling. Roller coasters, water parks, children\u2019s arcades and golf courses were built, and touted, to families. I tested the theory, figuring no place embodies the ultimate father and son trip like Las Vegas! \u2026Except when your son is eight years-old.
\n\u201cVegas?!\u201d his mother shouted \u201cAre you crazy? That\u2019s no place for you to take my son!\u201d
\nNonplussed, little Harrison and I winged it to Sin City for a long weekend. After all, I had heard about how Las Vegas has made efforts to become family friendly, so I figured we could play golf and splash around in the swimming pool all day, and then take in the lights of the Strip by night. What kid wouldn\u2019t be wowed by the white tigers and colorful, fiery exploding volcano at The Mirage.
\nNow before you consider phoning child protective services to report me, you should know that I never gambled once on the trip. And we didn\u2019t even stay at a casino hotel on the Strip. But the glitz and glamour began immediately when Harrison wanted his photo taken with the limo driver holding the sign with his name on it at McCarran Airport.
\nAnd you should have seen the look on the young man\u2019s face when we were led into the giant two-bedroom sweeping suite at the J.W. Marriott in Summerlin. One push of a button opened the automatic drapes and revealed a 180-degree panoramic view of the Strip, behind the patio hedges, six miles below. The hotel management and public relations team, Jamie Land and Lisa Roughley, had left a welcome tray of nacho chips, beer, root beer and fancy chocolates, which Harrison dug into. After that it didn\u2019t take him long to explore the suite and come back asking me, \u201cWhy are there two toilets in each of the bathrooms?\u201d He giggled his ass off, and so did I, when I explained what a bidet was, and demonstrated with my pants on.
\nMy Vegas scheme was working very well when we rented a cabana for the day in the desert sun beside the J.W.\u2019s massive swimming pool. We played countless games of Marco Polo in the part of the pool which winded under a waterfall and rock cave. Harrison lived large, ordered kiddie daiquiris and smiley face-cut French fries to the cabana, which had soft chaise recliners, a cold water mist machine, and a television. Sleep came easy that night after a sun-splashed day.
\nBy day, we tooled around through the Red Rock Canyon, and played 18 holes of golf on Pete Dye\u2019s fantastic, dramatic Wolf Course at Paiute Golf Club, where the highlight of Harrison\u2019s round was an up close inspection of a large lizard on one of the cart paths. On another day we played golf at Angel Park and TPC Canyons too, where we were paired by coincidence with television star John Daly, the host of \u201cReal TV.\u201d
\nBut the lights of Glitter Gulch beckoned, beginning with dinner at the Capital Grill overlooking the new Wynn Hotel. Harrison endured the gourmet dinner well, but with the lights in his eyes. My plan, though dubious, was working. He was enthralled by the pirate show\u2019s explosions in front of Treasure Island. Harrison\u2019s jaw hit the floor watching the magic show and trapeze acrobats at Circus Circus, which also featured an amusement park with a Sponge Bob Squarepants ride. He won a stuffed animal in the neon glowing arcade at Luxor, or maybe it was Excalibur. He gazed at the lights from high atop the Stratosphere Tower. When his neck craned at the Freemont Street Experience animated light show, I was certain Vegas had been stimulating for Harrison.
\nThen it happened.
\nWhile walking across from Caesar\u2019s Palace, Harrison noticed a man walking along the street handing out little fliers. His bright yellow t-shirt had a message emblazoned on it: \u201cGIRLS TO YOUR ROOM – $30.\u201d
\n\u201cDad,\u201d said Harrison, tugging on my arm. \u201cWhat does it mean: \u2018Girls to your room $30?\u2019\u201d
\n\u201cWhat\u2019s that?\u201d
\nHe pointed at the man and repeated, \u201cGirls to your room: $30.\u201d
\nTime seemed to stop. I thought as fast as I could.
\n\u201cCleaning ladies,\u201d I finally blurted out. \u201cThat man is advertising for cleaning ladies. They come and, you know, clean your room.\u201d
\n\u201cGee,\u201d he said, \u201cCan we call my mom? I should tell her about this.\u201d
\nOh no, I thought to myself.
\n\u201cWhy do you want to tell your mom!?\u201d I asked Harrison.
\n\u201cBecause the lady who cleans our house charges her 75 dollars!\u201d
\nHard line Las Vegas casino operators, born in the hard drinking Rat Pack days scoffed, then protested, that travelers come to Las Vegas to gamble, and that marketing dollars should be spent embracing \u2013 not ignoring \u2013 that fact. Oh, and let\u2019s even put a touch of sin with the sizzle: \u201cWhat Happens in Vegas Stays in Vegas.\u201d
\nJim Trebilcock, a financial planner from Trebilcock and Danek Financial, in East Lansing, recently stayed at the Bellagio, but is happy to talk about the experience. He visited a number of the off-Strip properties, as well. \u201cI went to the Rio Suites and to The Palms,\u201d he said. \u201cBusiness in Vegas seemed to be booming! And I noticed swarms of young people \u2013 all dressed alike \u2013 flooding into the clubs every night.\u201d
\nOkemos dentist Dr. Christine Tenaglia never drops even a penny in the slots, but travels to Vegas regularly for advanced dental studies at the acclaimed Las Vegas Institute in the Summerlin area. The JW Marriott Resort and Spa there, like a welcome oasis, looks down over the Strip from six miles away.
\n\u201cMore than anything I love the amazing number of world-class restaurants,\u201d says Tenaglia, who plans her evenings around the availability of gourmet experiences by acclaimed celebrity chefs.
\nNot far from Summerlin, Restaurateur and lobbyist Noel Laporte, from Lansing, enjoys Red Rock Resort. \u201cThat\u2019s my place,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s the only billion-dollar resort off of the Strip.\u201d
\nMGM\u2019s new City Center development, a collection of residences, hotels (such as the dazzling Aria), spas, and high-tech meeting spaces, pools and landscaping is filled with fine art and featuring spectacular architecture, shopping, entertainment, and yes, gaming.
\nLori Fata, a stay-at-home-mom from Lansing, likes to \u2018get her Vegas on\u2019 closer to home at Firekeepers Casino in Battle Creek. \u201cWe try to replicate the flavor of Las Vegas in our presentation right here,\u201d says Jeff LaFrance, marketing manager for Firekeepers. The red doors behind the fountain of fire off of I-94 near I-69 between Kalamazoo and Lansing lead to vintage Vegas-style showgirls, entertainment right on the casino floor, high-end gourmet cuisine, and sophisticated, stylish, d\u00e9cor with contemporary light shows and music.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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