In the middle of the desert...


so Vegas was truly the great plastic city it was billed to be- with a plastic antarctic to boot. These cute fellas were a few feet away from the swimming "complex" and to their opposite were several flamingos, a compulsory zoological addition given the casino's name.
My brothers and myself managed not to lose any life savings- indeed, little brother Adam won a few rounds in Blackjack; making him the designated buyer of cheap drinks for the remainder of our first evening in town. We stayed at the old chestnut, the Flamingo, for two nights- and were lucky enough to have a window looking out over the Bellagio fountains, very gorgeous. The pool was all I hoped for...a wonderland of watery fun...and was densely populated for people watching between pages of my book.
While walking along the strip is plenty fun, we made the getting of free/cheap drinks sort-of a mission. Namely, giving the appearance of heavy gambling while peeking around for a cocktail waitress is a bit of an art. One doesn't want to lose five dollars in quarters lest the acquired drink might actually be at cost. Ahh, but when they come (or when you stumble into an all drinks for a dollar bar), the life of poor grad students like me and the fellow travelors is a blessed one.