Las Vegas Family Trip

Posted by Dr. Yan Lyansky on Jul 6th 2018

Sometimes what happens in Vegas shouldn’t stay in Vegas.

There are a lot of places in the United States that are great to visit. We all have heard of Mount Rushmore, the Grand Canyon, and the Hoover Dam but many of the top places are actually cities: New York, Boston, New Orleans, and Los Angeles. But Las Vegas is one city that is fun for the whole family and also happens to have something going on every year that is dear to my heart. And yes, it had to do with bicycles. Interbike, the biggest bike show in the USA, has been coming to Las Vegas for over a decade. I’ve been to it several times, so I'm familiar with cycling in Vegas. If you’ve been reading my posts and articles you already know that I take a bike almost everywhere I go. That’s one of the joys of having a Downtube folding bike – it’s easy to transport. Traffic in Vegas is usually horrible, so walking or cycling are much more enjoyable. They won’t let you take a full size bike into a casino/hotel, but a folding bike in bag is acceptable. You aren’t limited to where you explore if you have a folding bike.

The history of Las Vegas includes that it was the spot for a gambling empire started by the notorious mobster Bugsy Siegel with the help of another mobster Meyer Lansky. They had a lot of opposition from local families who ran the existing casinos. But mobster being mobsters, they found a way around these opponents by funneling money through Mormon-owned banks, and in 1946 the opened the Flamingo. It wasn’t going to be like the casinos that were already raking in a lot of money. Bugsy was familiar with how the casinos in Galveston, Texas were run and liked the lavish style, so he incorporated that into the Flamingo. He was so successful that others followed until all of the casinos on the strip raised their profile. A lot has changed since then. Las Vegas has gone from a purely gambling town to a show place and family oriented wonderland.

My family loved walking the strip. The kids loved the color, sounds, and extravagance of it all. The Venetian, Bellagio, Paris, Cesar's Palace, are Aria were their favorites. Walking through these beautiful properties is amazing. Sometimes it is a little overwhelming, so I would recommend taking your time and having a quiet little rest in between visits. Kids can get very stimulated with all the flashing lights. We never made it to Circus Circus, but I understand it is ideal for families because they put on a variety of shows throughout the day.

The best shows were Circ du Soleil’s O and Ka. My kids loved them both. Earlier we saw Michael Jackson's One which was great but not as good as the previous.

If you have a chance to get to Las Vegas I recommend that you check out these amazing shows.

As a parting gift I pasted a replica of the Sistine Chapel that graces the ceiling in the Venetian. 

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