Like night and day: Las Vegas Boulevard and, left, Utah's Scenic Byway 12.
The Las Vegas Strip predictably brings some folks to ask how this gaudy, gridlocked thoroughfare could possibly be glorified as an All-American Road. Sorry, but we take our hats off to the government for recognizing the excitement, fantasy and ultimately the compelling cultural signifi- cance embodied in the brightest, boldest, most expensive and expressive 5 miles of roadway anywhere in America. Quite unlike the canyons typical of the Southwest, this one is lined in con- crete, steel and glass and decorated to the hilt with more than 15,000 miles of neon tubing. That, of course, makes the strip the only byway more scenic at night. While purposely engaging in gridlock might not seem fun at all, in this instance intermittent periods of inertia serve a purpose as we climb aboard the RV for a nighttime surveillance run. Our nocturnal mission begins at Mandalay Bay on the south end of the byway. The first sight to grab our eyes is New York–New York, fronted by a rep- lica of the Statue of Liberty, rising before
a massive make-believe skyline of the Big Apple. Greenwich Village is inside there somewhere, and the whole thing looks like a movie set just waiting for the next King Kong sequel. On the right is Planet Hollywood, heavy on the LED screens, and across from us is Bellagio with its dancing water fountains performing a mesmerizing bal- let. Back to the right, who could miss the Eiffel Tower rising 50 stories above Paris
Las Vegas Hotel and Casino? Oh, look left! It’s a volcano, and it’s erupting! Quite a spectacle it is out front of the Mirage. Once again on our right, that’s the Campanile de San Marco and the Doge’s Palace, courtesy of the $1.5 billion Venetian Resort. To the left, folks are lining up at Treasure Island, so it must be time for another battle between the pirate ship Hispanolia and Her Majesty’s frigate Britannia . Rising in front of us now like Seattle’s landmark Space Needle is the Stratosphere Hotel and Casino. At 1,149 feet, it’s the tallest freestanding observa- tion tower in the country, and atop it are several of the world’s highest thrill rides, including Insanity–the Ride, which sends you spinning at g-force speeds while sus- pended by a mechanical arm more than 900 feet above the city. Insanity could well describe the Las Vegas Strip in general, but the fact remains that there’s no highway, byway or boulevard like it anywhere in the world.
spring 2014 COAST TO COAST 17
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