We stopped off in Las Vegas for a few days on our 2012 American road trip. It was ok… I mean I won a whopping 40 dollars, got a tan and walked the infamous strip. But after visiting I just don’t get the big deal over a place in the middle of the desert with a few casinos. I’m not saying I wasn’t impressed with the Bellagio water fountain show or with debating whether to tie the knot in a “Little White Chapel”. Heck the place even had me feeling like I was in CSI…if I closed my eyes real hard. But I don’t understand the desire people have to go back time and time again – to me it just felt claustrophobic and false.

I mean it’s cool to be in a place that has featured in countless films and having the opportunity to walk down the same streets, see the same sights. We also got to drink on a rooftop bar overlooking Vegas and experience a limo ride down to Fremont Street. But as for character and quirk it just didn’t have it. I mean you can step in to mini Venice in The Venetian Casino and get yourself a little canal ride… you might think that’s character. I however think you could just visit the real Venice. Maybe I would have been more fulfilled if I visited Excalibar hotel, living like a king in a castle and having 24 hour access to a McDonalds.

Now a place that did have quirk was New Orleans and Bourbon Street. You walk around the French Quarter to the sound of jazz gracing your ears, your nostrils filled with the smells of amazing food and the place just oozes old Louisiana charm. To me Vegas was fake in comparison, don’t get me wrong I get that’s kind of the deal with it, but the façade and the show just didn’t suck me in. I prefer the culture of Nawlins – and they sure know how to party! I’m talking hurricane drinks, yards of cocktails… and hey you can walk the street with alcohol too in New Orleans?

Seriously though no where else can you have such interesting conversation with a stranger. People aren’t dressed up to the nines, covered in fake tan and hiding their real self from you. For starters it’s too hot for make up and secondly there’s an atmosphere of just “let the good times roll” rather than, let’s dress up, hook up and wake up miserable the next day.

Anyway, after all this rambling I only have one point to make – Nawlins wins every time.