Day 1

Day One – Tuesday 15^th April

First Impressions

My first encounter with America on this trip was a rather terrifying one that involved being led away from immigration in Minneapolis by a member of airport security, who had taken my passport. Now as it turns out the matter was innocent enough, with the issue stemming from my returning to America so soon after I’d finished my exchange programme in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, they were just making sure I wasn’t coming back in an attempt to immigrate to America illegally.

While I ultimately had nothing to worry about and everything was resolved quickly enough, with plenty of time to catch the connecting flight to Las Vegas, the incident served to highlight just how damaging to the American psyche 9/11 was.  Security has become paramount, to avoid an attack like that from ever happening again, and every possible threat, no matter how small, has to be followed up and investigated. 

Stepping off the plane in Las Vegas it becomes apparent that you’ve arrived in a fantasy land. Slot machines are waiting just outside the gates beckoning you in with the siren like call of easy money, bright lights are flashing all around signalling to the new arrivals that you are about to abandon any sense of normalcy and videos advertise the shows and adventures you can indulge in just outside the doors. The airport is a tunnel that transports you from reality to fantasy, with the cheery tunes blaring from the slot machines acting as your guide on this journey. 

Day 2

Day Two – Wednesday 16^th April  

The Strip

(Walking the Las Vegas Strip)

Perhaps the most striking thing about Las Vegas is its walkability, at least on the Las Vegas Strip, with bridges over the roads, meaning you never have to attempt to navigate the traffic, and wide sidewalks, as can be seen in the photo, that can accommodate a vast number of tourists, make it easy to navigate your way down the 4.2 mile Strip from casino to casino. America after all isn’t famous for being friendly to walkers and Las Vegas at first glance seems to be an unlikely place to buck this trend, Portland maybe but not Las Vegas. Though this walkability only really extends to the Strip, if you were to turn left or right and leave it behind the ease of walking quickly declines, and returns to favouring driving as the form of navigation.

Although this makes sense if you think of Las Vegas, and more specifically the Strip, as more of a theme park than it really is a city, offering attraction after attraction for the visitors to wander between as they explore the Strip. There is even a roller coaster which wraps itself around New York-New York. Las Vegas is selling itself as a theme park based around the ideals of the American Dream. By this I mean it offers tourists the promise that they can visit the city and strike it rich, because theoretically you could walk into any of the casinos with just a few dollars and come out with a fortune. Instead of different types of rides Las Vegas is offering different types of gambling – slot machines, black jack, poker.

 Much like Disney Land all the hotels are designed around a different theme, such as Ancient Egypt, the Roman Empire, Italy and the Big Apple, which allow customers to fulfill their fantasies of staying in a pyramid or the Empire State Building, while also being able to experience the gambling that Las Vegas offers. They offer a fabricated experience that while fake looks believably real, it is an illusion but a very good one.

If you take New York-New York for example, as you can see in the picture above, the skyline does look believably like the one you would see in the Big Apple, and from a distance the Statue of Liberty actually looks almost genuine. However if you take a moment to do the knock test, to see if something is hollow or not, the hotels reveal themselves to be simply plaster board which has be manipulated to suite the theme, meaning that the hotels can be pulled down and replaced quite easily if they ever become redundant.

(Botanical Garden in the Bellagio)

Like all theme parks, the Strip and its casino’s offer other attractions for the less adventurous, those who can’t or don’t want to gamble, such as the botanical gardens in the Bellagio. The casino’s offer family friendly activities so the patrons can bring their children along, it can be a holiday for the whole family instead of just a parent’s weekend away, and when you get bored of the games floor there are pools, art galleries, restaurants, bars and luxury shops waiting to ensnare you.

 In fact the casino’s themselves are very much like Venus flytraps, once you get inside it’s really hard to escape again, with the dark lighting which mask the passage of time, attractions and winding paths, it’s very easy to get trapped inside the belly of the beast. We spent more than an hour in the Bellagio, with a good chunk of that time being spent finding our way out again, because if you venture further into the casino’s, they don’t sign post the exits at all, after all they don’t want you to leave and spend your money in another casino. The more time you spend inside the more likely you are to be tempted to use the games floor or buy a meal or have a piece of jewellery or clothing catch your eye. 

Day 3

Day Three – Thursday 17^th April

Town Square

Town Square Las Vegas is a shopping centre which sells itself as a being in the mould of a European town square, with the shops and restaurants built around a town green.

(Town Square Las Vegas)

As you can see from the picture, architecturally the buildings do look European; this particular shop looks Venetian in style, with others looking distinctly Spanish and Parisian, but much like Las Vegas itself they are fabricated. Using the knock test to examine the buildings further reveals more use of plaster board to shape this illusion of European life, even the grass on the green was fake, and while they attempt to mesh the different styles of architecture together, as has happened naturally over time in Europe, it all feels forced and orchestrated. Town Square is indicative of Las Vegas, in that it’s trying so hard to be a perfect replica of something, in this case a European town that it ends up feeling hollow and empty.

(english’s Quintessentially British gastropub menu)

While exploring Town Square I happened upon this restaurant, called english’s, which as an Englishman was a distinctly bizarre situation, and serves as a case study of fabrication. After all this is a restaurant which sells itself as being quintessentially British but the menu seems to be offering meals which an American thinks British people actually eat, especially the appetizers. Who would ever have chips and curry or a plate of Yorkshire puddings as a starter?

           

(Chair in the Mandalay Bay)

            The games floor of the Mandalay Bay appeared to be aimed at a much more masculine audience, for example the above chair with the skulls and makeshift appearance giving it a rock and roll feel, there was also a tattoo parlour and a House of Blues music venue. This may simply be because the Mandalay Bay Event Centre is home to UFC and therefore perhaps attracts a more masculine customer base, or it could be because the casino believes that it will make more money on the games floor from male customers, while their partners and children are more likely to spend money in the restaurants and luxury shops that the casino has to offer. However this could simply all be by accident and not design, they might not have intended the games floor to feel more masculine. 

Day 4

Day Four – Friday 18^th April

Gun Store and Red Rock

(Me holding a target at the Gun Store)

The world famous Gun Store was certainly a fascinating and extremely American place. Only in America could you go to a shooting range and get to pick between firing every gun imaginable, if you are willing to fork out the cash of course, from the smallest of pistols through to the most brutal of machine guns. I opted for a SCAR semi-automatic assault rifle, and as you can see above, chose the hostage situation target which feature the faces of real people, instead of the plain target or one featuring zombies. Now looking back at it the idea of shooting at the faces of real people should be extremely disturbing, but perhaps because of first-person shooter games I have become desensitised to violence as has American society clearly if it’s socially acceptable for gun ranges to sell targets featuring real faces.

            The Gun Store like the rest of Las Vegas is selling fantasies, in the form of the targets allowing punters to imagine they are in say a zombie apocalypse fight off waves of the undead, or in my case a U.S. Marine rescuing people from a hostage situation – even if my shooting needs a bit of work. Without actually having to be in the dangerous settings that go with these fantasies, as well as the dangers of the guns themselves, since the instructors are there to make sure you don’t injure yourself and are themselves armed to keep people from trying to actually use the guns in a deadly manner. While it presents itself as giving you the freedom to go down and shoot whatever weapon you want, it is a very controlled environment.

            Similarly the Calico Tank trail in the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, which is under the authority of the Bureau of Land Managed, was a very controlled environment, because while it suggested a sense of freedom by exploring the outdoors, it is a man-made trail, constructed for the purpose of public used, one which is managed and maintained by the BLM.

Day 5

Day Five – Saturday 19^th April

Boulder and Hoover Dam

(Sign from a shop window in Boulder City)

As I explored downtown Boulder City, with its historic feel and small businesses, the thing that stood out most to me was this sign. It instantly jumped out at me and caught my attention because it seemed to me to represent Boulder City on the whole, a place that harks back to a lost and forgotten America, one that isn’t dominated by franchises and corporations. It demonstrates the intense patriotism associated with America, the flag waving and loud nationalism, as the people of Boulder City and the tourists stopping by are clearly willing to pay that little bit extra to keep Americans working. The sign also suggests a sense of control as the owners have set out to manufacture a store that only sells American made products and not mass produced overseas made clothing, echoing the decision the Boulder City council to keep franchises and chains out of the downtown area, to allow the small businesses to flourish. Downtown Boulder City is therefore just as fabricated as the Strip and Town Square.

(Hoover Dam)

You can see from the picture how far the water levels of Lake Mead, the reservoir which powers the Hoover Dam, have fallen, highlighting the Southwest’s looming water disaster. While you can feel the effects beginning to grip Las Vegas, manifesting most prominently for me in drizzly trickle of a shower in the motel room, as well in the general lack of greenery in Las Vegas, suburban houses now opt for desert gardens, consisting of cacti and other desert shrubbery which don't need to be watered. This was the first time that I really understood the extent of the water problem that Las Vegas is facing. 

Unfortunately my picture doesn't truly capture the dramatic drop in water level, Lake Mead is currently holding half its maximum water capacity, and is undeniably going to drop even further below this in the coming years. Yet what are the solutions to this? If the lake ran dry it would spell the end for Las Vegas and all the other cities in the South West, but the people of the region can’t just stop using the water from the lake to keep it from running out. If they are lucky the current drought will break soon and a couple of wet years will come, but if not the outcome looks very dour. 

Day 6

Day Six – Sunday 20^th April

Route 66

(Route 66 sign)

Nostalgia seems to play a huge part in American history, in particular the longing for perceived better times, such as the freedom of the road and driving just for the sake of it that Route 66 seemed to offer. Perhaps this because America is still a relatively young country and therefore all its history, especially in the West which was still being settled just over 100 years ago, seems much closer than it does in Europe where we have thousands of years of history. As we drove along Route 66 we passed multiple examples of this nostalgia being displayed in the towns that the road travelled by, such as Oatman, AZ and Siegelman, AZ.

            This sign also demonstrates the way America has exported its history around the world, after all driving down Route 66 and following in the footsteps of travellers such as the Joad family has been sold as a must do event the world over, the same certainly can’t be said for the A19. When we arrived in Williams, AZ in the evening there was a group of German bikers, dressed in Harley-Davidson gear from head to toe, who wanted to replicate the true American experience of travelling Route 66.

(Oatman Information Board)

Oatman, AZ is a historic mining town which has turned itself into a tourist destination, selling the idea of it being a genuine Wild West frontier town, with wild burros wandering the streets and midday gun fights outside the historic Oatman hotel. Unfortunately because it was Easter Sunday the show wasn’t running disappointingly, but aside from that the town did have the iconography of a western film, it looked like the kind of place one of John Wayne’s characters would hang his hat. However if you look at the board above, which provides information on the history of Oatman, AZ, the town was formed in 1912, long after the end of the frontier, meaning that gun fights between cowboys would have never taken place in the town ever. Oatman has manufactured this alternate history for tourists to draw them in, drawing on the vast nostalgia and mythology that surrounds the Wild West. It is like Las Vegas a fabricated experience.

(A Gift Shop in Siegelman, AZ)

Similarly the town of Siegelman, which also lies on Route 66, uses nostalgia to sell itself to tourists, but instead of the Wild West it uses the 1950s, which is always looked back on with fondness in American culture as the glory days almost. The town used a lot of cut outs of movie stars from the era, such as James Dean seen above, as well as John Wayne and the characters from the recent Pixar film Cars, obviously trying to draw a parallel between itself and the town of Radiator Springs from the film which had been by-passed by the highway and was dying, much like Siegelman. Outside the main strip of gift shops, the town’s main source of income, there wasn’t much aside from a few run down houses; it was a very depressing place.

            Once again notice the sign promoting American made goods, suggesting that you can only get US made clothing and goods in tourist towns because that’s the only market who are willing to pay the extra money for a genuine American souvenir, in particular the foreigner tourists like the bus load of French people who turned up while we were exploring the town.  

Day 7

Day Seven – Monday 21^st April

Grand Canyon

(Grand Canyon)

Unfortunately no picture can truly capture the magnificent, jaw dropping nature of the Grand Canyon, which if I’m being honest didn’t seem real. Part of me felt as if someone was holding up a giant green screen that would be pulled away at any second. However it felt a little like the other tourists were ruining the experience, especially when we reached the Grand Canyon Village Historic District with the hotels and lodges and ice cream shop, it made the whole place feel manufactured and controlled. As I was standing looking over the edge I felt like I wanted to experience the Grand Canyon as the settlers travelling west must have done, with no other people around, in a true state of wilderness, with no barriers and designed viewing points. It all felt fabricated once again, giving the illusion of being out in the wild but it was still a controlled environment with designed paths, animal control and gift shops. I just wish for even a few minutes it could have been me alone standing by the Grand Canyon in its true natural state before people took control over it.

            

The toilets in the National Park told the tale of the water issues facing the South West, because they were just holes in the ground, even the urinals, as so to not waste water on flushing, and they only offered bacterial hand wash not sinks to properly wash your hands.