Las Vegas, Nevada is like a secular Lourdes for the gambling crowd. I have an image of Bernadette crawling through the desert on all fours, parched and delirious with vultures circling above her, coming upon a mirage where she experiences a vision of a royal flush setting the stage for a pilgrimmage site to follow. Las Vegas, Nevada is among the fastest growing cities in the USA. It owes its very existence as it is today to the peculiarly human need to dream, to take risks, to escape tedium, to be titillated. Sin City, Entertainment Capital of the World and other appellations have been thrust upon it for these very reasons. Audacious, vibrant, showy and artificial as hell, it is a remarkably fun place to lose oneself and is easily accessible to most North Americans. Many people visit and spend their entire stay bouncing around the casinos of Las Vegas Blvd. like errant pinballs being projected along by the flippers of chance.It is along this boulevard of broken dreams that fortunes can be made but more easily lost. Apart from gambling, or gaming as it is often euphemistically referred to, Las Vegas offers countless entertainment opportunities. While attending a conference recently I was fortunate enough to fill my evenings with Criss Angel's new show, concerts by Elton John and Tom Jones, Cirque du Soleil's "O" and the Crazy Horse Paris revue at the MGM Grand.The dining is out of this world as well. Most of America's celebrity chefs have satellite restaurants here. Emeril's Table 10 and Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill were two that did not disappoint. It is essential to make time to visit downtown and the Fremont St. experience. Also it is worthwhile to take the time to check out the Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon. I splurged and took a helicopter trip to the floor of the canyon. Breathtaking and unforgettable. The face of Las Vegas is as ever changing as the botox and face lifted countenances of some of its stars and one gets the impression that repeat visits will never disappoint.