The Lights of Las Vegas

As the plane began to descend, the passengers looked out of the windows. Everyone on the plane found their gaze drawn to the approaching city below them. Their destination was in sight and they could not help but attempt to get that first glimpse. Those passengers who had been sleeping awakened to watch the approach. Those who had been talking grew silent, seemingly mesmerized by the sight of the city. Those on the aisles craned their necks to get a glimpse. I had not seen it before and have not seen it since. That rare occasion where each and every person on an airplane watched as the destination came into sight. Only one city could draw such rapt attention. That city was Las Vegas.

It was my first trip to “Sin City” and my traveling companion’s first trip in more than two decades. The late night cross-country flight put us near Las Vegas just before midnight. Since our flight had flown over the Mississippi River, nearly three hours earlier, very few discernible sights had been visible. It was a continuous stream of wide open prairies and expansive mountain ranges.

As we began to approach our destination, the scenery changed. The darkness of night and desolation of the plains were replaced by a cluster of glowing lights. Las Vegas was in sight. Even at a rather high altitude, the brightness of the lights of the Vegas strip was striking. One’s eye could not help but be drawn out of the plane’s windows. As the plane began its descent, the neon only grew brighter. Signs and structures I had seen on television or in print became clearer. The climbing beam of light emitted from the roof of The Luxor. The silhouetted Eiffel Tower replica at Paris Las Vegas. The dozens of hotels and casinos lining the strip, many undoubtedly filled with customers. Gaudy and bright though it was, my first look at Las Vegas was quite the sight.

A few days later, when I flew out of Las Vegas, my eyes were again drawn to the window. In the late afternoon sun, I watched as the Vegas strip grew distant. In mere minutes, the city and its neon-lined center became indistinguishable from the rest of the landscape below me. In its place, once again, were the open spaces and broad expanse of America.