There's excitement to be had on the Strip at any hour

By Bob Ecker
Special to The Advertiser

Day or night, Las Vegas offers plenty of gambling, roller coasters, people-watching, opulent restaurants and the latest Euro beat. Illustration by Jon Orque • The Honolulu Advertiser

Advertiser library photo • 2000

"Las Vegas is about being free to be whatever you want to be," said Las Vegan Stephanie Bethel. Wanna ride the Vegas tiger? All you need to do is set your watch and go.

Noon: Start the day with lunch. For once, step away from the grazing buffets with their lines and gargantuan portions. Zax's over at the Golden Nugget is a fine spot to order a burger, a Mojo steak or tasty, fresh sushi. This harlequin-esque space serves eclectic, contemporary cuisine. Many of the city's movers and shakers stop by at lunchtime.

2 p.m.: Vegas is a city that thrives by night but pales in the daytime, so get out of sight for a while at Jillian's on Fremont Street. This retro, 12,000-square-foot entertainment hall is a great place to while away some precious hours. Shoot some pool, bowl a few games at the Hi-Life Lanes, or play some skeeball — when's the last time you did that?

If that kind of pool has no appeal, go for the kind that has water in it. Hotel pools here come in all shapes and sizes: from the largest (Mandalay Beach) to the most exclusive (Four Seasons) to the crowded (Treasure Island). As an alternative to the mega-modern pools of the big hotels, check out the lazy palms and concrete pool deck at the Golden Nugget. The scene is frying-egg hot, stark and unadorned but in a weird way sorta sexy, like a transplant from 1961, the "Rat Pack" days of Dean, Frank and Sammy.

4 p.m.: Roller coaster time. There's the very high — the High Roller at the Stratosphere — and the very fast — Speed-The Ride" over at the Sahara. These two are also within walking distance of one another. "I liked the Sahara better, more curves," said Shannon Tyrell, a visitor from Virginia. Many people hop from ride to ride while chasing this variety of lunch-turning thrill.

5 p.m.: Time to hit the tables. Poker players love Binion's Horseshoe, site of the World Series of Poker. It's old, slightly seedy, crusty . . . perfect. Or maybe hop up to the Bellagio to shoot craps, a different scene altogether. First, walk by the lobby's magnificent Chiluly glass sculptures, then stroll past one opulent restaurant after another. Perhaps stop for a drink at Caramel, a charming little lounge nestled into the casino. Finally, belly up to the craps table to indulge in the evening's first gambling fix. The people-watching can be as much fun as the gambling, and it's cheaper — but be circumspect; big-time gamers don't like anybody looking over their shoulders or studying their moves. Time slips away when dice, cards and slots get rolling.

8 p.m.: Hungry again, or is time for a show? You could catch Cirque du Soleil's "O," the ABBA spoof "Mamma Mia," Siegfried and Roy, Clint Holmes, Penn & Teller or the Blue Man Group.

If you're looking for something different, venture east. Green Valley Ranch is only about a 20-minute ride from The Strip, and it's new, sleek and — for now at least — less crowded. If you need a bite, Bullshrimp specializes in steak and shrimp (try the macadamia pesto shrimp for a taste of home). After dinner, saunter into the Drop Bar, a translucent, round, bespeckled joint, with white-leather-clad waitresses taking orders. Nice. That prepares you for the Whiskey Bar, still inside Green Valley Ranch, where Hollywood types mix with the regular folks, creating an atmosphere of harmonic hum. The DJ might spin Nirvana, Neil Young or the Velvet Underground, then switch to the latest Euro beat. "We like the atmosphere here; it's the best local hangout," said Las Vegan Myra Ohrman. People lounge on large, outdoor beds and mattresses that overlook the adjacent Green Valley pool. If you're lucky, you might join a celebrity or two listening to live jazz, such as Al Jarreau and company playing on the deck.

Midnight: Ready to rock? Head back to The Strip, and take the elevator up the Eiffel Tower at Paris before it closes at 1 a.m. for a glimpse of the lights and sights from above — a few bucks worth spending. You can see a pyramid, one huge lion, a volcano, the Statue of Liberty, screaming coaster riders, some pirate ships, a brilliant water show, and even some Arthurian towers that resemble a movie set in colored cardboard, even though they're actually 10 stories tall. Lights blaze, cars honk, and you know you're in Vegas. Take in the view and think about life, water, all this power, global warming ... and where to go next.

1 a.m.: Time to prowl. There's V Bar, Voodoo Lounge, Tabu, Light, Rum Jungle, but I recommend the Ghost Bar at The Palms. It rivals Whiskey Bar as being the coolest, plus highest place in town. If there's a line, a $20 bill for the doorman gets you in, pronto. Smartly dressed lounge lizards in their 20s and 30s ogle each other inside this gray/green and neon bar on the 55th floor of The Palms. The outdoor view is breathtaking, filled with music and the light of Las Vegas' skyline. The crowd is composed of people who are exactly where they want to be, just like you. "I love sitting outside here," said Brenda Dunn, visiting from Kansas City. The bar serves everything from Red Bull and vodka, to their special Ghostinis (Absolut plus Midori Liqueur) and an extensive champagne selection. "This is like a fantasy world,"exclaimed Kyle Pickens of Detroit. Sip, breathe, look around, smile, maybe dance.

3 a.m.: After spending some quality time in the sky, it's time to come down, way down, to Drai's. This club in the basement of the Barbary Coast opens at 2 a.m. Wednesday to Saturday. It's where the true night owls stretch their pallid wings, where exotic dancers come to blow off some steam, where tourists mingle with the odd and wonderful, where locals party hard into the night. The red and black interior is balanced by leopard prints thrown tastefully around. Drai's serves a decent, specially produced house chardonnay, a nice touch after 3 a.m. "Everything's different here," said Mike Tyler from Nashville, Tenn. "I don't know what it is, but I like it." People seem less stressed at Drai's than in other places, their wrinkles smoothed out after a long night. The crowd at Drai's ebbs and flows, but usually keep going strong until morning.

6 a.m.: Outside and very late — or early — now, time to clear your head. Turn into the nearby Flamingo Hotel and look for the Flamingo Wildlife Habitat. This green area covering 15 acres is open 24 hours a day and free, and provides a pleasant break from the normal Las Vegas cacophony. Colorful flamingos, African penguins, pheasants, quail and a variety of ducks all share this little sanctuary. After a night of clubbing, the birds, greenery and relative solitude are delicious.

7 a.m.: Hungry again and now it's time to head to Mr. Lucky over at the Hard Rock. Vegas is home of a herd of late-night coffee shops and cafes, even a 24-hour pizza joint that delivers, but Mr. Lucky is known as the spot to regroup with strong java and a short stack, so you might spy your favorite rocker in the next booth. If you absolutely must have a breakfast buffet, the one at the Paris Hotel is considered the best in town, offering the highest quality and made-to-order French and American food.

9 a.m.: The sun is shining high but you still want to stay out. So go get a shrimp cocktail down at the Golden Gate. Voted the "best shrimp cocktail" in Las Vegas year after year, the old hotel still brings it like nobody else. For a measly 99 cents you can buy the classic, and where can you get a better deal than that?

10 a.m.: Though you could go to church, those tables are calling again, but so is your bed. It's either crash for a few hours, or perhaps it's time to hit the gym, or a mellowing spa for a few hours — most hotels offer some sort of health club where you can work off some of that food, beer and sleep-deprived disorientation.

Finally, it's back to the pool, or off to sleep, or look — they finally have an open seat at the table you've been waiting for...

Bob Ecker is a freelance writer from Napa, Calif.