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Whether you're drawn to the promise of its unearthly extravagance, to the appeal of its desert climate, to the dazzle of its neon nightlife or to the sweet scent of winning BIG, Las Vegas bewitches and beguiles its skeptics. But if the hypnotic lull of the slot machines isn't enough to seduce you, then Vegas - in its less-than-subtle style - will win your heart with a blend of lavish creations and simple charms. And Macy's West and Bloomingdale's - as two of the world's most famous department stores - feel right at home in the city that's larger than life. If you can imagine it - you can do it in Vegas. You can spend hours (and fortunes) making the rounds at just one mega-casino. You can watch some of the most brilliant and extraordinary stage shows in the country. You can dine at any number of five-star restaurants dotted throughout the city. You can fill entire days touring hotels that re-define luxury and scale (Las Vegas has 13 of the world's 15-largest). You can ride the roller coaster on the rooftop of New York, New York. You can spot "The King" live and in action. You can exchange wedding vows in a drive-through ceremony, or can trace the steps of the great casino robbery in the old and new versions of Ocean's 11. In Vegas, you can live your wildest dreams! Nestled in a valley at the southern tip of Nevada, Las Vegas' humble beginnings as an agricultural village were uprooted when gambling was legalized in 1931. Over the course of the following few decades, Las Vegas quickly evolved from a dusty desert town into a thriving entertainment mecca. Bound only by the desert sand that surrounded it, Vegas had plenty of space to grow. And that is precisely what this city has done. It has grown ... in every direction. Spatially, it's grown outward and upward. (Locals often joke that the city's bird is the "crane.") Economically, it's grown in both dollars and jobs. Residentially, it's grown as home to 1.6 million people. By virtually all counts, Las Vegas is the real-life version of "build it, and they will come." And that they certainly do - nearly 4,000 people a month move here - making it the fastest-growing metropolitan area in the U.S. From Wayne Newton to Blue Man Group to Cirque du Soleils' O, the entertainment scene in Vegas is varied and vast. Whatever your passion, be it magic or music, this city is bound to have dozens of its kind to impress and dazzle you. The food is equally as exotic and diverse. Visitors gravitate to enormous breakfast buffets (all-you-can eat for $3) in most of the resorts - a godsend to those that have spent an endless evening at the slots. But Vegas is also home to some of the finest restaurants in the world. Emeril Lagasse's New Orleans Fishhouse, for example, is a Creole- and Cajun-style restaurant operated by the famed chef himself. Wolfgang Puck, another celebrity chef, has six restaurants spread throughout Vegas! Other popular national restaurant organizations, including Morton's of Chicago, The Cheesecake Factory and Harley Davidson Café, have set up shop along Vegas' star-studded streets. For locals and tourists alike, the end of dinner means the evening is just beginning. Neck-in-neck with the likes of New York City and Los Angeles for the title of "the city that never sleeps," Sin City offers a nightlife that is both frenetic and hypnotic. In Vegas - if the sun hasn't risen, then the night is still young!
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