Our family made a pilgrimage across the southern half the country during the summer of 1972. My father took a month off work and drove our station wagon with a camper hitched behind it; an economical alternative to hotel rooms and a novel way for us to suffer bond as a family.
We were bound for many different destinations. For an entire month I sat in the back seat of that car while we passed through state after state, starting in southeast Texas. We went as far west as DisneyLand in California, north as Yellowstone national park and east as Indiana, where Dad had an Army reunion to attend.
The most exciting and popular stop for us all was Las Vegas, and we ended up spending much more time there than expected. There was so much to see and do: Death Valley, Hoover Dam, and the casinos were astounding…! My Dad went off to play BlackJack at another casino, Mom was goodness knows where doing what, but my brother and I were having a ball at CircusCircus, the one casino on the strip that allowed kids. I’ll never forget the machines, the lights and the acts going on constantly.
Arthur has never been to Vegas and I’ve not been back since 1972, so I’d love for us to go one weekend and stay in a real Las Vegas hotel and play in the casinos and eat buffet food til we can’t move… if they still do that?
I don’t even care to see a show; just taking in the mag resorts would do for me! The MGM Grand has like 10 restaurants alone… like a cruise ship.
It was amazing to me at 14 and I’m betting it would be more so now that I can appreciate the ‘real’ casinos. Might have to start planning a trip! 
Vegas is very expensive now, we were very surprised when we went a few years ago.
But if you go you have to see Wayne Newton, he is freaking hilerious. Besides being the Chairman of the USO and drops everything anytime the military asks him to go anywhere. He is also a very huge military supporter.