Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Thanksgiving, Las Vegas style

Nine guests, attire varying from shorts and T-shirts to sport coats, gathered around a lengthy table below an elegant 34-bulb chandelier at the Venetian on Thanksgiving afternoon.

Though service was excellent with waitresses circling in short ruffled skirts, for the most part the guests moaned in dissatisfaction.

Tom and Chris Hatton of Irvine, Calif., were the first to finally excuse themselves from the table, but it wasn't because turkey was cold.

The dice were.

In many ways, Thanksgiving Day in Las Vegas differs little from any other day. Craps tables can be chilled, sports books are stuffed and tourists mash together as they make their way from one casino to the next.

Las Vegas tourism officials have said about 271,000 visitors are expected to be in town through the Thanksgiving weekend, bumping hotel occupancy rates up to about 93 percent.

For many, a Thanksgiving trip to Las Vegas is a tradition. But the Hattons made the road trip east after an illness forced them to cancel their Thanksgiving plans with family members from Nebraska.

The holiday was different from those in the past when the family reunited and cooked a turkey dinner, they said. The Hattons were hardly stumped for ideas to entertain themselves, however.

"We're going to eat and play more craps," Chris Hatton said. "No shows."

For some, Thanksgiving in Las Vegas meant being able to do the seasonal shop-'til-you-drop a day earlier than in most other U.S. cities.

Cheryl and Greg Bedford flew in from Indianapolis to escape the chilly weather there and browsed the WB store in the Venetian's Grand Canal Shoppes after taking advantage of a sale at the Ann Taylor clothing store. The Bedfords opted to do their post-Thanksgiving shopping in Las Vegas after reading about the high-end stores that have opened during the last two years.

They were able to get a head start Thursday.

"It's something different, more entertaining than our malls," said Cheryl Bedford, motioning toward the canal where gondoliers serenaded their guests. "And so far the sales are decent."

Meanwhile, on the casino floor, gamblers punched away at video poker screens, and in the sports books and bars there were cheers and screams of despair from football fans watching the Washington Redskins play their rivals, the Dallas Cowboys, in a modern Thanksgiving tradition.

Many of the football diehards at the Venetian were cheering for the Cowboys, which seemed fitting given that Dallas' nickname is "America's team" and Thanksgiving is an American holiday. The turkey graphic that accompanied the score served to remind viewers of the holiday.

Diego Hernandez didn't need a cartoon gobbler to remind him, however. He did spend Thursday giving thanks -- to the ponies. With 10 horse tracks running on Thanksgiving Day, he had plenty to choose from his sports book chair.

Hernandez and his wife, Karin Klapak, chose Las Vegas to celebrate Thanksgiving because of its convenience. Since the San Francisco couple married two years ago, they have alternated holidays to spend time with each other's families.

Las Vegas is an ideal rendezvous for the family spread across the West Coast, they said.

Asked if they missed their traditional dinner with family, a cozy fireplace and a turkey feast, their answer was quick and certain.

"This is more fun," Hernandez said, hoisting a Bud Light off the cocktail waitress' tray. "Winning on the horses."

Sports book bartender Anthony, who asked that his last name not be published, said it's not unusual for his bar stools to be full on a Thanksgiving afternoon.

"There are a lot of single people out there," he said, motioning to the customers who lined his bar. "A lot of people without families."

But there were plenty of families at Las Vegas' hotels and casinos Thursday as well. At the many buffets around town, families of locals who didn't want to spend time cooking and washing dishes lined up alongside families of tourists.

Carol Gerschenson had hauled in her crew from Denver, where fresh snow had blanketed the ground.

Las Vegas pales in comparison to spending past Thanksgivings in Colorado or the Caribbean.

"Compared to the Caribbean, it stinks," Gerschenson said. "But I don't have to cook; that's the upside."

The Gerschensons, wandering through the Sahara, passed up one of the cheaper Thanksgiving dinners offered -- the NASCAR cafe's $9.95 special included fried turkey, gravy, green beans, cranberries and rolls.

Instead, like many other families throughout the city, the Gerschensons opted for a big buffet. But there was no time for the traditional post-Thanksgiving meal snooze.

Gerscheson's 11-year-old and 18-year-old boys were stuffed, but they were loaded onto the NASCAR Speed Ride nonetheless. Chuckling at the thought of what might happen to their meals, she watched as the rollercoaster shot into the Thanksgiving sky and around the city's neon signs at 70 mph.

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