Dave Price Does Vegas
Las Vegas celebrates its 100th birthday Sunday. And recently, staffers of The Early Show gave Dave Price a tough assignment: spending a day there.
In only 100 years, Las Vegas has grown from a dusty little railroad town to a world entertainment capital. It would take much more than a day to see everything Vegas has to offer. But Dave was able to get a lot in, in 24 hours.
From the second you arrive, he says, it's in your face: "Las Vegas is a million sights, a million lights, a million sounds, all fighting for your attention at the same time."
One of the biggest acts in town: Penn and Teller, at the Rio Hotel. "If you want to go see something you really won't believe, this is the show," Dave notes.
Penn Jillette, half of the famous duo, kidded with Dave: "We're doing tricks. We lie, we cheat, we swindle. We are rip-off artistes. And saying that up front makes the show very, very honest."
Dave went on stage and took part in a trick, with Penn juggling broken bottles around Dave's face. "I'm not gonna stop," Penn exclaimed. "I'm just gonna let them fall, because stopping would be much too dangerous."
With that, he let the bottles fall behind Dave, and they smashed to pieces.
"There you go," Penn joked. "Was that fun?"
In Cirque du Soleil's Mystere show at the Treasure Island Hotel and Casino, artists perform overhead. Way overhead.
Dave's advice: Don't try this at home.
They asked Dave to join them, and he admits, "I probably should have said no."Instead, he strapped on a harness, went out onto a trapeze, and hung, seemingly, in midair.
"Once I was hanging in space, all I had to do was fall backwards, and let gravity do the rest," Dave pointed out.
"But for me," he continued after requesting he be brought back to solid ground, "it was 'Cirque du No Way.' "
The act "is a highlight," Dave says, "but you don't have to go do it. You watch it. That's what Cirque du Soleil is all about. Not doing it. It's not called 'Cirque With You du Soleil.' So, lay down and enjoy it while they do it."
Dave continued, "Don't get me wrong: Being humiliated is great. But there are even better things to do in Las Vegas when the sun goes down."
Gambling is still the big draw in Vegas, and Dave did his at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino.
He reports, "I bet big. Won big. And lost big.
"Luckily, none of it was real."
When the sun came back up, after almost 24 hours in Vegas, Dave pointed out there was one more thing to do.
He made his way to the Graceland Wedding Chapel.
"The chapel is small, the Elvis is fake," Dave observed. "But the tears (of a new bride the cameras caught) are real. And so is the love."
The preacher said, "It is with great honor and the authority vested in me by the state of Nevada that I pronounce you husband and wife, and you may seal it with a big kiss."
A day in Vegas, Dave concluded, is "more than big lights, big shows, big money. It's a place where the unbelievable can happen, and where it often does.
"We'd like to show you everything else that happened there, but what happens in Vegas is supposed to stay there."