Las Vegas: Let It Entertain You

"Welcome to fabulous Las Vegas!" When even the flashy greeting sign on South Las Vegas Boulevard labels a city "fabulous," you know the gays can't be far. Not that this is a city easily labeled. Rather, Vegas can be anything to anyone: a foodie's playland, a gambler's utopia, a road tripper's desert oasis - and in recent years, a gay Mecca.

But above all, its claim to be the "Entertainment Capital of the World" seems boldest. And I wanted to see just how entertaining Las Vegas would be to me.

Zipping Through Downtown

It had been quite a few years since I last glimpsed all the glitz on the Sin City menu. Knowing the city's general layout proved helpful on this recent return. It led me to a happy escape from the Strip's narrow, crowded sidewalks in favor of the original Vegas entertainment district - a.k.a. Downtown, and now a.k.a. the Fremont Street Experience. Picture vintage sparkly signs from classic hotel-casinos like the Golden Nugget and Binion's peppering these blocks (yes actual blocks, not just a Strip) where the Rat Pack and Elvis once strolled.

Fremont Street of today is a pedestrian plaza covered by a massive canopy wired with 12.5 million lights and a half-million watts of audio, blasting light-and-sound shows nightly. There I was able to be entertained by the brand new SlotZilla in action, from which adventure-seekers fly via zipline from a giant slot machine, 850 feet across the enclosed plaza.

Beyond the dinging and ringing open-doored casinos and huge, bright souvenir emporiums, I wandered to the new $42-million Mob Museum. It seemed a worthy historic jaunt in this neighborhood where the city's scandalous side took root decades ago. Plus, the museum literally occupies an authentic mafia-linked locale: the former federal courthouse where organized-crime ringleaders stood trial back in the '50s.

Weary from the tourist throngs and flashing LEDs, I was lucky that the Downtown Grand Hotel proved a welcome, relatively low-key retreat. Better still was its spacious rooftop pool and surprisingly affordable room service, which speedily arrives like takeout in bags and to-go containers.

Let's Get High

While Downtown is on a steady upswing, the 4.2-mile-long Las Vegas Strip is the city's de facto attraction, home to 62,000 hotel rooms and around $6.5 billion in yearly gambling revenue. Here thrive legendary hotels, massive neon signs, sprawling casinos, and of course, shopping that spans everything from 99-cent keychains to $50,000 handbags.

The photo ops alone are enough to draw me to world-famous Caesar's Palace. But now there is yet another draw across the Strip in the Linq, Caesar's newly opened shopping and dining pedestrian plaza. I stroll past buzzing new restaurants like Chayo, serving lobster tacos and other inventive Mexican fare; and Brooklyn Bowl, complete with filling comfort food, bowling, and smaller-scale live shows.

Then it's time to climb aboard the High Roller - the brand-new (as of April 2014) observation wheel that, at 550 feet, is now the tallest in the world. It's not cheap, originally priced at $26 for a daytime ride, or $36 after 6 p.m., the High Roller quietly reduced pricing and now offers other discount deals according to a recent article by Time. Then again, who can put a price on those views?

If the wheel in the sky just isn't high enough, you can splurge on a aerial-sightseeing tour with a Papillon helicopter ride, which launches you airborne over the Strip for tours as short as 10 minutes or as long as 90. (Adult prices start at $82.)

Gays in Paradise

The Vegas gay contingent does a great job keeping the LGBT party scene booming. It helps that several entertainment, promotion and event resources are readily available, including Garrett's Gay Guide, QVegas, Gay Bars Las Vegas, and Las Vegas Pride, each of which list tons of current things to do. (For Pride tips, see below.)

The "Fruit Loop" is the gay district along Paradise Road, just off the Strip, where I found a bevy of thumping queer outposts. Among them are 8 � Ultra Lounge, part of the celebrity-spotting Piranha Nightclub, as well as cover-charge-free Freezone, and Badlands for kick-up-your-heels country music and line dancing.

Goodtimes Bar on Tropicana Avenue is another relatively new local favorite. Across the strip, check out Share, the shiny new mixed gay-and-lesbian nightclub with dance floors, lounges and, of course, VIP areas. Revolution Sundays at the Mirage also remains a late-night gay scene, open from 10 p.m. until 4 a.m.

The Luxor, home to the Strip's iconic black-glass pyramid, has proven to be a true hub of homo activity with its semi-regular themed monthly party Canvas. But the staple of all things gay-Vegas is the hotel's Temptation Sundays pool party. Happening weekly through summer from 1 to 7 p.m., local host-promoter extraordinaire J.Son draws scores of queers ready to bare skin, sip cocktails and dance the day away to DJ Matt's steady beats.

The MGM Grand, Tropicana, and Cosmopolitan Hotels are great community partners. Their teams can steer you to fun, queer points of interest - whether its daytime activities, dancing, or classic Vegas large-scale productions like the water-themed spectacle Le R�ve and Broadway-style musical Jersey Boys, among countless others. The Wynn and Encore Hotels, with their joint Pride Concierge (call direct: 702-770-LGBT), are also gay-friendly places ready to show you the LGBT-Las Vegas ropes.

When Pride Takes Center Stage

Come September 5 and 6, 2014, Las Vegas becomes Pride city, with the Southern Nevada Association of Pride Inc. (SNAPI) hosting the 16th annual night parade and festival. The parade starts at 8 p.m. Friday, September 5 from W. Charleston Blvd., and heading north along 4th Street to Ogden Avenue. Then on Saturday, September 6 from noon to 10 p.m., the Clark County Government Center Amphitheater becomes a bonanza of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender entertainment, exhibitors and vendors galore. Entry is $15 for adults and $10 for youth 6 to 17 years old.

For the ladies, Shedonism is the all-weekend-long lesbian party of the year, happening September 3-8, 2014. The Fruit Loop's Rumor Boutique Hotel is this year's Shedonism home base, hosting party after party, live music, and other forums of flirtation in honor of Las Vegas Pride.

Check out LasVegas.com for more tips to make your Entertainment Capital experience as gay as can be. Just remember, if it's true that no place does it bigger than they do here, you just may need to plan for some time off after your Vegas getaway.