… Hip-hop artist Sean “Diddy” Combs hosts a party at the Wet Republic pool at the MGM Grand Hotel/Casino in 2009. The pool area teems with flesh and is transformed into a “dayclub” scene.Photograph by: Ethan Miller, Getty Images For Wet Republic, For The Calgary Herald
I had my reservations. I mean, there’s a reason I smugly called myself a “Vegas virgin.”
Everything I had heard about Sin City held little to no appeal.
An adult Disneyland.
A smoky, casino-driven tourist trap built on losers, not winners. (Hence the nickname Lost Wages.)
An aggressive “adult entertainment” destination overrun with packs of rowdy young men celebrating upcoming marriages a la The Hangover — Hollywood’s recent hit movie about a stag gone terribly awry.
No, I was flying to Nevada with a companion who was also a self-proclaimed Vegas virgin to attend the launch of a friend’s rock photography gallery at the Las Vegas Hilton.