Bleachers constructed for the Formula 1 Grand Prix sit idle in front of the Mirage on the Vegas Strip.
Photos courtesy of Deb Sidener
Each year since 1999, my husband Larry and I have ventured with the same group of friends to Las Vegas just after Thanksgiving to check out the happenings there. This year was a bit interesting as the city had hosted the 2023 Formula 1 Grand Prix race on November 18th, a 3.8 mile, 14 turn street circuit right in the heart of Vegas.
We watched from home on television the late-night spectacle, ablaze under lights constructed all along the route, as 20 drivers screamed down the iconic Strip past the Bellagio, Flamingo, Mirage, Paris, and many other resorts at speeds upward of 210 mph for 50 laps.
In preparation for the race, the Strip was dramatically changed to accommodate the world event. Beautiful trees were removed from in front of the Bellagio fountains and replaced with bleachers to hold the spectators who would pay a minimum of $1,000 per seat. The street was newly re-surfaced along the race path, and the start area on Koval Avenue (one street back from the Strip) was unrecognizable as bleachers, pits, and staging areas took the place of the usual sidewalk establishments.
We arrived one week later and getting around the Strip area post Grand Prix was still a challenge! As usual, our group had procured a rental van since using taxis is expensive in the always heavy traffic of Las Vegas. However, on this trip trying to navigate the main drag was torturous, as workers labored to take down the lights, the bleachers, and the fencing in an effort to restore the Strip to its normal traffic pattern. We spent enormous amounts of time waiting for the usual four lanes to merge into one as we crept along to get where we needed to be. It was heartbreaking to see what is usually a brightly lit, fun excursion turn into a horn-honking free-for-all of angry drivers.
And then there was our first ever incident with a flat tire in Las Vegas. We had survived the orange barrels and slow creeping drive down the Strip and stopped at Resorts World for awhile on our way to the downtown area. As we exited the parking garage, we discovered to our dismay that we had a completely flat tire on our minivan. Having driven so close to where workers were deconstructing the race venue, our assumption is that we picked up a nail or a screw from one of the areas along the former racecourse.
Whatever the cause, we counted our blessings that the tire blew in a quiet area of Vegas, because getting help was an adventure in and of itself. We were so thankful that it did not happen on the interstate or in the middle of snarled traffic. The rental company sent an Uber to take us where we wanted to go, then they sent a tow truck to retrieve the van since there was no spare tire onboard. The tow company refused to come inside the parking garage stating “there were too many entrances and they couldn’t find us.”
In response, Resorts World tagged our vehicle with an illegal parking citation and took the keys, then lost them for a time, resulting in a rather lengthy process of another tow truck retrieving the van for service. And so we had our first experience with Ubers while the van was out of commission which was another challenge (a story all its own for another time). The next day, with our poor little van still not sporting a new tire, the company finally brought us a different van to use for the remainder of our trip … and they made sure to put a full size spare tire in the back. Thankfully, we did not need to use it.
All in all, we had a great time on our Vegas vacation, but I’m thinking a new movie could be made about this trip. The moral of the story is 3-fold: one, don’t go to Vegas when a Formula 1 Grand Prix race is about to take place or has just wrapped up. Two, make sure you have a spare tire onboard any rental car you obtain. And three, count your blessings, keep your sense of humor, and just enjoy being with the people you love.
