What I want to know is what Patrick has for brains if he leaves his children to play in a toy store at a mall while he goes and shops? He may buy high end fashions, but me thinks he has shit for brains.

Number 1: I do not have kids. I said "the kids like to play FAO Schwartz", sorry if that implied that they were my kids. I also said nothing about age, and certainly if they were 3 or 4 years old I would not leave them. The term kids is generally used to refer to young people up to about the age of 16 and sometimes even older. But as Hugo Boss is right across from FAO Schwarts, I would certainly not worry about older children say 7 to 12 "playing" there while I shopped across the aisle of a mall. If I did have kids over the age of say 7 or 8, I would feel very comfortable leaving them in FAO Schwartz in New York or Las Vegas just as hundreds of parents do. Is your fair city less safe than New York? And do you really think that if a parent left a 10 year old in a toy store for 20 minutes while he or she shopped less than 50 yards away that indicates he has "shit for brains"? <BR>I guess Anon has almost as much class as ramz. One only has to read his answer to figure that out.

Now, I am a die hard lover of Europe and a history buff, who just finished Boston and is planning trips to see the Civil War Battlefields, Brugge and Copenhagen (separate trips, FYI)... but hey, Vegas is FUN!! It's great to sit in a 3 foot deep pool drinking pina colada's! Give me the spa at the Luxor and send my husband to the black jack tables and we are all set for the weekend. Some of THE best people watching in the world. The trick is to embrace the tackiness.... go on a quest for a velvet Elvis, a musical toilette seat, eat at a desert restaurant called FOOD! Live it, baby!

With respect to one of the country's most incredibly talented and philanthropic entertainers: Why does Dolly laugh at dumb blonde jokes? <BR> <BR>'Cause she knows she's not dumb, and she knows she's not blonde. <BR> <BR>Dollywood, on the other hand . . .

I can't believe no one has mentioned Mount Rushmore. Now that is tacky!! <BR>I don't care if they are presidents....it's still tacky...big time. <BR>

Patrick, <BR> <BR>Just a few words to say about your comments. No, one should never leave a child alone to shop 50 yards away. Sadly, statistics show that people who prey on children often hang out where children congrgate in hopes of finding the one who's parent is shopping 50 yards away. Case in point, Adam Walsh.

Patrick/Shit for Brains: <BR> <BR>Your Question: And do you really think that if a parent left a 10 year old in a toy store for 20 minutes while he or she shopped less than 50 yards away that indicates he has "shit for brains"? <BR> <BR>My answer to you is "YOU HAVE SHIT FOR BRAINS!!" <BR> <BR>Oh, by the way Hugo Boss cloths suck! You must look like a real idiot walking around in you Hugo Boss cloths spending you money in Vegas. You sound like the guy everyone is people watching on and laughing their head off at. Catch a grip, will you! Pleeeaseeee!!

Patrick, in addition to the fact that parents shouldn't leave children unattended in stores for safety reasons, they shouldn't leave them because stores are not babysitters. If a parent can't shop their kids, then don't go.

It only takes a second for someone to grab your child. Even if they are 10 years old. It happens every day. I hope I never have to entrust my child to the likes of Patrick.

MYRTLE BEACH SC gets my vote for the tackiest place on earth

Good grief, guys, Patrick isn't a parent and most likely won't be. I believe he's past that point in his life. Cut him a little slack if he doesn't know all the ins and outs of parenting! It's as if everyone is just looking for reasons to jump on everyone else here....

My brother keeps wanting me to take my family and go there with him and his family. His kids are 20s; mine are teens. No thanks. Doesn't even appeal to me. And I sure don't want my KIDS there!

These comments against Patrick have gone beyond being silly. Do all you people say that you've never let a 10 year old ride a ride in Disney World alone? After all he could be kidnapped. And do you really mean to tell me you'd never let a 10 year old walk alone to school or to a nearby mall or anywhere else. This is amazing to me. To hear some of you, you'd think that a parent should never let a 10 year old out of his sight or let go of his hand. Now you are being just plain silly. So, tell me with a straight face, Anon, that you have never let your 10 year old out of your sight for 10 seconds since that's all it takes! And by the way many toy stores, perhaps FAO, actually encourage parents to leave their children there. Some of them even offer special programs for children only -- no parents allowed. Or are they just trying to kidnap your children?

Of course Vegas can be tacky, bu tyou know that going there and it is always fun for short visits. (I certainly wouldn't spend a 2 week vacation there) <BR> <BR>There is nothing wron gwith tacky occasionally. I can't believe the snooty people who post here someitmes about how they have terrible vaations beause evrything is tacky. These people should learn to live a little, have fun and quit worrying so much. io've had fun at sophistiated hotels such as the Drake in New York and Four Seasons in Chicago, I have been to historical B&Bs with Antebellum theme and spent weekends antiquing. I have been to Sandals in Caribbean, Cancun for Spring Break, dollywood in Gatlinburg, the Wisconsin Dells, and everything in between. The point is I'm a 29 year old female who likes to have fun and thinks if you go anywhere with the right atttitude you will whether its tacky or not!

Look, I'm orginally from L.A. & now I live here in Vegas - pathetic, I know. & hell, yes it's tacky - that's why were moving! Vegas has no culture - zip, nada. The strip has a few interesting views, & we have indoor skydiving & good food - w/ really bad service. They fake a family environment, badly I may add. I am so tired of Elvis, Sinatra, T. Jones, & W. Newton & slot machines & porno flyers. Texas here we come & a yehaw to ya'all... :) (did that sound authentic??)

Let me try to review what has happened here. After ramz tore Vegas apart as being tacky, a lot of people posted, many agreeing that it is, but that is part of the "charm" or character of the place. I posted a message in that same vein, but mentioned that the original post was way off base to say that all the hotels "look alike", when clearly Las Vegas hotels have the greatest diversity of themes and styles known to mankind. When ramz got defensive and said that if you painted clouds on the ceiling of his local mall you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between that and the Forum shops, well. . . I got carried away. It seemed funny that one would not know the difference between painted clouds and a multi million dollar lighting system that changes the entire environment of a place covering a 24 hour period every hour. It is a lot "classier" than painted clouds. Painted clouds, however, might easily be called tacky. And for him to suggest that his local mall even approached the "class" of the shops offered in the Forum as well as other Vegas shopping areas, simply indicated to me that if a person couldn't tell the difference between Spago and Red Lobster; or FAO Schwartz and Toys R Us; or Hugo Boss and Sears, then obviously there is a major difference in our opinions about what "class" and "tacky" mean. This was not to imply that I am better than anyone, start a debate about fashion sense, or to get into a discussion about kidnapping potential, but rather to point out that we are at a dead end if one really can't tell the difference, or thinks that if a shop is high end it therefore is "tacky" -- which seems like total backwards reasoning to me. And when I offered a rather tongue in cheek poke at ramz about the "class" shops (sorry, but I determine classy shops to mean higher end merchandise, more upscale interiors, and appropriately enough higher price tags) that I knew were not in the same league as his local mall, suddenly I had started a debate about parenting. Whew! Talk about off the subject. In any case, I now give up. Sorry that such innocent posts had to turn to such name calling as "shit for brains", but that seems to be the limit of some people's mentalities -- oddly enough the same people who apparently can't tell the difference between painted clouds on a mall ceiling and projected images backed by lighting and sound systems. I never meant to defend Las Vegas except to say that it has to be viewed as what it is and offers, rather than attack it because it doesn't offer what some people determine as "class", whatever that may mean to them. <BR>And Susan, we must meet someday. Seems this is about the third time in the past week you have jumped to my defense. I'd like to think it is simply an indication that at least there are a few out there who use reasoning rather than ruffled feathers when they post.

Vegas has been referred to by some as an 'adult'Disneyland. I think it is exactly that. It is one of the few places where I can go for a few days and just have fun. No getting up at 7:00 AM to cram in a full day of sightseeing or worrying about the opening & closing schedules of museums. I can sleep late, run out in my white tennis shoes & sweatshirt (and blend in : - )) and either gaze at the Bellagio fountains or the snow capped mountains. I can lay by the pool at the Paris & listen to the French music being piped in while being spritzed with Evian by the adorable pool attendants. I can browse the art gallery at the Bellagio & then cross the street to Madame Tussaud's. Sometimes I forget that a vacation is supposed to be exactly that--relaxing and enjoying some 'down' time away from home. And sometimes just hanging out being tacky is the perfect antidote to civilization. When I get home, it's back to black. Viva Las Vegas!

Boy, you people are a tough crowd. I am sure ramz expected this to happen from his post, however. The thing I don't get is if he had free tickets to go anywhere in the U.S. Why Vegas? Did you do any research before you went? Have you ever seen a movie filmed in Vegas? From where I live Chicago) you can get pretty reasonable tickets to Vegas. If I had free tickets, I would be able to think of many more places to go. Also, we have many upscale shopping malls in Chicago and your average malls that you seen in any town. If you painted clouds on the ceilings, they would still be very different and be geared to different classes of people.

Dear xxx who ever you are, we had only a few days off and needed to get away to somewhere with good weather for the most part. as we are from Toronto. As for Patrick now you know where i am from. As for my original post, maybe we didn't go to Vegas with a Vegas frame of mind. But i do know what we experienced with the long line ups to eat, and to check into our hotel. Further more the people invading our personal space with the xxx rated handouts, and sales people trying to sell you timeshares, and boy it wasn't pretty.

I sure do feel sorry for a person who thinks eating at spago and wearing Hugh Boss clothes give them class. He has a lot to learn about class.