For 50 years, up until the early 1990s, the name Las Vegas was synonymous with adult entertainment. It existed for one reason and one reason only: gambling. Then the city attempted to remake itself as a family destination. The strategy didn't really take, as an explosion of topless shows and after-hours nightclubs over the past two or three years would seem to indicate. But the legacy of Las Vegas' family "experiment" lingers: fabulous theme hotels such as the Luxor, New York-New York, the Venetian, the Aladdin, and Paris Las Vegas, as well as amusement parks such as Wet 'n Wild and the Adventuredome provide a minivacation's worth of excitement -- no slot machines or blackjack tables required.

Every year, about 35 million people come to Las Vegas for the traditional reason -- to gamble, plain and simple. There are few supermarkets, post offices, video-rental stores, or other conveniences of everyday life on the Strip -- just casinos, wedding chapels, gift stores, and discotheques. Las Vegas is a fantasyland.

The Strip, the 3½-mi stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard South between Russell Road and Sahara Avenue, is the heart of Las Vegas. Its soul is the downtown area north of the Strip, whose core is Fremont Street. By exploring these two areas, you'll experience both the commercial lifeblood and pioneer spirit of this most flamboyant of American cities.