Las Vegas Boulevard

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger likes to say that there is little he won't do to lure business to California. And he strove to prove the point Wednesday, lending his celebrated face to a nationwide billboard campaign aimed at drumming up business for the state. Schwarzenegger opened the publicity drive at a high-end shopping mall on the city's Strip in hopes of sending the message that California is prepared to compete aggressively with other states for businesses that want to expand.

The state's Roman Catholic diocese has built a $3.5-million shrine just for tourists at this booming gambling and entertainment mecca. * The gleaming white spiritual oasis--adorned with $300,000 worth of religious art--can seat 2,000 people in its upholstered pews, making it the largest church building in Nevada, regardless of denomination.

Katherine Ryder learned an important lesson on her 55th birthday: Don't poke holes in potatoes before boiling them. "With mashed potatoes, I never could really quite get it, and I never really understood why," the Las Vegas woman explains of her habit of piercing potatoes. "That is an important detail I never knew." Ryder's newfound knowledge came while watching "Martini Time," a live cooking show hosted by Tina Martini at the M Resort, along Las Vegas Boulevard a few miles south of the Strip.

Live in Las Vegas long enough and you'll realize it's built on false hope. Certainly, the games of chance are a loser's folly, but so too are the master-planned excess of Summerlin, the cookie-cutter streets of Green Valley and Henderson. And in between the sprawl is the reason anyone knows about the place at all: the narrow casino canyon of Las Vegas Boulevard, which winds through glamour and glut until it stops at the sea of rugged humanity known as downtown.

Silly you, sitting at home in front of your TV thinking NBA All-Star Weekend has anything to do with basketball. It might for the 70 or so players competing either in the game Sunday night or the various Saturday competitions, including the three-point shootout and dunk contest. But for everybody else, "The Biggest Party in NBA History" began Thursday, and basketball is simply the excuse that got 'em here.

Nightfall comes to the dingy street corner, and the flickering lights of the 7-Eleven keep watch over the prayer group trying to bring the divine to a carnal city. Jon Philips, who says he's been drunk for 45 days, wanders up and staggers into their prayer circle. "Bring us a brighter day," someone prays. Philips drops to his knees and the men and women of the Christian Motorcyclist Assn. encircle him, their Harleys parked nearby.

For the sunbathers around the pools and waterfalls of the Mirage resort hotel, it's an afternoon of trade-offs. Because it's so hot, the strawberry daiquiris aren't staying slushy. On the other hand, the guests can pretend to nonchalantly dip in the water to cool off--and coyly position themselves in the background as the Panavision cameras film Chevy Chase floating on a pool lounge. Warner Bros.'

ARE there any appealing alternatives to driving the notoriously congested Strip? Let's be creative: How about a mobility scooter? You know, those three-wheel electric numbers. In Las Vegas, they're not just for disabled people. At a maximum speed of 5 mph, they can cruise along the sidewalk -- passing the sweating, blister-footed masses -- into the casinos and right up to the tables or slots.

This town has had its share of notable events in its colorful history, dating back to 1830 when it was discovered by a Mexican scout named Rafael Rivera who stopped here because he found abundant supplies of spring water beneath the desert floor. In 1931, the city witnessed the arrival of neon signs--the first of many--and in 1967 was jolted by an unprecedented shopping spree during which mysterious financier Howard Hughes acquired four casinos.

If Las Vegas is Sin City, the resort half an hour east alongside Lake Las Vegas is more like Sun City. As much as we relished the peace of Viera, a just-opened condominium-hotel at the new MonteLago Village of shops and restaurants, we wondered who besides us would choose this languid retirement community-like setting over the high-energy smorgasbord of the Strip. The answer came while we were humming across the lake in a canopied, 10-passenger electric water taxi.