Read any decent guide book and they'll tell you that "las vegas" means "the meadows". And it does. But what they don't tell you is that the area was originally known as "los Vegas", which means "the Vegas".

Juan and Maria Vega owned a ranch in the area of present-day Las Vegas back in the early 1800s. This area still belonged to Mexico at that time. Maria had the bright idea to open an inn to serve all the weary travellers that passed through the area.

The inn did very well. Maria made all the meals herself. She became renowned as an excellent cook who offered guests more food than they could possibly eat....