Journey through old and new Las Vegas

[Nordic]

Another time a friend and I were playing blackjack at Harrah's and Jeff Foxworthy was playing a show there. He just so happened to stroll past the table we were at and my friend said "hey, Jeff! Tell us a joke!"

His response?

Fuck you.

Yup.

Well that is kind of funny. Hope you laughed.

[82_28]

I don't know if we laughed or not. I remember the whole table though kinda looking at each other in a way that imparted "I had no idea he was a dick". My friend was like that though. He has some similar story when he lived in LA and he ran into John Lovitz and he said something similar to him. Another time he was at Tower Records in LA and Billy Corgan was there and he followed him around calling all us friends within earshot of him. You got me.

[stillrobertpaulsen]

Oh damn, Fitzgerald's is gone?

Unfortunately, it has been replaced by something called The D. I miss Fitzgerald's, not only for its great Irish decor, but I think they had some of the loosest slots in Vegas. I won over $200 there one time.

This is what it looks like now:

[82_28]

What does the D stand for? I am assuming downtown?

[stillrobertpaulsen]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Yeah, stands for downtown. Also, it's the nickname of one of the owners, Derek Stephens.

[Rory]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Yeah, stands for downtown. Also, it's the nickname of one of the owners, Derek Stephens.

And plenty of other derogatory terms beginning with the letter D. I feel like I'm getting scabies just by looking at that picture - don't recommend staying there. Is cheap but you get what you pay for. That whole Freemont Experience is breathtakingly sad/amazing - families walking around gulping alcohol and toxic food dye infested neon slurpees. The "street performers" wearing pasties (and little else) or Elvis garb - haranguing passersby for tips. The otherworldly, seizure inducing light patterns. Etc..

Its a heady mix.

[82_28]

I went there the first month or so of the opening of "the Fremont Experience" and it was cool. My brother lives there and I asked him about how dated it now is a few weeks ago and he said "very".

[stillrobertpaulsen]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Yeah, stands for downtown. Also, it's the nickname of one of the owners, Derek Stephens.

And plenty of other derogatory terms beginning with the letter D. I feel like I'm getting scabies just by looking at that picture - don't recommend staying there. Is cheap but you get what you pay for. That whole Freemont Experience is breathtakingly sad/amazing - families walking around gulping alcohol and toxic food dye infested neon slurpees. The "street performers" wearing pasties (and little else) or Elvis garb - haranguing passersby for tips. The otherworldly, seizure inducing light patterns. Etc..

Its a heady mix.

The Fremont Street Experience was a lot of fun when it first started and in some ways it still is. The problem for me is the street performers. At first, they were all professional acts - that's what I recall. Now there's a whole bunch of transients dressed in costumes - many of them filthy- and they don't do anything entertaining, they just try to get you to take a picture with them for tips. And it is strange to see families walking around there at night: it is definitely geared more toward adults.

So with that disclaimer, here's our latest video of our experience there!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynF9R2k8NoI

[82_28]

I guessed they would have changed it up to LED lights. When I was last there it was incandescent or something. I once was part of the crowd at some Steven Segal fight scene on Fremont. It does look far better than it did back in 2000 or so though. That's the last time I was there.

[stillrobertpaulsen]

I guessed they would have changed it up to LED lights. When I was last there it was incandescent or something. I once was part of the crowd at some Steven Segal fight scene on Fremont. It does look far better than it did back in 2000 or so though. That's the last time I was there.

The LED light shows are a lot of fun. Every hour they do a show highlighting three songs from a classic rock group. Last time we were there they did Heart. I know there's a bunch of others, my favorite being The Doors.

[PufPuf93]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Yeah, stands for downtown. Also, it's the nickname of one of the owners, Derek Stephens.

And plenty of other derogatory terms beginning with the letter D. I feel like I'm getting scabies just by looking at that picture - don't recommend staying there. Is cheap but you get what you pay for. That whole Freemont Experience is breathtakingly sad/amazing - families walking around gulping alcohol and toxic food dye infested neon slurpees. The "street performers" wearing pasties (and little else) or Elvis garb - haranguing passersby for tips. The otherworldly, seizure inducing light patterns. Etc..

Its a heady mix.

The Fremont Street Experience was a lot of fun when it first started and in some ways it still is. The problem for me is the street performers. At first, they were all professional acts - that's what I recall. Now there's a whole bunch of transients dressed in costumes - many of them filthy- and they don't do anything entertaining, they just try to get you to take a picture with them for tips. And it is strange to see families walking around there at night: it is definitely geared more toward adults.

So with that disclaimer, here's our latest video of our experience there!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynF9R2k8NoI

I watched the two Las Vegas, one Seattle, and one Willamette winery clip you made with your spouse.

You are a cute couple and the clips are nice and good use of music. I plan to watch your other clips.

PSW I spent one night in Las Vegas back in the mid 1970s and don't feel that much has been missed but your clips are great and I am interested in Las Vegas history though not interested in casinos.

Is there a Howard Hughes museum or any Hughes tribute in Las Vegas?

[stillrobertpaulsen]

I watched the two Las Vegas, one Seattle, and one Willamette winery clip you made with your spouse.

You are a cute couple and the clips are nice and good use of music. I plan to watch your other clips.

PSW I spent one night in Las Vegas back in the mid 1970s and don't feel that much has been missed but your clips are great and I am interested in Las Vegas history though not interested in casinos.

Is there a Howard Hughes museum or any Hughes tribute in Las Vegas?

PufPuf93, my wife and I thank you so much for that compliment! We've certainly been enjoying making these videos and sharing them with others, but we always wonder, 'Are we doing a good job? Do others find our travel discoveries as fun and interesting as we do?' So to read that you enjoyed it so much that you plan to watch our other clips really makes us feel happy.

There's no museum specifically dedicated to Howard Hughes, but there are a number of exhibits at the Mob Museum that feature him. In addition to stuff about the Desert Inn, there was an exhibit devoted to the Mob connection with the JFK assassination which mentioned how Hughes' right hand man Robert Maheu facilitated the alliance between the Mob and the CIA that led to the plots against Castro, among other events. It really is a fantastic museum, but unfortunately, just like the Neon Boneyard, they don't allow videos, just still photos.

[km artlu]

I first went to Las Vegas in 1962. Frank, Dino, and Sammy on the marquees. Mostly low-rise architecture on the Strip; as many empty lots as structures, with a dominant sense of the desert surrounding it all. Turn off the Strip and immediately the roads adjacent to it were dirt, dotted with trailer parks.

The contrast of that memory to the pics I see today of a modern metropolis astounds me as an external marker of time.

[stillrobertpaulsen]

I first went to Las Vegas in 1962. Frank, Dino, and Sammy on the marquees. Mostly low-rise architecture on the Strip; as many empty lots as structures, with a dominant sense of the desert surrounding it all. Turn off the Strip and immediately the roads adjacent to it were dirt, dotted with trailer parks.

The contrast of that memory to the pics I see today of a modern metropolis astounds me as an external marker of time.

I wish I could have seen that. My first memory is during the 1980s. The sprawl wasn't as extensive as today but I didn't have a dominant sense of the surrounding desert then. Now you really have to go beyond Henderson to get out of the metropolis.

This is the last video of our recent Vegas trip:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVeP2-LeyVY

We always like ending a trip with a really fancy brunch buffet, and Bellagio really fits the bill. After stuffing our faces and checking out the Guinness World Record chocolate fountain, we headed out of town on the I-15 freeway. Once we hit the desert, we pulled over to see an amazing new art exhibit right outside of Jean Lake. It's definitely worth checking out Seven Magic Mountains, which is a huge open air art sculpture installation by Ugo Rondinone.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbApVx9DmMU

I believe it's scheduled to be taken down in 2018, so it won't last long.

[82_28]

The Peppermill on the strip. There was one in Denver too and it was my favorite restaurant as a kid. Now I can't even find a vintage picture of it. Remember that weird gas station like basically between where the Monte Carlo and the Excalibur are? Total hella throwback. I think it's gone now. The Hacienda which was torn down and made into the Malabar. That was the END of the city back then when it was the Hacienda.

Oh shit. I fucked up. The Hacienda gave way to Mandalay Bay. That's what I meant! Eeesh.