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Las Vegas: The Long & Short Of It.
March 2020
This trip to Las Vegas wasn't supposed to happen and to make things more hectic it was done at the last minute. A visit from my Uncle fell through and my niece had taken some extra time off from work to see him. So, with the bonus time now in our collective hands, mom, niece and your truly decided to spend a night in Vegas. After two hours of going through the usual internet window shopping, we booked a couple of rooms at the old Union Plaza (a. k. a. The Plaza for the newbies) and early next morning we made our way to Vegas which was now only just over an hour away; I guess there is a benefit of moving to Bullhead City, AZ after all.
With a brief stop at Terrible's in Searchlight NV, it was a smooth ride to Vegas....until we hit the Vegas traffic. It has been many years, if not decades, since I drove into Vegas and up until this point, the only thing I had to worry about was the delays (which Allegaint Airlines were well known for) and grumpy TSA officers (the last such encounter included an officer demanding to be called 'sir' with a straight face to his fellow employees). THIS time, I had to keep an eye out on fellow drivers in either direction of us and adding to the adventure was the constant advertising of auto accident lawyers in both the radio station we were listening to and the billboards that were now around us. It was as if this level of awareness gave screw-ups a license to fuck up; “Don't Worry! We Got You Covered!!”. Yea, not helping.....
Despite the pretencail bumper car entrance, I felt my old hyper Vegas blood boiling again, which was something I wasn't expecting at this day and my age. It has been 42 years since my first trip that this town clobbered my subconscious into submission and 5 years since the last fix; a 4th of July visit that reinforced the golden rule of Vegas I had long forgotten: NEVER go to this city during summer unless sweating in public is your “thing”.
Sure, the city has a long history of following the tourist dollar, but since the late 80's I've been question my Vegas obsession whenever there's a seismic change rolling through the landscape, like the the 90's mega resorts popping up on top of it's old relics, the family fad that followed and then there was the cacaphonic 'Big Oops of 2008' which is still being felt with the lack of a replacements for the Stardust and Frontier, etc., etc.,
There are smaller changes, both Vegas and personal that digs a tad deeper; the local paper, The Review-Journal torn to sender thanks to new management, corporations ruling over the Strip like a Death Star forcing changes that supports their stockholders over customers....outside forces beating this city into their shape. Personal? I won't dowel too much here other than, well, I'm getting old and the pressure to go on to more 'normal' pursuits like sports and reality T. V. is getting on my fucking nerves (Sorry, but 'Jackass' is more than enough for me on both counts)....I witness enough hypocrisy going on around me, but TO me?
…..and so on.....
Our arrival at the Plaza was too early for our rooms and they held on to our luggage as we three made our way down Fremont for the wait. Wondering down Fremont early in the day; sun shinning, temperature in the upper 60's, people about enjoying the scenery, the crazies flying down the zip lines, the upgraded electronic canopy covering everything had a pleasant calming effect on me, it reminded me why I still like Vegas. It was the unusual energetic vibe that easily matched my hyperactive urbanrama imagination, a city that casually goes about its way to avoid the boredom that beats you into the ground in 'normal' regular life.
After a brief stop-over at White Castle for lunch (meh) our brand of time-killing wondering changed gears when we approached Las Vegas Boulevard and saw a crowded side of Fremont. It seems we arrived at the very beginning of the Mint 400; the off-road race named after the former The Mint and immortalized in Hunter Thompson's 'Vegas' book. Even there's no namesake hotel as home base anymore, the city revived the race and brought it to Fremont East section and on this day, it was crowded with tables selling their off-road wears and generally gearing up for the races that was to start the next day.
As we were not into the world of off-roading, the three of us moved aside to the sidewalk and made it to the Container Park. Once there, mom bought some beef jerky for the dogs back home and I was tempting fate by getting a 'Park' t-shirt; I was feeling Vegas-y; i. e. local pride for a town that I don't live in. The pride took a hit as they didn't have 2-XL in any design.
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​It was here that we split off unto our own plans and I made my casual way back. Along the way, I made a pit stop at the Downtowner motel. I suspect it's the urban name, the two radio spots I managed to capture on tape and the art deco refurbishment that happened during the 80's that made this two-story point of interest of mine for years.
Last year, The Downtower was bought by Zappo and went through a $2 million remodel and was re-opened as one of those mid-century boutique motels that has been cropping up around the downtown area. Outside of the clean-up and the lobby, the biggest change was the miniature golf course where the parking lot once stood, making it a courtyard. It was indeed a very nice touch. I ended up talking to the manager and told her about the commercials I had in my collection.
Sure, it was a small and unusual mention, but I was glad that I was making my own puny toss in the moat-sized contribution towards Vegas conservation. Why the hell not?!
I wondered around long enough to reach the Charleston Blvd. and Maryland Parkway crossway and noticed the art-deco styled Huntington Theater was sadly still closed despite past efforts and on the way back I noticed the name of their own preservation efforts of old signs with a program called 'Dapper Downtown'. Hmmmm, I haven't taken the word 'Dapper' seriously since it was used by a member of the found-sound collage band Negativland in an abstract form.....oh, and films from the 30's.
On the casual way back to the Plaza, I noticed one of the old motels refurbished into a business park with a large stage in the courtyard which was once the parking lot. This was a variation of The Container Park but the mix was more on offices with an organic tea store place up front. This street had other old motels waiting their own fate; either to be torn down (with only the sign left behind), painted into elaborate art piece or refurbishment. This mixture was pleasing to see and it made THIS part of Vegas exciting, more than whatever was happening on the strip.
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It was around 4 p. m. when we got the call that our rooms where ready and I met my mom and niece at the Omaha Lounge back at the Union Plaza. It was good timing as this landed during the hotels 'The Sip' promotion, a weekly event where all drinks at this lounge was free for one hour. We all took full advantage of this and meet there after part one of our wondering. My niece was in a particularly very good mood as she had gotten back from a local dispensary with a weed cigarette which obviously left a pleasant buzz on top of a free drink (and two and plus).
Once the luggage was taken care of, I went off to part two of my plan, The Strip! As this was a VERY short Vegas trip, I didn't put myself under a ton of pressure to see everything at once, maybe if this was over three days it would be plausible, but I had to condition myself to relax and take in what I can find and not to worry about the rest.
Not much to report as there wasn't much to to take notice; the Tropicana is still there in it's all white Miami fashion, Park MGM wasn't entirely different from the old Monte Carlo it replaced (only with more restaurants and bars), etc., etc., Soon, I was checking out the latest version of the Linq Experience, the alleyway between Flamingo and the still-mysteriously-named Linq. Well, this time I got to see the newest addition to this commercial property, 'Fly Linq'....and I had problems with it. Not in general as I don't like the idea of ME riding them, but the placement. The idea of squeezing in a zip line device in a small stretch of an 'Experience' reeks of desperation as to try to pack enough action in as possible. The on and off stations are bulky and physically and visually blocks almost everything. If this is an attempt to compete with the downtowns own zip line operation, it is a failed one as downtown has way more than enough room while space is an issue in the middle of the MUCH smaller Linq.
Well, this Linq has one attraction that Downtown doesn't have, an In-N-Out Burger!! Yea, they got White Castle, but their burgers are small and not much flavor thanks to the thinness of the patties and bums. Plus, it has been a long time since my last In-N-Burger visit, so that took care of dinner. While there, I called my friend in Vegas to let him know that I was there....and to apologize for the last minute timing. He laughed it off and we continued talking until my order arrived.
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​After the dinner and additional wondering around I headed back to the Plaza as it was getting late and we had to get up early next morning to leave.
The setting this time of Fremont was strangely similar to hours before with partiers and tourists wondering and boozing it up, only at this time of the night the mixture was smaller with a few scattered hangers-on, some street people who don't want to sleep and still selling their wears. The majority of this night cap club were the cleaning crew taking care of the layers of the night before.
This was also an opportunity to take notice of the recently refurbished electronic canopy. Shots of squares and numbers were flashing (I suspect this was a part of their nightly maintenance) and as an interesting touch, they even had a long shot of a full moon with surrounding stars of the sky; convenient and a tad scary. Still, the upgrade was impressive and I even saw the light show clearly during the day which was a bit of a challenge with the old system.
However, three hours into my rest, I found myself not very restful. As per usual with my old Vegas hypertension, I found myself sub consciously questioning the idea of sleep during this 24 hour town and the idea of getting up at say 3 a. m. and wondering down Fremont Experience with a video camera kept distracting me until I gave in and got dressed and grabbed my camera.
I have seen many wondering videos of Vegas on YouTube from professional smooth shots by the likes of Wind Walk Travel to the rough and historical shots by Ray Glasser and his Videoholic channels (a collection that goes back to 1982!). I have admiration for Ray's set as his unpolished and enthusiastic videos would be the exact thing I would do.....IF I video camera and mature enough not to totally geek out in public.
I had enough forsite to pack my old video camera, so I suspect this idea was creeping somewhere inside my brain since this trip started.
It was just after 3 am when I went through the Plaza doors with the camera on and within seconds I barely got a shot of a lady walking sideways and leaning a hard left. For a second I though she was handicapped, when I passed behind her and smelt the booze vapers, I though differently.
With camera in hand, I made my way down the street towards El Cortez and back. I won't bore you with the details as I posted this on my YouTube channel a few days later. Lets just state the painfully obvious, even in the middle of the night and the crowds maybe smaller, this freakin' town doesn't sleep. (Though, I will add that the The Duce bus stop closest to Fremont was the noisiest bus stop I ever heard.)
When I got back, my mom was wondering where the hell I was and we ended up spending some time and money in the Plaza's casino.....and sadly discovered that the Golden Gate Casino got rid of their old coffee shop, which seriously disappointed me and looking through the casino, I got this feeling that the new owners of the Gate drank the Strip Party Kool-Aid; they even got a door manager/barker. So much for the combination of Old/New Vegas.
By the time the sun was coming up, one of the restaurants on the Plaza opened up and we all had breakfast. My niece was a tad warn from the booze and pot, but she managed to meet and eat with us.
When that was done, so was the trip. We were off packing and driving back to the boring real world.
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Don-O
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