December 31, 2009
Travelog: Vegas December 09
We made our 6th trip ( ! ) to Sin Ciry back on December 15th and stayed until the 22nd. The big news in Vegas these days is a series of polarized events. On one hand we have positive things happening like no where else in the world - we had City Center open it's doors on November 16th - It's like a small town within Las Vegas that contains condos, office space, hotel rooms and casinos, along with a tram to transport people from one end of this incredible area to the other. Other fantastic news comes from Golden Nugget that just opened the new "Rush Tower" which is a new hotel with a seperate entrance, separate eating places but is still connected to the monstrous Nugget main buildings as well. These two new projects are great news at this time in history as it seems to signify a comeback in this city, a revival to where it used to be in popularity.
On the other end of the spectrum we have bad news. World famous Binion's Hotel Casino closed all their hotel rooms on December 15th. The casino and some eating places within the casino are still open, but the hotel rooms are not available. We also heard that two of three towers at Sahara on the North Strip are now closed as well. This may be a temporary closure, possibly from renovations but I heard that 5 years ago when Lady Luck closed it's doors one cold winter and has never been reopened despite being bought and sold several times and rumors run amok regarding that great place every few months. And still years later, it remains closed.
Linda, Rebs, Lon and I visited City Center a few Saturday nights ago, and Linda and I then returned the following Sunday during the daytime as well to get pictures and video of the complex. We gambled, took the tram, ate at Monte Caarlo and walked for miles that night. My overall impression is that it's a helluva lot bigger than I imagined. I have been watching the construction of the place over the past three years and while I saw it as a complicated arrangement physically, it all comes together when you ride the train through the buildings from one end to the other. When we arrived and parked the car, it became obvious that photography would be a difficult task. These buildings are all so high here, that it's difficult to get a good angle because they are so big. You find it difficult to get back far enough to get the entire building in the picture. It is a mass of glass. There are the most modern looking structures in the world here. There are two buildings here that look like they are leaning to one side, it's an optical illusion of course, a really well done, nice touch to it all.
We saw a wonderful fountain display both during the day and at night - it's much better at night. We played the casino at Aria and did not have much luck. Linda and I played Bellagio Casino on Sunday for the first time and while I came up empty and was broke after an hour, Linda actually did quite well there. The tram ride is quite enjoyable and short while being a fairly picturesque experience. It eliminates the stress caused by the vast layout of the whole site. We used it frequently. Best part of it all for me of course was Saturday night at Monte Carlo Casino as I had a run of luck that was unbeleivable making several thousand dollars in less than 45 minutes. I really cleaned up for a change!
Getting to the pictures that follow, you'll see some "In & Out" burger signs. As the story goes, on my first visit to Monte Carlo five years ago, I did not have a great view from my room - meaning i did not get a Strip View room. My view was rather bland and the only memorable thing I recall of that view was the In And Out Burger sign that is situated right at the highway and the road that runs south of Monte Carlo. I told Linda five years ago that since I saw that sign so often from a distance, I'd like to see it close up. The suspense has grown for five years and we eventually made it there - as we did the burger and fries lunch thing on Sunday. Just another thing to check off on our to-do list. Burgers are great! Fries are wonderful! Drinks are big! I recommend it.
The Fremont pictures were all taken at 5am on the Tuesday morning that I left. It was very cool temperature wise and very lonely out there. Just me and two security guys for the most part during the picture session. But it's one of my favorite Fremont looks - there are ghosts out on that street at that hour. When I think of the movies shot here, the famous people that have walked these paths, and the memories of me and others out there on the greatest four block walkway in the world - it's not something that can be captured in photos. But they will have to suffice for now.
Many thanks to my Vegas hosts Linda, Lonnie and Rebs and I will include Cindy in these thanks as well. It was a nice trip and look forward to my Las Vegas 2010 scedule to get started real soon.
Happy New Year!
