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canyonwalkerNorth Las Vegas Travelog #14
Back at the hotel - Sun, 19 Feb 2023, 11pm
We took it easy at the hotel this afternoon after finishing up our day trip to Valley of Fire. We soaked in the hot tub again. It's nice that it's close to our room since we're not staying at one of Las Vegas's casino mega-hotels. It's just down two flights of stairs (stairs are right next to us, elevator is not), out the door, and through the gate.
We did feel the call of the wild, though. The other wild, the one of reckless hedonism. The one of those aforementioned casino mega-hotels. We went to downtown Las Vegas for the evening.
Our first order of business was dinner. We parked at the Four Queens and ate at one of their restaurants, a brewery. Then we walked out to see the Fremont Street Experience. I shot the short video above. The Experience is something that Midwesterners gawk at. I've seen it before. And even the first time I saw it, about 25 years ago now, I was like, "Okay. That's gaudy. And somebody has to pay a hell of an electricity bill."
We walked around several of the casinos downtown to check out their vibes. Unlike out on the strip, where neighboring casinos are actually a 15-20 minute walk from each other, downtown they're pretty much right next to each other. We strolled through several with ease.
Vegas is a place that has changed, and hasn't. Many of the same casinos that were here 25 years ago are still here. Some look similar to before, some have changed. A few things that were different:
The casinos are more overt with using sex— specifically, sex that appeals to heterosexual men— to sell. At the open-to-the-street bars many of the casinos now have (which itself it different from years ago) there are pedestals with go-go dancers gyrating to the music. At at least one bar the dancers were simply on the bar top.
There were go-go dancers in some of the casinos, too. And by that I don't mean they were in a club in a casino.... They were dancing on pedestals in the gambling pits. Also, at several casinos being a woman with a large chest and a willingness to show it off in a tight uniform was apparently a job requirement for dealing Blackjack and other games.
One thing that's changed for the better in Las Vegas is smoking. Oh, it's still allowed, and people still do it, but there are way fewer smokers than 25 years ago. Walking through the casinos we could smell the smoke, and our clothes and hair smelled of it when we got back to the room, but it wasn't as fierce as when we played Vegas and Reno regularly years ago.
We did more than just walk through the casinos. I sat down and played Blackjack for a while. I was up a few hundred at one point but then my luck turned and I couldn't make a hand when I had a big bet out. Hawk simply enjoyed watching me. Years ago she would have played herself but she felt way too rusty this evening. ...Which is reasonable because it's a money game. You shouldn't play for money if you're not confident you know what you're doing.
Back at the hotel - Sun, 19 Feb 2023, 11pm
We took it easy at the hotel this afternoon after finishing up our day trip to Valley of Fire. We soaked in the hot tub again. It's nice that it's close to our room since we're not staying at one of Las Vegas's casino mega-hotels. It's just down two flights of stairs (stairs are right next to us, elevator is not), out the door, and through the gate.
We did feel the call of the wild, though. The other wild, the one of reckless hedonism. The one of those aforementioned casino mega-hotels. We went to downtown Las Vegas for the evening.
Our first order of business was dinner. We parked at the Four Queens and ate at one of their restaurants, a brewery. Then we walked out to see the Fremont Street Experience. I shot the short video above. The Experience is something that Midwesterners gawk at. I've seen it before. And even the first time I saw it, about 25 years ago now, I was like, "Okay. That's gaudy. And somebody has to pay a hell of an electricity bill."
We walked around several of the casinos downtown to check out their vibes. Unlike out on the strip, where neighboring casinos are actually a 15-20 minute walk from each other, downtown they're pretty much right next to each other. We strolled through several with ease.
Vegas is a place that has changed, and hasn't. Many of the same casinos that were here 25 years ago are still here. Some look similar to before, some have changed. A few things that were different:
The casinos are more overt with using sex— specifically, sex that appeals to heterosexual men— to sell. At the open-to-the-street bars many of the casinos now have (which itself it different from years ago) there are pedestals with go-go dancers gyrating to the music. At at least one bar the dancers were simply on the bar top.
There were go-go dancers in some of the casinos, too. And by that I don't mean they were in a club in a casino.... They were dancing on pedestals in the gambling pits. Also, at several casinos being a woman with a large chest and a willingness to show it off in a tight uniform was apparently a job requirement for dealing Blackjack and other games.
One thing that's changed for the better in Las Vegas is smoking. Oh, it's still allowed, and people still do it, but there are way fewer smokers than 25 years ago. Walking through the casinos we could smell the smoke, and our clothes and hair smelled of it when we got back to the room, but it wasn't as fierce as when we played Vegas and Reno regularly years ago.
We did more than just walk through the casinos. I sat down and played Blackjack for a while. I was up a few hundred at one point but then my luck turned and I couldn't make a hand when I had a big bet out. Hawk simply enjoyed watching me. Years ago she would have played herself but she felt way too rusty this evening. ...Which is reasonable because it's a money game. You shouldn't play for money if you're not confident you know what you're doing.
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dealers
Date: 2023-03-07 07:42 pm (UTC)