What Happens in Vegas...

18 Mar 2014--Just down the street from The Mob Museum was the Fremont District, in downtown Vegas, which is separate from "the Strip" that we are all used to seeing on TV or visiting.  They have tried to revitalize the area I guess, and have done a pretty good job.  They call it "The Fremont Street Experience", and it is basically a straight 4 blocks of downtown, with casinos, shops, bars, and restaurants on both sides that is blocked off to traffic and has a thousand things going on all at once.  We took a quick peek at it during the day we went to The Mob Museum, but went back the 1st Friday night we were in Vegas to walk around...figured it would be more fun to see what was going on at night.



To show you how out of touch we are, or at least I am, when I first saw this stand I thought it was someone selling slurpies!  haha  I saw all the colors in the back panel before I saw beer pulls, but even then I thought "how odd...slurpies and beer?"  haha



Both the Golden Nugget and Bunion's hotels are down here, and probably another 100 gambling places we have never heard of, but aside from all the flashing lights, the most fun things are the people working the streets for tips and what I will call the ceiling of the place.

  





This guy does all this with spray paint!




A burger joint that sells itself based on your future heart attack!  They have a scale outside that you are supposed to weigh yourself on before and after eating, along with signs saying where to send your hate mail and why they take only cash.



In the back of, but outside, one of the hotels is this pool area with a circular fish tank.  Looks like a great spot for a cocktail in the summer.



I think we saw 4 bands over the 4 block area, and seeing as this was St Patrick's Day weekend...



And check out what I am calling the ceiling of the area.  You are definitely outside, so it is not really a ceiling. When not lit up you can see what looks like a gazillion lights high in the air, but every hour they play scenes up there synchronized with songs that looks totally cool!  I say on one of the videos that I bet it hurts business..everyone stands around watching when it goes on, so no one is drinking, gambling, etc.  haha



This past Thursday, late in the afternoon, we hit "The Strip"...not for gambling actually, just to do some sightseeing...we did lose a total of $11.00 on the slot machines, but that was as wild as got! haha




We had seen where some of the hotels have attractions in or around them to try to gather the crowds, so we headed to the Bellagio as our first stop.  We were actually there for the water show, but saw this butterfly display inside so took a look around for a little while.  Very colorful and pretty, and the glass housing where all the live butterflies are held up to 500 of them...beautiful!



Outside the Bellagio, every 1/2 hour they put on a huge water show, synchronized to a different song each time.  This certainly drew a crowd.



At the Cosmopolitan Hotel, we finally found something on Liberace, so of course we had to check it out!  Just a few fun facts to share...(I figure if no one else, Brian will want to know this!  haha)

-Did you know:
--That Liberace could "play be ear" by the age of 4?
--That he won a scholarship to the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music at age 7?
--That in the 1980s he made $300,000 a week for concert performances?

OK, on to the show!  They had his Baby Grand!



And lots of famous quips...can't you hear him saying these things?



A bunch of his outfits...this 1st silver one weighed in at 80 pounds!



Are you kidding me?  This is too funny!



And finally, a contrast in time.  Amazing that the same man who had to hide in the 50s could rise to the top by the 80s.  Still hiding, I guess, but I would say "in plain sight".

 

Huge billboard for Donny and Marie...as I told Patti, had I wanted to go see them, I couldn't get Cathy to go if I put her in a headlock!   haha



Last but not least, we went inside Caesar's Palace, where they had an animated thing showing the "Fall of Atlantis".  It was cute for the kids, but I was surprised at the fire balls.  I could feel the heat emanating from it from 10 feet away.



So 2 nights out in different parts of town and it only cost us $11.00--you can't beat that!  haha  Lots to see and the people watching is great, but we still like mountain and desert hiking best, so this was a great 2 weeks here where we got to do both.