The bright lights of Vegas

We had a more relaxed start today than on most days during this trip as we didn’t have any distance to drive. In fact we had no intention of driving anywhere after the challenges when arriving yesterday! We had planned to visit Red Rock Canyon but decided instead to get the bus to the downtown area for the morning.

So after a good but too large (four pancakes!) breakfast, we crossed the Strip to the opposite side where we mastered buying tickets for the Deuce, the bus that travels the length of the Strip and through the main part of Downtown. We didn’t have to wait long for the bus but the journey was very slow as it stops a lot in addition to all the junctions with traffic lights. We'd chosen to sit upstairs for the view but couldn’t take photos as the window was obscured by advertising, and it was very cold as the a/c was far too strong!

Eventually we arrived on the fringes of what is known as the Arts District and decided walking would be pleasanter, so we got off. I found some murals to photograph but it didn’t feel very arty really. It’s possible we missed the main part of the district in our walk north?

The Fremont Street Experience

We walked the few blocks north to Fremont Street, once the heart of Las Vegas. These days it has been rebranded as the Fremont Street Experience, several blocks of casinos, shopping, drinking, eating and other entertainment. Overhead is what is described as the ‘largest LED canopy screen in the world’, Viva Vision. I’d read that there were nightly light shows but even during the day it was colourful and ever-changing.

We walked the several blocks that constitute the Experience, taking lots of photos. There were ‘showgirls’ posing for photos with tourists, street performers, lots of visitors in a wide variety of outfits and it has to be said, more than a few homeless or otherwise struggling people.

We stopped for a cold drink at a Starbucks, a place we usually avoid as we don’t like their coffee, but this one did offer a seat on terrace from where we could watch all the action!

At the far end of the Experience section of Fremont Street we were both fascinated and horrified by a restaurant, the Heart Attack Grill, offering free burgers to anyone weighing over 350 pounds (25 stones) and burgers with as many as eight patties in the stack!

Mob Museum

When we'd walked the full length we carried on the few blocks north to the Mob Museum, housed in the former courthouse and otherwise known as the ‘national museum of organised crime and law enforcement’. The museum charts the rise of organised crime in the US, its links to Las Vegas and the actions of law enforcement agencies to combat it.

There was a huge amount of material to take in and I confess we skipped quite a bit, but we found plenty of interest to focus on. Favourite displays and items included those on early immigration to the US, the Valentines Day Massacre in Chicago (the museum proudly displays the wall against which the victims were shot!), an AV presentation about the Senate investigation into organised crime (shown in the actual courtroom), the early years of Las Vegas, and some costumes from films, including Pulp Fiction.

By the time we left the museum it was well into the afternoon, and we decided to head back to our hotel for a few hours. The bus journey was again slow, but not as slow as the morning, and the a/c wasn’t as cold either! Back at the hotel we had an ice cream in lieu of lunch and relaxed in our room until it was time to go out again.

Neon Museum

We had booked tickets for an evening visit to the Neon Museum. So late afternoon we went downstairs and called an Uber. We had to wait a little while for our ride but got to the museum in good time. The light was just starting to fade so we were able to get photos of the lit neon signs, albeit only on our phones as proper cameras are banned. We also heard an interesting talk from one of the museum staff (or volunteers?) about several of the signs in the collection, including the oldest featuring a Plains Indian which is geographically inaccurate! I later realised that we’d ‘gate-crashed’ a tour that we should by rights have paid extra for!

The signs also include an original one from the Flamingo, the oldest hotel and casino on The Strip (opening in 1946) and Stardust, which is described as Las Vegas’ homage to the space-age era.

We decided to take another Uber to Fremont Street as we weren’t sure about walking in the area around the museum after dark. Once there we walked the length of the street, as we had in the morning, and took more photos. It seemed even more mad, and certainly noisier, than it had then!

I had made a reservation at a restaurant just beyond the end of the ‘Experience’ part of Fremont Street, called Eureka, based purely on location and a few good Google reviews. It proved to be a great choice as we both enjoyed our meals a lot – a shared starter of crispy Brussels sprouts, then my fish tacos and Chris's Reuben quesadilla.

In Eureka

We thought about getting another Uber back to the hotel but decided it made more sense to use our Deuce bus tickets from the morning. Big mistake, as it took about an hour to travel those five miles! By the time we got back we were pretty much ready for bed!