Today is Thursday, and it turns out we had ourselves a date night in Nevada. It started in the morning with a trip to the iconic “Welcome to Las Vegas” sign. Oof, there are a lot of people who want that same photo. We opted for a quick selfie and a hasty retreat. There was one heck of a line. That was our first adventure on a city bus. There’s a double-decker bus called “The Deuce” that runs up and down the strip, extending out a little on the north and south ends to some other attractions. For eight bucks a head, you can hop on anytime you want for a full 24 hours.
Our intention was to go from our hotel at the south end of the Strip to that sign, even farther south, then all the way north, past the strip to Fremont Street, where we could see some of the remnant pieces of old Vegas. It was interesting, but my threshold for places like that is pretty low. At every turn, there’s a street performer or sketch artist or someone weaving items out of fallen palm fronds. Each and every person wants you to buy a thing or tip for a thing, and they all have extra loud speakers, somehow. All the shops had souvenirs, most of which were pretty inappropriate, and there were families with strollers everywhere. It was frenetic. It was more than I wanted to deal with. We thought of maybe finding a place with outdoor seating where we could sip a beverage and watch the world go by, but the beverages available for sale were all canned beers and frozen fruity drinks, and we were feeling the need for something a little more upscale, somehow.
That put us on a path to our next destination, which had us walking down a much more mellow street. We made our way to the Mob Museum by way of a restaurant that specialized in margaritas and nachos. That actually qualified as more upscale than the fare sold on the Fremont Street.
That was a good stop, but we had to keep on moving. The Mob Museum awaited us just a block or two away.
It’s a good museum, too. I was a little frustrated about one feature of the setup- it was put together in such a way that only one or two people could read an exhibit at a time. The text was small and the hallways were tight, so there was lots to read and not much space to share. That space constraint was unavoidable, too, as the Mob Museum was in a building that went up in the ‘30s and served as a combo post office and courthouse.
The courthouse saw lots of hearings about corruption and the museum did a lot to explain what happened in Las Vegas surrounding prohibition, which is why the basement speakeasy was so awesome. The visit to that speakeasy punctuated our learning about organized crime and bootlegging.
We ordered a drink that came mixed in a glass flask inside a hollowed out book. It was served with a glass of ice on the side, but the prohibition feel of the hidden hooch was pretty unique. When we determined that we needed to leave to make our next destination before the cold really kicked in, the waitress assured us we could come back later on. She was very good, and so were the drinks.
Next stop: The Neon Museum. This was a spot where signs pulled down from old casinos and businesses rest, some illuminated and others not so much. It had placards telling the famous features of the specific pieces and historical information about some of the items. It was all very cool, and it was all outdoors, as large, neon signs are supposed to be.
All in all, it was a very cool museum. When we wrapped up our visit there, we took our waitress’ advice and went right back to the Mob Museum’s Speakeasy. The drinks were good, and they had some really good looking small plates to share. Two more cocktails and a plate of beef sliders later, and we were ready to call it a night. We hopped back on the bus. That was an adventure. There was a clearly drunk man on the top part with us who wanted us to all know two things: Sunday is his 68th birthday and his wife left him. While I am sad about the state of his marriage, I don’t entirely know what that has to do with me or the rest of the folks trying to get south on the Vegas Strip. After he concluded a verbal argument with another passenger, he made his way off the bus. We were also joined by some very, very chatty young ladies and a slew of bachelorette revelers or birthday girls or something. It was a very long one-hour bus ride. Now, I don’t thing it was supposed to be a full hour, but there was a hockey game letting out right as we crept past that part of the strip, which is why it took so long. Regardless, even that was entertaining.
Tomorrow, we have to be packed and ready for our trip to the Hoover Dam. The bags have to be checked in at the hotel desk when we leave for the adventure, so we can return to retrieve them, then head to the airport. Apparently, our jobs want us back on Monday. Go figure. But overall, it was a pretty great date night.
Here are our photos once again: tinyurl.com/Dunlapvegas
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