Razzle Dazzle! (Sights & Attractions in Las Vegas in general)

Member Name: jayjolynn

Product:	Sights & Attractions in Las Vegas in general
Date:	10/11/06 (244 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Dazzling Lights!

Disadvantages: Depends on how you view it?

Downtown Las Vegas!

I had some American friends whom I met up with….and we decided to do ‘Downtown’! We met at the far northwest corner of downtown, in the Main Street Station.

Main Street Station

Main Street Station was very authentic and their many antiques with detailed craftsmanship was nice to see, but as usual, the never ending slot machines and games tables tend to take your eye away from these!
Everything from stained glass window (one that was given to the singer/actress Lillian Russell (popular in the 1880's) by "Diamond Jim" Brady. The doors are bronze, and beautiful Chandeliers (one which once hung in the Figaro Opera House in Paris!) adorn this Casino, and there is even a portion of the Berlin Wall….unfortunately in the ‘Mens’! Why? (So, never got to check it out, but was assured by the male company it was there!!!) We had a couple of soft drinks (as we had a whole night ahead of us!) in here, and a few games on the machines, gaming tables etc…..and I quite liked this place, in general! Overall I found Main Street Station to be quieter, and a bit more sophisticated? (Las Vegas, sophisticated? No! )
Once all our party had all arrived, we set off for the ‘Experience’ which is what we came to see….

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FREMONT STREET

……it is so dazzling you couldn't tell if it was daytime or night time and the whole area is just a mass of thousands of lights adorning every building (hate to see their electricity bill! Because it is a narrower street (unlike the ‘Strip’) the lights appear to be never ending and every building is crammed up to another one, making it just one big light show in itself!! My first impression of it had the ‘wow’ factor!!

‘ In 1995, Freemont Street was closed to traffic, a huge canopy was constructed over a four blocks, as part of a city redevelopment project called the Freemont Street Experience. The canopy towers 90 feet above the street and houses with more than 2 million lights.’ www.vegasexperience.com ......

Well, here we were, taking in this array of lights and colour! We were just strolling about when the show began and it just made you stop in your tracks!

Every hour, after the sun goes down, you can see a free, computer-generated light and sound show. These are themed shows and it’s an amazing mish mash of coloured graphics & sound all covering the huge canopy above!! This computerised show, brings the whole busy pedestrian precinct to a halt as everyone stands looking upward at this spectacle, projecting images of gambling, advertising, and basically an array of everything! It doesn’t last too long, but it is worth seeing, just to wonder at the technology that goes into this! As we stood and looked at this spectacle above our heads I realised my neck was starting to creek, with having stood there with jaw hanging open for too long!

As the show ends, the busy precinct starts to get moving again, and this is a busy place, with thousands of visitors packed into the area, and of course along with it brings the ‘not so nice’ characters! There is a lot of crime committed here, and one of them being pick pocketing, so hold on to your purses and wallets!

Downtown has had more of it’s fair share of shootings etc. over the years (one, which took place a few months before I arrived!)…..and is famous for it’s gambling Gangsters, even nowadays! I never encountered any problems there, but think you have to be vigilant! In fact, I would say the majority of people going there are tourists just enjoying the buzz of this ‘Experience’! Facts are facts though, so I guess there must be a lot of underhand ‘goings on’!

Now, this is what I did in Vegas Downtown….. I visit these Hotels, just to have a peek to see what they were like, therefore I can’t give an in depth review of them, e.g. dining (apart from the 4 Queens), rooms, service, so it is just my impression of what I saw in viewing their reception areas, toilets etc… and there are too many to review every one of them….so will just write about a few which stick in my mind!

HOGS AND HEIFERS

The Bars have something for everyone, and the famous Hogs & Heifer’s at the end of Fremont Street was a ‘must’ for me to visit, only just to peek in and see if it was true about it being a free for all!! ‘This New York City-based bar was the original inspiration for the film "Coyote Ugly".
"The only person with attitude in the bar is the woman behind it" is the philosophy at Hogs & Heifers, and frills are nowhere to be found: no specialty cocktails, no dress codes, no ties, no guest list, and no whining are allowed’ http://www.vegas.com/nightlife/bars/hogsandheifers

This bar lived up to it’s reputation, and yes, there were no frills, just a lively bar with girls inciting the punters to drink more, make more noise, and generally just have fun! I was a bit wary in here, as I could gather that this was a real ‘anything goes’ sort of place, but it was packed out that night, so it must be popular with regular visitors to Downtown, especially men! We only had one drink in here, and it cost about $5, so not expensive, compared to your higher class ‘joints’! Hogs and Heifers are part of a large chain, so they must be doing something right by focusing on the cheaper side of having fun!


FOUR QUEENS

We were hungry, so decided to eat, and chose the Four Queens ... Chicago Brewing Company and that turned out a good decision…..nice meal and good value…..compared to their Hugo’s Restaurant (expensive)! I had ‘trio of fillet Mignon Sliders (3 broiled tenderloin fillet, mushrooms and onions) and a good deal at $9!

The 4 Queens was good fun and we spent a lot of time in there, and the drinks were reasonable too. I was sitting at the bar a lot, chatting to my friends, still forgetting that even if I put pennies into the slot machines I would have been offered free drink! (Every Casino, if you are gambling, offers you free drinks)

While in the 4 Queens, I had to experience their cigar bar…..sorry, don’t ‘get’ this? Just another bar, I think, except they smoke cigars? So, once I had got the 'gist' of it, I never stuck around for long!

Las Vegas is still one of the few U.S. cities that welcomes smokers in general……and their ‘cigar bars’ are plentiful, and appear to be very popular! I never found this particularly exciting, but then, I don’t smoke cigars! You can smoke anywhere in Vegas, and most of the Casinos have not got any smoking policies, so if you are a smoker, you will be made welcome in most places!

THE GOLDEN NUGGET

This is something that opened my eyes! It is a most ‘up market’ hotel/casino in the downtown area! If you head back towards the shops here, you see the biggest golden nugget in the world, weighing a massive 61 pounds 22 ounces!

The ‘Nugget’ Hotel and Casino I must say, surprised me! I somehow thought of it as a seedy sort of place, but, no, how wrong I was! I don't know why I imagine this place to be downmarket?
This is an elegant hotel in contrast to many of the huge resort type Hotels in Vegas! It has recently-been renovated, but to see its exterior, brightly lit with thousands of lights, it gives you a feeling that when you enter, it will be just another ‘cheesy’ Downtown Vegas Hotel. Not so! It has a beautiful Victorian themed reception area….and really quite classy compared to many! I had to see the toilets too (another quirk of mine!) They were very elegant, and ornate, and most importantly, very clean!
I could have spent longer in this Hotel, if I had not had more things I wanted to see!

FITZGERALDS

This appeared to be a ‘fun’ Hotel, but overall I was quite unimpressed, their reception area and toilets nice, but nothing to write home about!

They do offer you 1340 slot machines, and a lot of them accepting ‘penny’ bets, for the poor inexperienced punters like me! They also offer big time gaming too, but since I am not really a gambler, this place did suit me, as I just sat and put in my small pennies and got a couple of free drinks into the bargain, and hey, my investment of $20 paid off! I won $52! Well, I was so excited, as I never win anything (probably due to the fact I never normally gamble)! If you win and choose to cash in your winnings, the machine gives you a little ticket which you take up to a Cashier and they will give you your massive win! I stood in line and received mine, and I couldn’t take the silly grin off my face for the rest of the night! I wonder what I would be like if I had won $1,000,000!!???

Now, after celebrating my enormous win, we carry on our stroll down Fremont Street, generally just taking in the Neon lights etc…which are amazing, whether you find it tacky or not, you must marvel at the work that’s been put into it all! The most famous neon icon is near the west end of Fremont Street underneath the canopy. It has taken pride of place in Downtown for about 50 years, and is a whopping 40 feet high neon cowboy nicknamed ‘Vegas Vic’!

The Neon Museum is located on the corner of Fremont Street and Las Vegas Boulevard. This place is responsible for restoring some of the original famous neon signs, and some of them include Hacienda Horse and Rider, which is located on the corner of The Fremont Street Experience and LV Boulevard! Alladins Lamp, a very impressive neon sign, is on the Street too….again, there are too many to mention, and the Hotels and Casinos themselves are just one huge glittering example of heavy electricity bills! Inside and outside, it is just one street full of glittering lights, noisy colourful slot machines and all the buzz you can stand!

I would definitely recommend this visit, if in Las Vegas, as it is a different experience from the ‘Strip’, where your themed resorts are! Only thing that is similar??? The thousands and thousands of gaming tables and slot machines! Rows and rows of them!

If visiting, this must be done at night, as obviously, the ‘Experience’ Canopy only operates after dark, and the whole street in general must be seen when all lit up and dazzling!
We spent approx 8 hours there, and you wonder where the time went!

If you are a seasoned gambler, then I believe this is the place to be....if you just want to look at a marvellous spectacle of very bright glittering lights, then this is the place too!

Summary: Lots of Razzle Dazzle!