Las Vegas - Wild Wild West - USA 2022 - 4
26-28.02 - Las Vegas
I arrive at the OYO hotel around 4pm. This is the former Hooters Hotel and the restaurant of the same name is still there. It is a little off the south end of the strip. It seems like they just changed the name and didn't invest much in renovations. Things kind of work, but are pretty outdated. From the air conditioning to the bathroom faucets to the elevators. Even the air conditioning in the casino is not able to absorb the smell from the smokers.
Back in the room, the first thing I have to do is back up my SD cards and charge the battery. This takes quite a while, but around 6 o'clock I make my way to the Strip.
My first destination is the Bliss Dance sculpture near the T-Mobile Arena. The arena, by the way, is not somewhere on the outskirts of town where you can easily drive and park, but right behind the New York New York Hotel.
There's a hockey game today and lots of people out and about. The sculpture is not easy to photograph anyway with all the distracting lights in the background, but regarding the people, I just have to wait until most of them have disappeared into the arena. For the few that are still walking around now, I have to rely on the magic of long exposure.
I keep walking along the Strip, but it's not really fun today. Whatever you wear, it's wrong - it's too cold outside and when you enter a casino, it's way too warm. After a while, I turn back without taking more photos.
The next morning I am early enough for some sunrise photos of the Seven Magic Mountains. The early light of the low sun brings out the colors of the rocks especially well. As I wrote last time, the chance of hitting a jackpot at the casino is higher than being there alone. In fact, there are already 3 other cars in the parking lot. Not photographers, but a group of young people walking around and taking pictures of themselves in silly poses.
On the way back to the hotel I read that today is the Las Vegas Half Marathon and that some roads will be closed. At the hotel I check and of course, it's not just anywhere, but right on the Strip. This means that I have to change my plans for the day, as it will be difficult to get back to the hotel without a major detour.
The plan for today was shopping anyway. But I also found an indoor flea market I wanted to visit, and it's now off-limits. So I head to Walmart, REI (my favorite outdoor chain in the US that I always visit when I'm in the area, even if I don't have a specific plan to buy anything), and finally the Las Vegas South Premium Outlets. I'm not really in a shopping mood, but I do find a few shoes that are on my wish list. The rest will have to wait.
Since I still have some time before the closures start, I drive to the BASS Outdoor World. The last time I was there was in 2009 and I had forgotten how huge it is. They even have a couple of waterfalls and a huge aquarium. They sell everything and nothing: from clothes and shoes to fishing gear, from dog toys to grills. And of course, all kinds of guns. Pistols and rifles, but also bows and crossbows. There's even a shooting range to try them out. I don't want to take out my big camera but snap a few pictures with the phone instead.
When I return to the hotel, I see that the police have already prepared everything for the closure, but I can still pass without problems.
I now take a short break at the hotel to write part of this travelogue before I head back to the Strip. This time I leave at 3:30pm and it is much better than yesterday. It's warm enough to walk around in a shirt without a fleece jacket, and of course, that fits in a casino as well.
The preparations for the marathon are almost complete and quite a few people with race numbers are on their way to registration. I walk past a couple of casinos, check out the Planet Hollywood parking deck (not an interesting view) and make my way to the Ferris wheel. I want to take a sunset photo of it. But first I have to find an interesting perspective. I finally find it from a mostly empty parking lot, and then it's a matter of waiting and hoping that the clouds catch some light and the lights on the Ferris wheel are turned on in time. It all works out quite well and so I slowly make my way back to the hotel.
The next morning I leave around 8am and drive to downtown Las Vegas near Fremont Street. There is an art festival [↗] held there every September where artists are invited to paint some of the houses.
I drive to the intersection of Steward Ave and N 6th St, where I can already see the first mural. While it is a problem to find a free parking space here in the evening, at this time of day you can park your car on the side of the road without any problems.
The murals are spread over a few blocks to the east and south. So I leave the car where I parked and just walk around. There are a lot of paintings scattered all over the place. The really nice thing about it is that you hardly ever see ugly tags defacing the original art. I wish that was the case everywhere. After a while, I think I've seen most of the interesting paintings and head back to my car. I drive around a bit to see if I can find more in the surrounding streets, but I only make one more quick stop.
Not far away is my next destination: the Keep Memory Alive Event Center [↗]. This is mainly a brain disorder clinic, but you can also rent part of it for private ventures. But the reason I'm here is not the clinic, but the building itself. It's by American architect Frank Gehry, and like his other buildings (like the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao or the Walt Disney Concert Hall in LA) it doesn't have straight lines. Coming from the east, it seems small because directly behind it is the huge block of the World Market Center.
Just across the street is the Clark County Government Center, which is next on my list. It has a very different style and would fit better in the desert than Las Vegas. Still, it's very photogenic. Unfortunately, I can't get in. Right now they require appointments and also have a Corona test station set up. So that leaves it on my to-do list.
Now I head to one of the few places on the Strip where you can still park for free, the Fashion Show Mall. The idea is to visit some of the places on the northern part of the Strip that are too far from my hotel to walk. I start with the Wynn/Encore and then move on to the Venetian/Palazzo. So I walk down the Strip to near where I turned around last night, then walk back across the street. I skip Caesars Palace, instead I check out the Mirage and Treasure Island. The times of the sea battle are long gone. But a ship is still docked at the edge of a small pond.
In the evening I finish my casino tour with the Excalibur and the Luxor.
All in all, there are not many changes in the last ten years, at least as far as the hotels are concerned. New things are more in the public area like the T-Mobile Arena.
By the way, today is the first day with nice, warm weather. In the afternoon we have 27°C (81°F).
