LAS VEGAS NEVADA NEON MUSEUM

The Neon Museum of Las Vegas is a massive project. We all collect "things" but...hey a 70 foot tall sign? Some far sighted persons from the Allied Arts Council realized that a colorful part of Las Vegas history was being destroyed as the city changed.

 Much work and money has gone into gathering signs, permissions, a "boneyard" in which to store them, restoration, and creating, for thee and me, a public outdoor gallery of neon signs. The City leased land at $1 a year for this massive park, boneyard and museum. The newly erected sign above has letters from four different casinos. Below that sign, sits a beautifully done park, which will open  later this year. It contains cement structures with brass placques  to hold various pieces of signage. What an idea. An outdoor museum, that lights up at night and is also beautiful by day.

My "Bucket List" will get me back here to see it when its open. Definitely worth a second visit to see the changes.
 The current boneyard tour, where unrestored signs lay in wait, is a phenomenal walk through history, and, if you've previously visited Vegas, a walk down memory lane as well. Photos are allowed for personal use only, but we were granted some stock photos to use.

You can see what a jumble the boneyard is. But, the letter H, as in Hacienda,  or maybe Horizon Club. Fancy and colorful then and will be again someday. (stock photo)

How does that compare to the letters in this casino? Boring graphics by comparison. But, that is the future. In fact, When Binnions changed their signage, from fancy neon lettering to a "newspaper" typeface, thousands of complaints came in about it.

 

Here you can see parts of the Stardust sparkles and Aladdins lamp, and Horse Shoe in the background. (stock photo)

The tour guide we had was terrific. He told us a lot of interesting history and little known stuff about the signs. This restored slipper, which has been erected on the street side of the boneyard is 14 feet tall under the arch and has 700 light bulbs. Its made of steel and sheet metal, weighs 2 tons and it sparkles by turning on and off the lights. Wow! Maybe you remember the Silver Slipper Casino?

The boneyard has a rescued building as well that will eventually be a visitors center. Its a very modern type of Googie architecture by Paul Revere Williams designed to resemble a conch shell. It will be completed later this year as well. Soaring thin poured concrete arches. Unique. I can't wait to see the finished results this fall. But, don't wait. See them now. The Neon Museum is a 501(c) 3 organization; it has a mob of volunteers who work very hard to get funding to restore this very expensive signage.
Have a peek at what they've already accomplished: (stock photos.)

Neon may no longer be as popular as it once was, but Vegas did it best. And, when the 170 signs they have stored are up and posed around town, on Cultural Way, Las Vegas Blvd. and Fremont Street and elsewhere, it will be a glittering and exciting part of a unique city. (These three signs are already part of the Public Gallery on Fremont St.) Las Vegas Blvd., by the way, is the only street designated as a National Historic Treasure.

OVER THE HILL

We celebrated my son, Ken's birthday last night with his favorite cake, home made German Chocolate, and his favorite dinner, home made burritos.
Family traditions differ, for sure, but it was fun to go back in time and fix his favorite dinner. That is, I made the burritos and his wife made the cake; with five candles and the big O.

Funny how a fancy dinner doesn't appeal, but the old, down home, staple foods are what we enjoy the most. Meaty burritos and refried beans.

Daughter Kristanne always chose for her birthday, chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes and cheesecake. Ken received a couple really funny cards,  this one from "the dog"

A half century. We talked about age and Ken made an interesting comment; "I've never known hunger." We are lucky as well as happy to celebrate. Happy Birthdays.

OLD VEGAS FLASH AND RAZZMATAZZ

Vegas has finally outlived its early reputation for gaudy flashy signage. Those same gaudy flashy signs are now a cherished part of history. Someone with fore sight saw fit to save bunches of the old signs and they are now displayed on the old Las Vegas "strip", Fremont Street. These signs have bulbs and neon. Some are still part of working businesses. All fun and flashy, trying to draw you in. The more flash the better. Others are part of a Neon Museum which we will visit this week, along with the Fremont Street light show some night this week.

This rather conservative neon sign was and early one. A nearby placque explains that the first lighted sign on the street was erected in 1929.

The Aladdin Casino didn't survive, but its lamp is still on.

This sign is on Fitzgeralds Casino and the script tells you,  How To Get Out Of A Bad Hand. It kind of resembles a get out of jail free card.

 I loved the name of this place. It's a piano bar that plays everything, blues, a bit of soul, rock, pop, country.  The warning signs on the window suggest it can get pretty rowdy. But,  on Sundays they play classical music. If I were a night owl, this is where I'd hang out.

The new Vegas clubs are behemoths, resort style places. They don't care for the old Vegas sizzle, let it-all-hang-out sexiness.  Y'all-come on in honey. But, if you are looking for that old fun razzmatazz, there is still some to be had here.

There's still eye popping girls, girls, girls around town not too sophisticated to let you take a picture-for a tip, of course.

I liked the mix of the new and the old. This restaurant has a modern lighted sign, but its doors are right out of Arabian Nights.

The lure of easy riches prevails. The pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

And, a real 61 pound solid gold nugget on display at....where else?  The Golden Nugget Casino.

We are looking forward to seeing this big fellow lit up. Its hard not to lament the passing of the old Vegas. But, progress is progress.

Now you can zoom overhead on a zip-line above the old Vegas Strip.

Or sit on underwater lounges at the Golden Nugget and watch people sliding through glass tubes with sharks swimming about. Hey, not too shabby.

Or enjoy people watching from the deck at Mickie Finnz while you enjoy a cool brew or sandwich.

And, you can still look for that luck to bless you with untold riches. That's what its all about. Ca-Chinka, ca-chinka, ca-chinka. $$$$$
For a link to more photos click the following link: http://picasaweb.google.com/1579penn/11911NeonsOfFremontSt#

BUD AND JULIE-FUN FRIENDS IN VEGAS

Bud Kuball, a Korean War fighter pilot, and a retired career pilot for TWA, traveled to the Panama Canal and back in his motor home with Jim in 2004. Julie flew back and forth to join them several times during that 343 day trip, but not for lack of an adventurous spirit. Julie had some health problems at the time and couldn't stay for long periods on the rough roads.
We joined them for cocktails and conversation for an afternoon with other friends of their's and didn't even think about taking pictures until just before time to leave. Julie, who weighs 96 pounds, is small and mighty. She likes to direct things. "No, you can't take the picture THAT way. We have to pose."

No, Jim, not like that...

Like this:

Bud, at 82, likes to ski and write. He publishes pieces for the TWA magazine about his world adventures, which are many. He sends them to Jim where ever he is on the road.

Their adventures in Panama have been captured in Jim's book, which is available at: http://www.lulu.com/panamaorbust

HOOVER DAM, ENGINEERING WONDER

When we arrived in Vegas by Highway 93, everyone wanted to know, "Did you see the new bridge?" Referring, of course, to the new arched bridge over Black Canyon. It's a beauty, poised to provide a gorgeous view of Hoover Dam. The sun was behind it; I took tight shots of the super structure since my camera doesn't zoom wide enough to encompass the whole bridge.

 We actually marveled over the brand new parking garage, engineered to fit into a tight spot. And, the whole visitors complex is a gigantic affair with metal detectors, searches and crowd control lines. Quite a change from my last visit.

 The visitors center is the tan building off to the left. Its interesting that the grid towers lean out from the steep banks so that wires cannot touch the ground and short out. On the tour, they show a good film about the building of the dam. They had to invent new ways to pour and cool the concrete; they had to build roads and rails to get equipment and materials in. An amazing engineering feat by six combined companies.

And the dam itself, impossible to photograph adequately as you gaze down from above. One can't resist trying.  Its immense, concave, sheer-

If you click on my photos, they do enlarge. But, the best photos are on the Hoover Dam Website at:
http://www.usbr.gov/lc/hooverdam/
If you like history, you'll enjoy this tour very much.

The underground part of the $11 tour is quite short compared to my previous visit, so it you like the mechanics of things, the $30 tour is your best bet. We saw the turbines, the part that is inside of the building, and not much else. Instead of walking inside of the spillway, and viewing a huge underground complex,  immense tools and parts, an interpretive center shows how the dam was constructed, and how it works. These huge turbines extend deep into the water below.

We enjoyed the sunny day and a walk across the dam. Skyscraper type intake towers like this bring Colorado River water into the turbines.

 The tower shadows made a painting on the water for this beautiful sunny day.

 The only wild life we spotted was a couple of chipmunks picking through the stark rocks for weed seeds.

Its kind of amazing seeing plants can grow on a heavy perpendicular rock wall, rooting into a small crack. 

 

I was happy to see they didn't forget the dam's mascot, who was run over by a truck he fell asleep under.

The blue waters of lake Mead accumulate behind the dam.

The over flow pipes set into the steep cliffs sit above the silver trail of the Colorado River heading down to Mexico.

And, tourists like me still trying to get a picture of that beautiful arched bridge.

SMOKIN' DUDE

Ribs, chicken and fish have turned out well in my son ken's smoker so he decided to smoke a turkey for the first time. It took 6 hours and it still wasn't done. The oven inside finished the job in another hour.

Laurie scrubbed up some sweet potatoes, oiled them, sliced them and sprinkled them with freshly chopped rosemary.

Those he cooked on a regular grill.

While the turkey cooked the rest of us played Rummikub, or uke, or just hung. Ken kept up with the Steelers on TV.

Jim spent the afternoon with his son at his hotel. They watched the Patriots and the Jets game. Then he popped back over for dinner. His son is in town for a Concrete Convention with 66,000 others.

The weather was sunny and cool; the turkey was tender, juicy and delicious.

The smoke imparts a flavorful advantage that is different from a standard bake and a welcome change from the traditional stuffed turkey.
Ken likes to cook on Sundays. It made for a restful day and the turkey was smokin' Dude.