hkskyline's 2018 in Las Vegas

hkskyline · #1 Posted **Dec 21, 2018, 3:31 PM**

It is possible to have a lovely vacation in Sin City without giving a single cent to a casino operator.

More photos on my website's Las Vegas gallery : https://www.globalphotos.org/lasvegas.htm

xzmattzx · #2 Posted **Dec 21, 2018, 5:28 PM**

Nice pictures! Yes, there is a lot to do in Las Vegas besides gamble.

The architecture inside these casinos is always interesting. While it is all a reproduction of original architecture in other places, it is architecture in its own right, garnering attention from groups like the Society of Architectural Historians.

EastSideHBG · #3 Posted **Dec 21, 2018, 10:53 PM**

Nice! I barely gambled when I was there also.

Murphy de la Sucre · #4 Posted **Dec 25, 2018, 5:30 AM**

So you have to stand in queue and wait for your turn to take pictures with Welcome to LV sign.

hkskyline · #5 Posted **Dec 31, 2018, 2:57 AM**

Thanks for your support. Continuing with my architecture appreciation tour.

Welcome to Paris in Las Vegas. The Eiffel Tower has an observation deck with lovely views of the Strip. Seems it is relatively undiscovered.

Looking south, development is heavily clustered along Las Vegas Blvd. Some new glassy towers have gone up over the years. The last major resort on the Strip is the yellow-glass Mandalay Bay in the distance.

The 350m-tall Stratosphere offers thrill rides high above the city in addition to the normal observation deck.

More photos on my website's Las Vegas gallery : https://www.globalphotos.org/lasvegas.htm

kcexpress69 · #6 Posted **Jan 2, 2019, 2:54 AM**

Nice thread!! I've never been to LV, nor have I ever had the desire to go. That said, your pictures are quite enticing, and there looks to be plenty to do there besides gamble!! Quite impressive for a city that barely existed in the first half of the 20th century!!

Sun Belt · #7 Posted **Jan 2, 2019, 3:57 AM**

Nicely presented!!

I love Vegas. Lately, it's been an annual retreat. I actually love going there in June. The pools are top notch, nice rooms, fun entertainment and of course gaming at all hours.

Outside of the strip there are some really pleasant areas too. I've gone out to Mead, The Hoover Dam [did the 'DAM' TOUR!!!] and Bridge a few times, went out to Red Rock and adjacent suburbs. Next time I'm there, Mt. Charleston it is.

Evo5Boise · #8 Posted **Jan 2, 2019, 5:42 AM**

Great tour! Thanks for the nice photos. It's crazy how much Vegas has changed since the last time I was there (we are talking about a decade, but still, the strip looks completely transformed).

mrnyc · #9 Posted **Jan 3, 2019, 5:57 PM**

it i very possible to go to vegas and not gamble.

i went many times and i dont gamble.

however, i did wear chains and loud polyster shirts and walked around saying who loves ya baby a lot.

hkskyline · #10 Posted **Jan 7, 2019, 1:48 PM**

Las Vegas' gambling industry started on Fremont Street in the early 1900s. Gambling was legalized in Nevada in 1931 and the casinos originally opened shop here with plenty of neon signs and glitter. When the focus moved to the Strip, downtown saw a dramatic decline, becoming run-down by the 80s. The government stepped in in 1994 with a $70 million revitalization project.

More : https://www.globalphotos.org/lasvegas4.htm

xzmattzx · #11 Posted **Jan 7, 2019, 5:40 PM**

Nice pictures. I actually want to explore Downtown Las Vegas the next time I'm out there. A lot of it is terrible, cheap, trashy tourist stuff, like Clifton Hill in Niagara Falls, but there's some interesting historic buildings here and there, like that El Cortez Hotel.

hkskyline · #12 Posted **Jan 8, 2019, 2:00 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by xzmattzx

Nice pictures. I actually want to explore Downtown Las Vegas the next time I'm out there. A lot of it is terrible, cheap, trashy tourist stuff, like Clifton Hill in Niagara Falls, but there's some interesting historic buildings here and there, like that El Cortez Hotel.

Yea, it gets a bit rowdy at night but there are some cheap meals to be had. Rough around the edges but luckily still safe to take the Deuce back to the Strip for a good night's sleep.

hkskyline · #13 Posted **Feb 13, 2022, 4:28 AM**

I recently rediscovered I haven't yet posted my day trip photos to my website. Almost 4 years later, here they are! Ideally, I should be doing a loop drive around the Grand Canyon and explore the various national parks along the way. Bryce, Zion, and Antelope all caught my attention as must-visits in the area. But since I came to Vegas at the last minute and alone, hence driving, paying the admission fees, and finding motels on short notice wouldn't be very economical.

I relied on bus and smaller group van tours to cover 3 national parks as day trips. I combined Bryce and Zion together into a packed and long day trip to get an introduction to what they have on offer.

Bryce hosts the largest collection of hoodoos in the world. From the vantage points, the flame-coloured spires are an amazing sight. It is also possible to walk into the amphitheater, although on a rushed day trip, I could only see the highlights and not venture around exploring too long.

More photos on my website : https://www.globalphotos.org/lasvegas.htm

xzmattzx · #14 Posted **Feb 15, 2022, 4:26 AM**

Nice!

hkskyline · #15 Posted **Feb 25, 2022, 1:22 PM**

Leaving Vegas on a bus full of tourists, my long day trip to the Grand Canyon's South Rim started at the 726 foot-high Hoover Dam. Built during the Great Depression in the 1930s, 3500 men worked on the dam on average daily, with 96 perishing during construction.

Route 66, or the Mother Road, is the first all-weather highway from Chicago to Los Angeles. Symbolizing hope, progress, adventure, and the automobile's impact on the country, the route reduced the driving distance by over 200 miles, and was the preferred route to head west.

Seligman, Arizona celebrates this highway's history, and there were some spring flowers to throw in as a bonus. Originally a railroad town, it suffered badly when the Interstate opened in 1978, diverting traffic away from Route 66.

Carved by the Colorado River over the past 6 million years, the Grand Canyon has some of the oldest exposed rock on Earth. Stretching along 277 river miles, explorer John Wesley Powell called the place "Grand" when he came in 1869. President Teddy Roosevelt called it "the one great sight every American should see" upon declaring it as a National Monument in 1908.

More photos on my website : https://www.globalphotos.org/lasvegas.htm

geomorph · #16 Posted **Jun 5, 2022, 11:26 PM**

Bryce Canyon is my favorite National Park and you were there on a beautiful day!

mousquet · #17 Posted **Jun 6, 2022, 2:35 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by geomorph

Bryce Canyon is my favorite National Park and you were there on a beautiful day!

I went there once and found it better than Grand Canyon itself.
It is narrower or something, like geological oddity occurs in greater density.
Grand Canyon is so large, you hardly can realize it's a canyon until you look at it from above.

I like the natural red stone and everything over there. It looks like something from a different planet.

Some of the best canyons to go through by rafting are in Colorado. The rivers I saw over there are slow. It was for tourists. Nothing to do with rivers in the Alps where canoeing is really sporty and challenging, especially when water is really cold.

But the scenery in Colorado is truly unique. Their quiet rivers going through narrow canyons are simply amazing.
You could stay there for days and feel good. It's just beautiful.

hkskyline · #18 Posted **Jun 6, 2022, 5:05 PM**

I was far more impressed by Bryce than the Grand Canyon since it is more intimate and visually stimulating. The Grand Canyon is awesome but it's just so huge, so as I walked along the south rim, the scenery didn't change too much and I didn't have enough time to go down to the bottom to see more.