LAS VEGAS - Stripped, Rocked and Signed!!!

[MayDay]

My partner and I like to travel, and living in Cleveland - it's nice to travel to a warmer climate between January and February, when the cold and snow doesn't have the same charm it does during the holidays in December. He has a gift for finding decent travel deals and as luck would have it (nyuk nyuk), we ended up spending a long weekend in Las Vegas. It's not my first choice for a vacation but if you take it for what it is - and most importantly, spend some time *off* the Strip, there's something to be said for it. I have no desire to live there but it's a great place to visit. Anyway, we stayed on the Strip, climbed the rocks at Red Rock Canyon, and saw the signs at the Neon Museum

First sign that we're getting close - Lake Mead:


And of course, suburban sprawl on the fringe:


The southern end of the Strip, close to McCarran International Airport:


Our flight arrived around noon, but check-in wasn't until 3pm so we made our way to some off-the-Strip shopping - en route, we saw this - who knew the Cleveland-based rapper Machine Gun Kelly had an outpost in Vegas?!? Actually this is one of a few firing ranges where yeeeeeHAW, you can shoot an AK-47 for sh!ts and giggles


We got to the District at Green Valley Ranch (a 'lifestyle center') - I was surprised to see a lack of foot traffic on a comfy Saturday during lunch. I'm not a fan of these arrangements but in Cleveland - if it's a sunny 60-degree Saturday, there's going to be quite a bit of foot traffic in places like this


Ah well, time to check in to our hotel so back to the Strip we go:




I get that so many of the hotels/resorts are based on a cheesy theme, but this place is repugnant and tacky:


View from our room at the Monte Carlo:




















We headed down to the lobby/casino - the Blue Man Group is the resident 'show' and they have a mini-parade every hour through the casino to drum up business:








Eventually we made our way out to the Strip proper and I snapped some shots of CityCenter - Veer Towers and the Crystals shopping center:






Stepping outside for a breather:


And back inside - quite a few of the casinos were still decorated for Chinese New Years - one great thing about Vegas where you can sightsee without paying are the public areas of the higher-end casinos. Here's the display from the Bellagio:








And of course, the fountain display at the Bellagio:


It was late so we headed back - stopped by the Cosmopolitan - I dunno, the decor made me think that J. Lo. horked up a bunch of rhinestones


And back through CityCenter:










Woke up early the next morning and strolled around the Strip:


























Made it out to Red Rock Canyon and the Calico Tanks - did a "moderate" hike of 3 miles over rugged terrain with a 500' change in elevation (didn't know ahead of time, yikes!)








































Back to the room:


And over to the Neon Museum and Boneyard - with a few detours on the way:










Here we are - as a graphic designer and photographer, I was happier than a pig in sh!t; the old-school typography larger than life, the original Stardust sign... I could have spent weeks here:


The former lobby of the Las Conchas hotel now serves as the reception area:




























Ah well, moving on to the Wynn and their carport:




And shopping!




The Venetian:






Parting is such sweet sorrow - but it's not so bad when you can get some decent pics:




"I'm leaving Las Vegas..." okay, I ain't Sheryl Crow - hope you enjoyed:

[Illithid Dude]

Vegas is nothing if not fascinating. Loved the Googie shots towards the end.

[xzmattzx]

Great pictures!

Is that Red Rock Canyon? How was it? How long did it take to get there?

[ColDayMan]

Yeah, Vegas has some great Googie. Nice shots.

[LMich]

I can never get over how much room is still left just on the Strip, despite the huge boom in construction the last decade. Nice to see you made it out to Red Rock. Random thought, but someone needs to make it out to Lake Las Vegas. It's amazing how little is seen of this pretty major mini-town.

Great tour.

[Hed Kandi]

One city that I never care to visit.

[bobdreamz]

Vegas certainly isn't boring judging by the these pics! Nice job mayday!

[atlantaguy]

Great thread, Shawn! Love the architecture of CityCenter, and you captured it beautifully.

Red Rock and the Neon Museum look fantastic. Looks like you guys had a great weekend.

Thanks for sharing.

[Owlhorn]

A few things I would say to the, it has no culture or doesn't interest me crowd after finally getting to visit modern Vegas as an adult. First, Its interesting that pictures never seem to capture the sheer volume of foot traffic on the streets. I really didn't expect it and it makes the experience much better than I ever would have expected. Also, the amount of incredible natural scenery within driving distance or even day trip distance is worth the trip as well. Especially if you come from a different part of the country, its there are some incredible sights. Lastly, the amount of actual things to do is surprising as well. There is definite a lot of world class food, not just the buffets you always hear about. There are even some excellent shows. There is a lot of cheese and scantily clad women to go with it, but its also far more pure enjoyment than I would have expected.

[KevinFromTexas]

Las Vegas' skyline is so deceiving. Being that the buildings are so large, they don't look as tall as the really are, and the skyline looks bigger than it actually is because of how large they are. I guess it fits in with Las Vegas' style. Everything isn't exactly as it seems.

[Travis007]

Despite its cheeze, Vegas will always exude a sense of swag, relentlessness, and captivation.

[Austinlee]

Vegas looks like a nightmare of a real city BUUUUUT, I love the new City Center complex or whatever it's called. It is such an ambitious and interesting project.

These look great.

[Yorkie]

..Too go shopping in Bling...ville where to start. The Tee shirt/beer store or Tiffany/Gucci? Oh I know now, I forgot about The Gun Vault, I wounder if they serve lunch. Nice tour, City Center is the best of LV, the illusion to capitilisum..

[Nightsky]

Nice, you really have an eye for details

[MplsTodd]

City Center is awesome!! Incredible design!
Your neon sign photos are priceless. I remember they had a collection of old neon signs on the edge of downtown, but it didn't look like that. Where is the Neon Boneyard?

[Leo the Dog]

Nice job!

I love Vegas! The surrounding mountains, Lake Mead, close proximity to the Grand Canyon are just bonuses to an exciting city.

[OhioGuy]

I just got back from Vegas 30 minutes ago. I was there for a work trip this week. First time I'd ever been there and I'll admit I had a decent time. It's never been a city I've been particularly interested in visiting on my own, but after visiting on my company's dime, I could possibly be swayed to visit again in the future. There's more I'd like to see in person that I didn't have enough time to see on this visit.

Thanks for the nice photos!

[IMBY]

Originally Posted by Austinlee

Vegas looks like a nightmare of a real city BUUUUUT, I love the new City Center complex or whatever it's called. It is such an ambitious and interesting project.

These look great.

I live here, and am I the only one disturbed by the choice of color for these 2 cantileverd towers, which clash with the rest of the complex? Mustard colored glass? IMO, these 2 towers would have looked better with a multitude of colors, or 2 colors or 3. Something to offset the yellow!

Anyone else?

I believe Helmet Jahn was behind these 2 towers and I've seen some of his other more extreme cantilevering, and I feel these 2 towers could have leaned more like his 2 towers in Madrid!

Interesting thing about City Center, is they chose 5 international architects to design all the towers differently! No one architect had full command of this project!

[Paper Boy]

There are few people outside of the valley who have ever heard of Lake Las Vegas. This was one of the hardest hit areas of the recession. I purchased a vacation property there a couple years ago. Looked at many sunspots before deciding on this. It is designed after a Mediterranean style Villiage great walk ability, architecture and amenities. it borders the Lake Mead National recreation area, 10 min to Hoover Dam and 40 minutes to either the strip or the valley of Fire in the opposite direction. The area is coming back from the bankruptcy a few years ago and as recent as this past summer there was an article ( I think in the Wall St Journal) suggesting, for a variety of reasons, that it may be the BEST real estate value in America. There is so much to offer in the greater area and the entertainment capital of Las Vegas when you feel like going into town. I am not anywhere near as talented a photographer as so many of you but I will try to string a few pics together in a thread.

QUOTE=LMich;6024360]I can never get over how much room is still left just on the Strip, despite the huge boom in construction the last decade. Nice to see you made it out to Red Rock. Random thought, but someone needs to make it out to Lake Las Vegas. It's amazing how little is seen of this pretty major mini-town.

Great tour.[/QUOTE]

[MayDay]

Thanks everyone!

@xzmattzx, yes - Red Rock Canyon is about a 30 minute drive from the Strip.

@MplsTodd - the Neon Museum (and Boneyard) is close to downtown, about 10-15 minutes from the Strip. Worth every penny for the price of admission: www.neonmuseum.org

@IMBY - yeah, I'm not sure I'm a fan of the mustard colored glass but I wish there was more variety of facades in the whole complex. Aria/Vdara is attractive but there's just *so* much of one look. As impressive as CityCenter is - I didn't care for how the area fronting Las Vegas Boulevard is laid out - no crossing the sidewalk at street level, you're forced onto a series of skybridges; ah well, guess we shouldn't expect genuine urban walkability along the Strip