Las Vegas - June 2022 (Part 1)

Las Vegas content is everywhere so I don’t feel the need to beat a dead horse, but I will share some of the experiences I had during my nearly 2 weeks stay here during the summer.

Firstly, I like Vegas.  For the people who say that they can only stay for 48 hours max – whatever.  It’s like any other city where you can explore a bit further and discover worthwhile experiences. 

Regardless though, I actually like the strip.  I like the manufactured opulence and the scented air being pumped in the casinos.  There are clean bathrooms everywhere and you run into a bar every few feet so there is no risk of going thirsty. 

There are things to be found if you look for them and shops that cater to your every need – Vegas can fulfill all of your basic hunter or gatherer innate impulses that evolution gave you. If you can let go of the cynicism, life is more fun.

Of course, Vegas isn’t cheap, but I will list a few good deals I’ve found in another post.  However, if you are willing to drop some coin, there’s stuff you can do here that you can’t do anywhere else (and I mean wholesome stuff here) like driving construction equipment or running a car over with a tank.  I did go shoot machine guns a few years back and that was a blast.  Vegas is awesome.

It was butt hot at that time in early June.  110 F during the day which meant a lot of pool or inside time.  I don’t know if it was due to the heat but a lot of outdoor escalators were broken on the strip.  When it is that hot out, I’d rather not be climbing stairs.

I also had a car this visit which made it easier to check out off strip activities as each small trip didn’t require an Uber fare. I stayed in hotels on the Strip for the most part on this trip but did spend a weekend in Downtown.

Area 15

Area 15 is an entertainment area located a little off the strip and it consists of several big warehouses with different businesses working to provide interactive entertainment.   They have some outdoor sculptures (which are hard to appreciate when it’s 110 F outside) and also warehouses where you can walk through a zombie world.  The main complex which has the Omega Mart installation also has a lot of mainly VR activities, a bar, and some shops.

Omega Mart

I guess the best way to describe Omega Mart is as an interactive art exhibition (they self-describe as an immersive art experience).  It’s set up so that people can walk through and discover things as they work their way through the complex and it kind of tells a story for you to follow.  It’s meant to be humorous and also provide visually striking displays.  The Meow Wolf company has a few of these installations in a handful of different cities (with what I assume are different themes).

Lost Spirits Distillery

The Lost Spirits experience is part distillery tour and part pseudo-Cirque du Soleil.  Part of the warehouse is a working distillery and for the price of you ticket you get tastings as well as performance shows.

Lost Spirits Distillery

They show off their speed aging process which involves using wood immersed in the alcohol and using heat and light to shorten the aging process to make rum.

Area 15 (outside art)

Area 15 (outside art)

Atomic Testing Museum

I had wanted to visit this place for a while but never found the time in previous trips.  It was easier to go this time since I had a car. 

The museum is not flashy but very educational.  They have replicas of the A-bombs used in WWII and have great explanations of the inner workings.  You walk through the museum and a wall lays out the history of testing and development from the origins in WWII to present time.

I still learned things I didn’t know such as the 2 bombs dropped were of different designs and I also didn’t know that we did some nuclear tests in space at some point.  Very worthwhile visit for the science nerds.

What I would really like to do one day is go on the trip to the actual test sites.  They stopped during COVID and I think they are trying to restart them at some point.  The trips are only offered once/month and fill up quickly.  It is not an easy thing to plan for logistically if you don’t live here.

Arts District

The city did a great job of redeveloping what was a sketchy neighborhood between the north end of the strip and the downtown area (not far from the Stratosphere).  Years ago, an Uber driver told me that this neighborhood was where most of the murders occurred in Las Vegas.  The city has cleaned it up nicely and it is now a hipster haven.

The neighborhood has a bunch of great bars and restaurants.  I found the antique and vintage shops here to be fun as you can just wander the aisles in the blessedly cool air conditioning.

There is not as much “art” as I expected but then again, I just recently visited Wynwood in Miami and it’s probably unfair to expect that it would be like that.

I think this was the largest antique/vintage shop but there are plenty in the Arts District

Pretty much every knickknack imaginable can be found in these shops

Fremont Street & Downtown

There’s a White Castle here - need I say more? Sure - let’s say more.

Downtown Las Vegas continues to get nicer. Once at the risk of deteriorating as all of the attention and development was focused on the strip, new casino developments have improved the Fremont Street area and new places keep opening. They even have a system to keep the street vendors from overrunning the area as they have these circles laid out on Fremont and they have to keep within the circles.

I think Zappos deserves some credit as they based the company in the area and brought the young worker crowd to the downtown area. The Container Park embodies the younger vibe of the new Downtown. Downtown Las Vegas is probably what Reno would like to be. Reno is revitalizing a bit outside of their downtown area but their casino corridor is a ghost town. Here they’ve done well with it.

The zipline that they have going through downtown is a pretty neat ride that adds to the festive atmosphere

The Fremont area seems to be one big long bar. I mean big bars line the outside of the casinos and inside it seems the same way. They have a plastic cup rule here - no cans or bottles for your open container. Mostly domestic tourists in Downtown along with a mix of locals and of course Hawaiians.

It’s not opulent like the strip places but they know their clientele and fills the niche well. It is sort of nice that everything is compact - you don’t have to walk a mile in between places like on the strip.

Note on the “Shark Slide” at the Golden Nugget pool: Yes, you go through a tube that takes your through the shark tank but you really go way to fast to see anything

Circa Sports Book

I’m a big fan of watching football and I find betting on NFL football a lot of fun - so I would love to see this place during the season. The picture really doesn’t do it justice. The screen is just huge and there is also an upstairs balcony where you can see the screen as well. The big screen can be divided how they want to emphasize certain events or show more events.

It’s summer so you can see it’s a snooze-fest of baseball and golf on the TV’s. I did catch some of the hockey playoffs here though.

They also have the Stadium Pool which I have not been to that is also set up nicely for watching sports.

I like how the new places preserve some elements from the old casino that they replaced