Random Vegas

March 19th, 1931, the state of Nevada re-legalized gambling in an attempt to recover from the great depression

TwitPic of the week

It’s 1988 and I’m currently in grade school while this marvelous display of Vegas existed. On the left we see the Desert Inn, all shinny after her exterior renovation. Just beyond that is the Sands and in the distance we see Caesars Palace. Which brings us across the street to see the Frontier and in front of that is the Silver Slipper. This is the view south of the Stardust. It’s the eve of the Mirage opening which would change everything and caused the eventual demise of all these properties. Accept Caesars but she would be radically transformed in a decades time. Another great pic from @Summacorp

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• TravelZork.com

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Random Vegas

There are an average of 315 weddings per day in Vegas (@vegas_only)

TwitPic of the week

It’s a glorious sign that is given depth and size when you see people standing next to it, shared by @Vegas_Visual. The Mint sign, one of the all-time great neon signs in Las Vegas. It runs a close second of the Dune turret marquee as those most missed from the landscape. The Mint was absorbed into Binion’s Horseshoe in 1989. A part of the sign still exists to this day, viewable from the staircase up to Whiskey Liquor up. Unfortunately, the Neon Museum wasn’t established until 1996 so it wasn’t saved for posterity.

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Random Vegas

In 2024, it’s reported that at least 16 people experienced a malfunction while playing a slot machine nullifying a jackpot. As a result, it’s projected that $1.3 million was lost.

TwitPic of the week

Something about grass in the desert just seems lush, high end. Probably because it doesn’t exist in nature so rich people will it to survive in the desert climate. Here we see it at classic Caesars Palace sporting said vegetation thanks to @Vegas_Visual. I’m surprised more chairs aren’t occupying the space. You would think that would be prime real estate. I can’t stop staring at those Sarno blocks. While I think the property looks better today, I can’t help but romanticize what she used to look like.

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Random Vegas

• Before he designed Bellagio, Wynn had fully developed, different plans for the land formerly home to the Dunes.   

  • Plans were to build a boutique hotel with intimate spaces, 2 hotel towers, one with 230 suites and two 7-story towers housing 461 rooms each 

  • He even planned to leave room for two future towers to be built 

  • Wynn believe if he pulled this off, it would be the death of the mega resort 

  • Wynn’s creative side was unsatisfied and after some guidance, scrapped them and started over with plans to reinvent the game again

TwitPic of the week

There was time when north strip was the center of the action in Las Vegas. Desert Inn, Frontier, Silver Slipper, Stardust, Silver City, Riviera, El Rancho, Slots A Fun, Circus Circus and the Sahara lorded over the area for decades. Today it's trying to resurrect its glory days with new additions Resorts World and Fontainebleau, but the location is currently a liability. This week we get a snapshot of the area as it existed in 1985 thanks to @_GrandPaD and comparing the density with today’s landscape is almost an unfair comparison. Today large chunks of land exist in between properties making it unappealing to pedestrian traffic. Specifically, the area is challenged by the still vacant lots that are the Frontier and Riviera. The former a casualty of the real estate explosion the strip underwent in the early 2000s and the later another victim of the ever-growing reach of the Las Vegas Convention Center. Crystal ball time, will north strip ever be where the center of the action is again? It isn’t likely even once people build on these parcels but that doesn’t mean it can’t become another hub of activity for the city that continues to evolve at all costs.

News

360 Vegas Vacation 15 Details

Random Vegas

Despite using the motto “Est. 1952”, Atomic Liquors didn’t open until April 17th, 1954 (@summacorp)

TwitPic of the week

It’s one of the last super pylons in operation in Vegas and one of the best uses of neon ever. The Rio marquee is a gem that should be celebrated by all. Thankfully new ownership restored it and incorporated LED into the sign instead of replacing it with a large square TV screen as has become the norm in the Vegas skyline. This week’s winner by @Summacorp is not of the recently refurbed sign but of the classic sign with a readerboard. Regardless its a spectacular sign of animated neon that should be appreciated while we have it.

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Random Vegas

While down compared to the record-shattering levels tied to last year's inaugural F1 race, monthly ADR this year saw the 2nd highest record for the month of November. (@MeltzVegas)

TwitPic of the week

It’s an iconic look at Caesars Palace, with the Sarno blocks lit up in teal shared by @LasVegasLocally. It’s at least 1989 because the Mirage is open. This aesthetic would be replaced with the more authentic Greco roman architecture the property has today, inspired by the design used on the Palace tower, which opened in 1998. But this one has a charm to it. I mean how many properties go through an enhanced retheming. Caesars is an iconic brand around the world and both of her iterations are deserving of the designation.

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Random Vegas

Although argon gas was used as often as neon, the lighting method assumed the name “neon” to refer to the light produced by either gas. (Spectacular – A History of Las Vegas Neon)

TwitPic of the week

It’s the heart of the strip that simultaneously has the best view in all of Vegas available to guests of the north facing strip at Cosmopolitan, shared by @Vegas_Visual. This is a picture that often gets submitted for Twitpic of the week but often gets passed over because I see this view all the time. And while it is fabulous, it can’t win every week. But this week’s photo, taken in what looks like panorama captures the whole view as the eye gets to see it with Cosmopolitan, Bellagio and Caesars Augustus and Octavious towers in the shot. I love everything about this picture and the real-life trek that this is this area of the strip.

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Random Vegas

Downtown Las Vegas has 6 of the world’s largest. (Vegasexperience.com)

• World’s largest slot machine in Slotzillla (also the busiest and most successful urban zipline in the world)

• World’s largest keno board at 100 feet long outside of the D,

• World’s largest pint glass at Hennessey’s Tavern at 85 feet tall

• World’s largest working fire hydrant at 15 foot tall on Fremont East, across from the Western

• World’s largest fire-breathing praying mantis at Container Park

• World’s largest mechanical neon sign is Vegas Vic at 40 feet tall, although his mechanical parts haven’t worked since 1991

TwitPic of the week

The year is 1964 and the Dunes is rocking in all her glory in the arial photo shared by@summacorp. Aside from the Diamond of the Dunes hotel tower and the turret marquee the thing that really gets my attention here are all the cars parked right up front. Something that used to be common on the strip when the properties primarily catered to automobile visitors. There are still remnants of this time in Vegas today just repurposed. I’m thinking specifically about Horseshoe and Caesars Palace. It’s a time in Vegas we are fond of because it inspired all the classic super pylon marquees we know and love.

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• 360 Vegas Book Update

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