My Impressions of Las Vegas

by

Richard Beckwith

One of my favorite recent checker destinations is Las Vegas, Nevada. I have attended Vegas three times for the 2002 National, 2004 National, and the 2005 8^th International Match against Great Britain-Ireland. Here I will present my impressions of the Las Vegas area, followed by some personal memories of these three checker events.

There are two famous strip areas in Las Vegas. The old downtown strip (Fremont Street) features many of the older hotels, such as Binion’s Horseshoe (well-known for its TV poker events), Golden Nugget, Fremont, Four Queens, and several others. The Golden Gate hotel is the oldest hotel & casino in Las Vegas and opened in 1905. In the 1990s, Freemont Street was covered with a four-block long canopy and was closed to traffic. The outside of the hotels is covered with thousands of moving lights at night. One great feature about the Fremont Street Experience is the hourly light shows in the evening. The outdoor hotel lights are turned off, and an animated light show set to music is run across the underside of the entire canopy. I don’t know how they do it! A different show runs every hour. When the show is complete, the casino lights come back on, and people begin to move about their normal business again.

The Fremont Street hotels tend to offer few ticketed shows compared to the new strip. However, the hotels are very close together, making it easy to get around by foot. Also, Fremont Street is climate controlled underneath the canopy, which is very helpful against the summer heat. On Friday and Saturday nights, live music can be found. There are many street vendors, souvenir shops (and Vegas showgirls) as you walk down Fremont. One interesting sideshow is a spray paint vendor artist who creates very colorful and detailed pictures in about 10 minutes with nothing but spray cans, a few stencils, and rags to remove the top layer of paint in strategic places.

The 2002 and 2004 National Tournaments were held at the 4 Queens, located near the center of Fremont St. Gerry Lopez arranged room rates of only $29 per night on weekdays. The 2005 International Match was held at the Plaza Hotel, located at the west end of Fremont. If you book a trip to Las Vegas, beware of the difficulty trying to arrive on Saturday night. Many hotels do not accept Saturday arrivals. (Gerry Lopez tells me that hotels leave rooms unoccupied so they can fill the rooms at $100+ a night with Los Angeles visitors who come up for the weekend.) In 2004 I had already booked my flight to arrive Saturday. So, I had to stay at a separate, off-strip hotel the first night. I stayed at the Gold Spike, a block north of Fremont Street. It was inexpensive with a nice room, but the casino/lobby area was small and a little seedy.

The newer strip extends three miles across Las Vegas Boulevard and contains many of the newer and larger hotels, such as the Stratosphere, Sahara, Circus Circus, Wynn, Treasure Island, Mirage, Caesar’s Palace, Bellagio, Aladdin, New York New York, and MGM Grand. Many of the hotels have distinctive outdoor architecture or other attractions. The Stratosphere features the tallest tower in the West. The Bellagio, one of the grandest of hotels, runs fountain shows every evening. A makeshift volcano erupts every 15 minutes at the Mirage. Treasure Island hosts an outdoor battle scene. Art lovers can visit the Bellagio’s gallery or the painted ceilings within the Venetian. Roller coaster fans can take a ride at the Sahara, New York New York, Circus Circus, or even atop the Stratosphere tower. The Paris hotel has a model Eiffel Tower, while New York New York features a skyline of the Big Apple. The Sphinx and great pyramid are hard to miss at the Luxor.

Transportation between the strips can be accomplished by the #301 or #302 bus (or by taxi). The buses depart from the east end of the Fremont Strip and head down Las Vegas Boulevard and back. The #302 bus makes fewer stops and is quicker. Fare is $2. There are a few free trams that connect some of the lower strip hotels, such as the connection between Bellagio and Monte Carlo, and another between Excalibur and Mandalay Bay. These are useful to save on walking. Recently, a monorail was added connecting MGM Grand and the Sahara. I believe plans include extending the monorail to Fremont St. The monorail costs $3 for one ride, but day passes are also available. Taxis and rental cars are available, but can be expensive compared to walking and the alternatives I just mentioned.

The Las Vegas Boulevard Strip is a marvel to observe. However, visiting all the hotels on foot is difficult given the greater spacing between hotels. The hotels are enormous, so they look closer together than they really are. I tended to visit a small cluster of hotels at a time.

Summer in Las Vegas is quite hot, as one might expect. Nevertheless, I have walked the streets in daytime without any ill effects. While it is very warm, it is not unbearable due to the dry air. In my 2002 visit, I didn’t see a cloud in the sky the entire week. In my 2004 visit, the first few days were cloudier with a shower and brief thunderstorm.

One cannot discuss Las Vegas without mentioning all the casinos. When you step off the plane upon arriving, there are slot machines waiting for you in the gate area. Casinos are typically large and offer hundreds of various slot machines, as well as dealer games such as roulette, blackjack, craps, and keno. I’m not a big gambler, but I have played video poker, blackjack, and slot machines. They say the best odds lie with craps, blackjack, and video poker if you know how to handle the various situations. I broke even on each of my first two Vegas trips, and lost $40 or so on the 2005 trip. Michael Holmes won nearly $1000 in blackjack during the 2005 International Match. Tim Laverty has been known to spend much time in the casino too. Both of these players were able to earn many comps (such as free buffets or hotel rooms) for their casino time.

Las Vegas is known for cheap food and buffets. This is certainly true to some extent, if you know where the deals are. Overall, the food prices are reasonable and varied. Most hotels contain several restaurants ranging from fast food counters to sit-down places of varying price ranges. Hotels typically feature a couple specials. Many hotels have prime rib dinners for under $10.00, 99-cent shrimp cocktails, or 99-cent hot dogs. The Golden Gate Hotel has a $1.99 complete breakfast in their cafeteria (if you don’t mind eating on paper plates).

Many hotels contain a breakfast, lunch, and dinner buffet. Some are very cheap, given the quality of food. Buffets typically include carved ham and beef, several hot dishes, fresh fruits, numerous salads, pies, and other fancy desserts. The buffets vary quite a bit in size and price from hotel to hotel. Some of the larger buffets feature a particular cuisine, such as seafood, Asian, exotic dishes, etc. My favorite downtown buffets are Golden Nugget (breakfast and lunch runs around $7-$8) and Main Street Station (more expensive, but bigger). The Rio (accessible from Strip by shuttle) features the biggest buffet in Vegas, but I have never seen it. Alan Millhone told me that it is quite an experience.

Program guides are widely available with info on show schedules, nightclubs, shopping, dining, and other attractions. The first buffet and show I ever saw in Las Vegas was at the Sahara. The buffet was large and only cost around $6 with the program book coupon. I had a front-row seat for a first-rate magic show. I have seen free acrobat shows at Circus Circus and Tropicana. Circus Circus also features a large indoor amusement park known as the Adventure Dome. The Flamingo hotel has a free exotic bird exhibit, and a lion habitat can be found at the MGM. I was able to walk right underneath one of the lions, who lay down on the see-through enclosure that stretched over the walkway. Animal lovers can also check out the white tigers & dolphins at the Mirage, and the sharks and aquarium at Mandalay Bay. Star Trek fans may find an exhibit and ride at the Hilton. These last three attractions do require admission. Of course, many big name entertainers frequent Las Vegas, such as Celine Dion, Tony Bennett, and Penn & Teller.

During the International Match, Michael Holmes and I attended a close-up magic show by Collin Foster at the Plaza Hotel. The show was free with drink purchase. While many free shows tend to be brief, Collin Foster performed for about an hour, and hung out with Michael and I after the show. We had a real good time.

During my first trip to Las Vegas, I made an effort to visit two of the planet’s wonders, one natural and one engineered. I am referring to the Grand Canyon and Hoover Dam. There are various bus tour companies that pick you up at your hotel and take you to a central tour bus facility.

When one approaches Las Vegas by plane, the surrounding area is primarily brown and desolate. The Hoover Dam (also called Boulder Dam) and Colorado River are located a short drive south of Las Vegas amidst some very rocky mountains. A two-lane highway crosses the top of the dam, which was built in the early 1930s. The surrounding mountainous area is quite a sight, as there are electrical towers perched on the rocks at all kinds of bizarre angles. Next to the dam is an indoor visitor center with videos about the dam’s construction. I found the construction story interesting about how side tunnels had to be blasted within the mountainside to divert the river while all the concrete was poured. It was dangerous work in extreme heat, and many workers died in the process.

Our driver took us to nearby Lake Mead, which formed when the dam was built. It’s a beautiful, blue lake with boats surrounded by brown mountains. In fact, there are smaller brown mountaintops that project out of Lake Mead.

I took a separate bus tour to see the Grand Canyon in Arizona. While the Grand Canyon lies directly east of Las Vegas, there is no good direct road to get there. The bus took us south to Kingman, Arizona, then east, and back up north to the center of the south edge of the Canyon. Atop the canyon, the air is cooler, there are many trees, and the skies are often cloudy with brief pop-up showers. While there are a few observation points with railing, most of the canyon edge has no railing, and it is a very steep drop as you peer over the edge. We were warned not to venture too far down the paths that lead to the bottom of the canyon. The heat is much more extreme at the bottom, and it is an uphill climb to get back out.

Our driver took us to several vantage points of Grand Canyon, then it was time to make the 300 mile drive back to Las Vegas. It was a long day in the bus, but I’m glad I had the experience of viewing the canyon. The bus ride included several movies and a buffet lunch stop. The countryside was certainly different than the Midwest! Secondly, we traveled over the Hoover Dam to enter Arizona, so you get to view an extra attraction for the price of one.

Final Thoughts

Las Vegas is very excessive and glitzy and is not for everybody. There are some attractions for kids (Circus Circus), but much of the city is adult-oriented. Of course, use general caution when interacting with strangers or when entering off-strip areas (especially at night). However, I always enjoy the sights, and I certainly miss those buffets when I leave town. I wish to acknowledge Gerry Lopez for promoting multiple checker tournaments in Las Vegas and for making my past experiences possible.