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Gnarly and the Chocolate Factory
May 7, 2010
For the first time ever, yesterday, I embarked on a trip to the famous Ethel M Chocolate Factory. For those of you who are unaware, Ethel M is kind of a big deal for those who like sweets. It is a gourmet candy factory which just happens to be located about 10 miles from the Las Vegas Strip, and is a mecca for chocolate lovers from all over the country. Given its popularity, it's somewhat odd that I had never been to Ethel's before. The reason for this is that I am not a huge chocolate lover. I like it just fine, but I'm generally not willing to brave travelling to Henderson to consume it. Having kids, however, means that what you want is often completely and utterly irrelevant. You are going to do and pay for whatever you are told to do and pay for. It's a lot like being an ... Read the full blog post...
The Other Nugget
April 30, 2010
I had a few things to take care of near Cashman Field earlier this week, and while there, I saw the large Jerry's Nugget oil well sign in the distance. Jerry's Nugget is officially in the city limits of North Las Vegas, but its location of only 1.5 miles north of Fremont Street is enough to consider it a pseudo-Downtown property. Even though this is the case, I've only visited Jerry's a handful of times in the last decade. Today, I decided to add another visit to that meager total. As I drove through the dusty nothingness that is the Las Vegas/North Las Vegas border and approached the entrance to Jerry's, my passenger yelled "There it is!". Assuming he had lost his damn mind getting this excited about a locals casino, I turned toward him to level a well-placed insult when I saw him pointing out the window at the Palomino Club. "That's the only ... Read the full blog post...
Away From It All
January 25, 2010
It rained more in Vegas last week alone than in all of 2009, and even though the "storms" here are laughable by East Coast standards (our heaviest day of flooding was caused by .89 inches of rain), the precipitation still left a nice coating of snow on the mountains. Since Sunday is the day of the week with the least amount of traffic in the Vegas Valley, we took advantage of the relatively empty roads and cool temperatures to spend a day in Red Rock and the adjacent canyon. The trip is actually a pretty easy drive from The Arts District. You simply head west on Charleston Boulevard and 25 minutes later ... there you are. Believe it or not, Charleston is the precise road that takes you from Sunrise Manor, to Rexville, to Red Rock Canyon. If you can catch favorable light timings (which I never do), the trip can actually ... Read the full blog post...
No Good Deed
December 29, 2009
About a year or so ago, I visited a property that shall remain nameless. As I walked through Nameless Hotel and Casino, I passed a security guard who nonchalantly said "Hi, Vegas Rex". I looked up, realized I had never seen the gentleman before, and said "Hi, do I know you?" "You don't know me, but we are notified as soon as you walk in", he said. "That doesn't sound good", I hesitantly responded. The guard went on to explain to me that they were instructed to leave me alone unless I was doing something disruptive. They knew that I was not a terrorist and the casino didn't mind being written about, as long as it wasn't in the context of "... where I was beaten by a security guard". Believe it or not, some places actually want the publicity of my being somewhere. Especially if I write about it. Of course, this was one ... Read the full blog post...
Season’s Greetings
December 25, 2009
For the very first time, I visited Town Square this year for their Christmas festivities and it was actually quite enjoyable. The "town" was quite crowded, and we even got to enjoy a psuedo-white Christmas. At 7pm (Sun thru Thur) and 8pm (Fri and Sat), Town Square uses snow machines to blanket the central Christmas tree, and for 10 minutes it actually feels like you are somewhere, anywhere, other than Las Vegas. Especially with last night's temperatures in the 30's. Afterward, there was a large amount of Christmas shopping, window shopping, coffee sipping, and the place just felt alive as people from all ages and all walks of life milled about and seemed to be having a good time. I can't help but feel that Town Square is everything City Center promised to be, but isn't. Well except for the casino and hotels. Anyway, after playing in the "snow" and doing some shopping, we ... Read the full blog post...
Tons of Silver
December 21, 2009
After two weeks of City Center/Bellagio/City Center/Sahara/City Center/Planet Hollywood/City Center (note the pattern), I decided to get out of town this weekend. Fortunately, when your sphere-of-being is the geographic area between Fremont Street and the Mandalay Bay, "getting out of town" requires little more than crossing the I-15. On Saturday morning, I gave serious consideration as to my casino choice of the day. I didn't just want to go someplace far. Red Rock Station is "far", but I've already been there a hundred times. I wanted to go someplace unfamiliar. A place with a different flavor. A place to lift the burnout of PR speak, over-saturation, and talking points. A place that didn't have a Twitter account. A place void of scenesters, trendsters, and those who are hipper-than-thou. Someplace that was not on the radar of a single talking head within a 100 mile radius. I double clicked the ever-present Las Vegas casino ... Read the full blog post...
O Christmas Tree
December 11, 2009
There's something about superlatives that does it for me on some level. World's biggest this, nation's longest that, etc, etc. I still like pointing through my window and saying "Look, there's the tallest structure west of the Mississippi River." I was a fan of the Guinness Book of World Records as a kid, and I suppose that aspect of fascination has never completely abandoned me. When I heard that the nation's tallest Christmas tree was coming to Las Vegas, I immediately wanted to see it. I had planned on taking the family to see the tree lighting ceremony on December 12th, but after stating as much publicly, I realized that it was a bad idea. The Bellagio has become less enjoyable with each passing season, and attending the tree ceremony had the potential to be no better. Instead, I decided to use my cat-like reflexes to sneak into the M under the cover ... Read the full blog post...
Look, Up in the Sky!
November 15, 2009
Aviation Nation 2009 was once again on display at Nellis Air Force Base north of Las Vegas, and anyone looking skyward at any point over the last two days no doubt noticed some unusual goings on overhead. Aviation Nation, billed as “America's Air Show”, is a major yearly event that draws large crowds from all over the country. The show is free to all comers, and it remains the largest free public event in Nevada. In all of the years that AN has been taking place in Vegas, I've never been directly to the Air Force Base to witness the event up-close. There are a few reasons for this. First of all, attending the air show is very time consuming and somewhat remote. Attendance requires that you park at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway and hop a shuttle bus to the base. This is fine if you can devote an entire day to the ... Read the full blog post...
Tails from the Crypt
November 2, 2009
Halloween is one of those holidays which I still don't celebrate, but much like Christmas and the 4th of July, I more or less go along with it because it's the path of least resistance and because the celebrations usually provide some entertainment value. Personally, I prefer the fun aspect of Halloween over the scary angle. I don't do the haunted house thing because I don't particularly like to be scared. I don't like people jumping out and stunning me, nor do I want to be touched by strangers unless they are exceptionally attractive females between the ages of 20-30. I am also very much not a fan of blood-and-guts gore. I watched the movie “Saw II” over the weekend, and I turned my head away several times and yelled “What kind of twisted person wants to see this s**t”? I was called a female reproductive organ a few times, but I'm sorry … ... Read the full blog post...
Meat You Can't Beat
October 18, 2009
There is probably no worse fate in Vegas than to get a visit from a relative who arrives on Friday afternoon and stays until Sunday evening. It's the sociologic equivalent of a prostate exam performed by the Tasmanian Devil on crack. Unfortunately, yours truly is currently suffering this fate. After spending Friday night doing the typical tourist thing, “there's the Bellagio Fountains”, “there's the Stratosphere”, “there's a bus that will take you to El Paso … go ahead, get on it, the ticket's on me” -- I crashed and slept late for the first time in five years. Once everyone had awakened on Saturday, we were presented with the usual visitor dilemma. “Where should we eat?” I suggested the Wynn Buffet. “Oh god, I ate there last time and it was awful!”, said our visitor. “Really?”, I said with some surprise. She went on to explain that something was too wet, too dry, too hot, or too cold, ... Read the full blog post...
