USA travelers: What Happens in Vegas....................

Next stop was sin city and one of the most iconic signs in the country. There is a line to get yourself in the photo:

We got an ideal site at the campground which was located in the city on Boulder Highway:

More shade than we had in quite a while:

Our first day was spent at the Hoover Dam. Security is tight and I had a feeling they would want to see what was in the bed of the truck. I did not mind knowing that I had two large totes back there that could contain anything. Once they saw the contents (kitty litter and tools and miscellaneous emergency items) we were on our way.

No guided dam tours were operating so we were on our own. First stop is the visitor center where a short film about the dam is shown and then an optional detailed presentation about the construction of the dam. Finally we made it to the top of the dam:

There are a multitude of facts about Hoover Dam and a few stood out for me: it was completed two years ahead of schedule at a cost of just under 15 million dollars. How did they accomplish that?Work was done 24 hours a day 365 days a year and workers got two days off per year. Most earned about .50 cents an hour.

And no, there is no one buried in the dam. That is a myth.

I enjoyed the original exhibit building where a model of the entire seven state water reclamation area is displayed.

Amazingly this was the original building tourists would visit at the Hoover Dam until 1995 when the present visitor center was opened. The very knowledgeable lady working here had a plethora of information and history in large binders for the curious to peruse. The tourists started visiting Hoover Dam, then called Boulder Dam, immediately and by 1940 300,000 people had visited that year alone.

Two water intake towers on each side of the state border;

Lake Mead:

The white, chalky line indicates the high water mark of the lake

Of course not only did we walk across the dam but we had to drive as well:

To the Arizona side:

Back to the Nevada side:

The Hoover Dam is an absolute must do if you are in Las Vegas. Don't pass it up.

The next day it was off to the strip, Las Vegas Boulevard.

Of course our first stop on the Strip was the Hard Rock:

We had lunch and walked the strip for a while, then took a break in the Bellagio:

I pumped three whole dollars into a one-armed bandit. That was the extent of my gambling. I think Doreen might have spent one on the nickel machine. The Bellagio is a little too glitzy for me with Rolex stores and other brands I could never afford.

We just strolled along taking in the sights:

The Statue of Liberty at New York New York was bedecked in a Golden Knights hockey jersey that had just lost the Stanley Cup finals to the loathed Washington Capitals:

How about some lobster and a margarita at the mall?

That's what we did! My lobster roll was actually very tasty. Now with a full tank we walked to the Venetian. That my friends, is a looooong walk from New York New York.

I resent the Venetian because it sits on the very site where the Rat Pack put the cool in Vegas.

Now, I don't know who this guy is, but he looks familiar

Everyone loves the Bellagio Fountains at night:

And all the other sights at night:

I had had enough. I walked over 20,000 steps for the day and it was after midnight. Way past my bedtime. Maybe 20 years ago I would have been all in for gambling and partying; no wait, I am positive I would have dropped a few c-notes playing blackjack and sucking up scotches on the rocks until 4 or 5 AM (that was my twist back in the day).

Our next excursion was to the Mob Museum near Fremont Street. We would do the museum in the day and Fremont St. during the evening.

This was a nice surprise. The museum houses a comprehensive collection of mafia and organized crime history inside the former Las Vegas Federal Courthouse and post office with three floors of exhibits ending with a speakeasy in the basement.

Everything from Al Capone's revolver

to the actual wall from inside the garage at North Clark St in Chicago where the St. Valentine's Day Massacre took place:

We spent several hours exploring the museum and topped it off with a cold drink in the speakeasy:

My "drink" came as a glass of round ice cubes and a "book". Open the book and one will find the pages hollowed out for a space to place a glass bottle containing your drink. In this case an old fashioned.

After the museum it was off to Fremont Street. This is where Las Vegas began. The street is blocked off to vehicular traffic and it is covered.

Here is where the iconic casinos are. The strip is fine but I prefer old school Vegas; The Fremont, the Golden Nugget, Binion's, and poor old Vegas Vic: