Welcome To "The New Wild West"!

photo by Jason DeBord

The title of this post. represents a song written and performed by very talented singer songwriter Jewel Kilcher . Also I feel inspired to use Jewel's song lyric for the final post from my trip to Las Vegas!

I have mixed reviews from my trip to Las Vegas. Some good weather and some very bad weather was endured during my week spent in Las Vegas! When I arrived on February 10th. The weather was quite bad. Very cold and windy with hail! When I flew into McCarran Airport on final approach. Our airplane was being affected quite badly by strong winds! We flew in over Lake Mead and our pilot did a great job landing safely. Also on the Thursday on my trip to Vegas. I endured an all day rain and it was cold. Which was hard to endure. Being on holidays in a desert region of the United States!

My Las Vegas holiday got off to a difficult start. With my rental car reservation. I had reserved my flight and rental car for this trip with Flight Hub. I booked my rental car with a company named "Fox". I had reserved a car for a 1 week rental. After I arrived at McCarran Airport. I had to take a bus to the car rental center. Then a second bus to the Fox car rental business. After I arrived I checked in with a representative from Fox. I gave them my name, and was informed by the representative. That the reservation for my rent a car had expired at 10 am in the morning! It was now 6 pm at night. I have never experienced anything like this before. In all the years I have traveled and rented cars!

I kept my cool. The Fox rent a car agent told me. That there were now out of compact cars. Which I had reserved to rent. Because my reservation had expired! It was Valentine's week. He was at least friendly and did check with rent a car competitors to see if he could find me a decent price for a 1 week rental. He failed to find me a decent price. I did arrange to rent a Toyota Corolla for 1 week from Fox for a much higher price then, the price I had reserved. I didn't want to have this problem ruin my vacation!

The first 2 days of the trip were great. As the weather turned sunny and mild. I enjoyed visits to the Hoover Dam, Lake Mead and Valley of Fire State Park! I had planed another day trip to visit "Cathedral Rock" State Park. But this day trip had to be scrubbed due to more bad weather during the week!

The changes to the Las Vegas Strip have changed everything in Las Vegas. The style, class, and charismatic charm of the old Las Vegas casinos has been lost. Replaced with luxury, pomp and circumstance! I guess the attraction to visit Las Vegas has increased. However between the temptation for gambling, eating out in luxury restaurants, shopping and attending the great Las Vegas Shows. The cost and challenge of enjoying a Las Vegas vacation has also become much more difficult!

At least I found the El Cortez Hotel & Casino. The first major resort of it's type built in Las Vegas on Freemont Street in 1941. A refuge, for me. Trying hard to enjoy the Las Vegas from a time. A time now, that has disappeared! "Welcome to The New Wild West"

Much more fantasy and glimmer in Las Vegas. Trying very hard to attract you to Vegas. To separate you from your money. Not the best way to enjoy your vacation or to create happy memories, in my opinion!

Happy to say. I almost made money gambling in Las Vegas in this trip! A complete collapse by the Minnesota Wild hockey team. Blowing a 4 to 1 advantage at home. Losing 5 to 4 in O/T to the New Jersey Devils. Prevented a gambling profit from occurring! I did get to enjoy a great Las Vegas Show! Attending "The Beatles Show" at Planet Hollywood!

Would I ever go back to visit Las Vegas? I would not go back to visit the overly developed and over luxury hotels. Also I could do without being in the environment of a modern Las Vegas casinos! I would go back to visit some more great State Parks located in the State of Nevada. Also some of the great places of beauty that are located in southern Utah! If I do go back. Maybe I will enjoy one more Vegas Show. Seeing Jewel singing live in concert!

The Hoover Dam

Lake Mead

The Valley of Fire State Park

The El Cortez Hotel & Casino Est. 1941

Jewel singing her song "The New Wild West" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69VlcPfuq5U

The Pinball Hall of Fame!

A very fun activity. That will be a great experience and won't cost you too much cash. Is a visit to the Pinball Hall of Fame, located in Las Vegas! This very impressive collection of vintage pinball and arcade machines are available to play for .25 cents a game!

The collection belongs to Tim Arnold and is run by the Las Vegas Collators Club. It is run as a non profit organization. Where any excess cash generated by the museum gets donated to charity! So go ahead and feel like a kid again. Having fun playing your favorite pinball and arcade games from the past. That are alive and well in Las Vegas!

I have included some photos from by experience visiting the Pinball Hall of Fame!

The Pinball Hall of Fame can be found at

1610 E. Tropicana, Las Vegas NV 89119. Lots of free parking and admission is free!

The Beatles Show! Planet Hollywood

During my time visiting in Las Vegas in 1985. I failed to see a Las Vegas Show. That was a regret! As the stage shows that can be enjoyed in Las Vegas. Are some of the best entertaining shows. That can seen on the planet! It is still one of the best forms of entertainment that you can enjoy during your visit to Las Vegas!

There is a large variety of stage shows that you can enjoy during your Las Vegas holiday! Lots of big name music stars also make regular visits or have extended stays in Las Vegas. Being a big music fan. I chose a music based show for my Las Vegas stage show. I purchased a discounted ticket for the "Beatles" show being held at the Sax Theater in the Planet Holiday & Resort.

Being a big Beatles fan. This show was a perfect show for me to enjoy during my stay in Las Vegas. The Beatles show was a recreation of a Beatles concert. With the opening act of the Beatles performance on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964. Then the actors playing the Fab 4. came dressed as Sargent Peppers Lonely Heart's Club Band.

Highlights of the show for me. Were the 4 actors singing without music "This Boy". Proving that the actors were in fact singing and sounded very much like the real Beatles!

Also the actor who played John Lennon. Did in fact look and sound a lot like the real John! The show acknowledged John Lennon's tragic assassination on December 8th, 1980. The actor portraying John Lennon came out playing piano and played "Imagine". John Lennon very hopeful song of protest! To try and get people to unite for a better Planet Earth!

The actor portraying John Lennon singing "Imagine"!

The Las Vegas Strip

 One of the rare classic neon signs that remains on the Vegas Strip!

My first time visiting the city of Las Vegas, Nevada was back in 1985. A lot of things have completely changed, since back in those days. The hotels of that time in Las Vegas still offered luxury and fantasy to the customers who enjoyed these bygone Vegas venues! Hotels like : The Desert Inn, the Frontier, The Sahara, the Dunes, the Rivera, The Sands, and Stardust! Offered some of the best and classiest of the Las Vegas casino's! They were elegant and offered style and class! Also the hotels of that part of Las Vegas history. Offered amazing food on lavish buffets, for very cheap prices!

Sadly Las Vegas was forced to change to survive! To compete against all of the legalized Casino gambling that has become main stream in our society today! Really very sad that this change has come about. I believe we were much better off. When you wanted to enjoy the excitement of casino gambling, combined with the lavish entertainment that has become a Las Vegas tradition! That you had to go to and visit Las Vegas to experience this kind of fantasy and excitement!

Sure the new Las Vegas has been rebuilt. The lavish and extraordinary has been developed to a whole new level. But almost completely lost is the style and class of old Las Vegas. When slot machines had spinning reels! You had to put real coins in them. To operate them. Hoping to win your fortune! And if you did hit the jackpot. You were paid out with real money. The special quality of gambling in a Las Vegas casino has been diminished in my opinion!

I did most of my gambling during this visit. In the "El Cortez" casino, located on Freemont St. In this location you can still find a little bit of the old Las Vegas that is still fighting to survive! I also enjoyed some good meals in the El Cortex Casino Restaurant!

I have included some photos I took of the Las Vegas Strip as it appears today!

In the elegant and luxurious "Fashion Show Mall"

Freemont Street at Night!

My home during my recent holiday visiting the city of Las Vegas, Nevada. Was a motel located very close to the El Cortez Casino & Hotel located on Freemont. Just east of the "Freemont Expereince". I have included some photos I took walking a long Freemont at Night!

To The Stratosphere via Las Vegas Blvd.

This photos were taken along Las Vegas Blvd. To visit the Stratosphere Hotel. The highest structure that is located in the city of Las Vegas. The Stratosphere is 1,150 feet high. Enjoy my photos. all photos are the property of DRW Media and cannot be used without permission or written consent.