Las Vegas - Walking Through the Arts District

We walk through the Arts District on our way back from Old Town/Downtown Las Vegas to our hotel on the Strip.  Heading down Main Street from the end of Fremont Street, we have about eighteen blocks to walk  to reach Las Vegas Boulevard.

Leaving Fremont street, we pass the Greyhound bus terminal, World Market Center across the way, and City Hall (with 33 solar trees in front and solar panels on the roof - the perfect climate for them).  The World Market Center is the largest home and hospitality showroom complex in the world, with 5 million square feet of floor space.  Inside the Market is the Las Vegas Design Center, with more than 400,000 square feet of permanent showrooms open to the public.  Not much to say about the Greyhound terminal.

 Greyhound bus terminal just off Fremont Street

World Market Center across the way

 City Hall with solar trees along the side

Just off Main Street, we walk past the Bonneville Transit Center, at Casino Center Boulevard and Bonneville Avenue.  The Center is designed to complement the redevelopment and revitalization of downtown Las Vegas and has 16 vehicle bays, 100 double-stacked bike racks, a self-service bike repair station, and more bus stops on the street alongside the Center.  We can get just about anywhere in Las Vegas from here.  But, we keep walking.

Bonneville Transit Center

Finally, a block or two later, we're getting to the Arts District, announced, of course, by a neon sign.

Arts District sign

The Las Vegas Arts District is also called the "18b" and was originally set aside as an18-block neighborhood and has expanded from that.  Located roughly half-way between Fremont Street and the Stratosphere, the District is home to artists, public art displays, galleries, antique shops, boutiques, and restaurants.  The first Friday of every month, up to 30,000 people visit the District for First Friday, a free "celebration of creativity and authentic Las Vegas Culture."

As we wander further into the Arts District, we see painted buildings, a great way to decorate the neighborhood.

 Painted buildings in the Arts District

Then, a decorated bus stop

And, an empty lot with art displayed on stands.  The Stratosphere is in the background and we are getting close to the end of the District

 Paintings standing on a vacant lot

Another few blocks and we are back on Las Vegas Boulevard, heading towards the Strip and the ongoing party, as evidenced by Dino's Bar, with awards for the Best Dive Bar and Best Karaoke in Las Vegas.

Leaving civilization, we continue on to the Strip and our hotel.

Las Vegas - Downtown/Old Town/Fremont Street

Fremont Street hosts the original casino corridor in Las Vegas and, after the Las Vegas Strip drew the crowds, has been revitalized and rediscovered to provide a unique experience that both brings people back from the Strip and serves as a great destination by itself.  Fremont Street was the first paved street in Las Vegas and now hosts the Fremont Street Experience, a six-block extravaganza of arts and entertainment.

As we approach Fremont Street, walking down Las Vegas Boulevard from the Strip, we start to see the neon signs.

 First neon sign starts to show

The neon signs have been restored and are located throughout the area and in the Neon Museum.

 As we reach the Fremont Street, we are welcomed in both directions

 Welcome to Fremont Street/Downtown

Looking down Fremont Street, toward the Fremont Street Experience, we see the LED canopy, 1500 feet long and 90 feet high, which serves as the world's largest electric sign.  The 12 million LED lights and 220 speakers are used to produce a light and sound show nightly at dusk.  Zip lines run underneath the canopy and over three permanent concert stages.  We arrive late morning and don't get the light show, but we've seen it on previous trips and it is spectacular and well worth a trip over from the Strip.

 LED canopy over Fremont Street

We wander down the pedestrian mall under the canopy, heading to the Golden Nugget, one of the oldest casinos in Las Vegas, build in 1946.  A massive, three-phase renovation from 2005 to 2009 has revived the Golden Nugget as a prime destination.  As we walk through the casino, we pass the Hand of Faith, the world's largest gold nugget.

Hand of Faith

Continuing deeper into the casino, we come to the pool, next to an aquarium with a waterslide through the tank of sharks.

 Tank of sharks, waterslide through the middle

Since we're not staying at the Golden Nugget, we don't get to play with the sharks.  We drop a few coins in slot machines on our way out, grab Diet Cokes at the ABC Store next door and head up Main Street toward the Arts District, in the general directions of the Strip.

Las Vegas - From the Strip to Old Town

The walk down Las Vegas Boulevard from The Strip to Downtown/Old Town and Fremont Street is about 3 (from the Wynn Hotel) to 5 (from the MGM Grand) miles.  It's a great walk in the morning, before it gets too hot outside, passing through a number of sights and ending up at the original casinos and the newer Fremont Street Experience.  On the way back, we'll walk a few blocks off Las Vegas Boulevard and see the sights in the new Arts District.

But first, after we pass Circus Circus, with the largest permanent big top in the world, we reach Sahara Boulevard and, on the corner, the Bonanza Gift Shop, the "World's Largest Gift Shop."  We've never gone in, but it certainly is distinctive.

 Circus Circus opened in 1968 and is still going strong

"World's Largest Gift Shop"

A few blocks later, we spot the Strip Gun Club (apologies, taking the picture into the rising sun doesn't work so well!), where one can fire handgun, rifles, submachine guns, and machine guns, offering packages for bachelor and bachelorette parties.

"World Famous Strip Gun Club"

About a mile later, we walk through several blocks of wedding-chapels, including Elvis and drive through.

 Wedding chapels

 

 After the wedding chapels, pawn shops!  On the right is the Gold and Silver Pawn Shop featured in the TV show Pawn Stars.

 Pawn Shops

And, following the pawn shops, bail bond offices.

 Bail bonds

As we pass the bail bonds offices, we are a few blocks from the Arts District and antiques shops. On Las Vegas Boulevard, we pass Lost Vegas Antiques, packed with antiques and collectibles and offering competition for/contract to the pawn shops nearby.

Lost Vegas Antiques

The bail bond offices are a sign of what we'll find next:  law offices, jail, and courts.  The Lloyd D. George Federal District Courthouse on Las Vegas Boulevard was completed in 2002,  and also serves as the Las Vegas office for US Senator Harry Reid.

Lloyd D. George Federal District Courthouse

We'll pass on the temptation to show a picture of a law office (or two or three or twenty).  But, their presence is a sign that we're coming back to civilization and will be at Fremont Street soon.

Las Vegas - Hotel Art

The art in the Las Vegas hotel (and mall) lobbies is stunning.  It is always fun to revisit old favorites and see what new displays are up.  We visit in the fall and first head over to Bellagio for the seasonal display in the Conservatory and Botanical Garden just past the lobby.  But, first, the glass sculpture, Fiori Di Como, in Bellagio's lobby.

 Glass blossoms in the Bellagio lobby

This sculpture was created by Dale Chihuly and installed in the lobby for the hotel-casino's opening in 1998. It consists of 2,000 hand-blown glass blossoms, covering 2,100 square feet, and is reported to have cost $10 million.

Passing through the lobby to the Conservatory and Botanical Garden, we see the fall display.

 Fall on display at Bellagio

On our way out of Bellagio, we pass an impressive stone sculpture that was added in early 2015, A Gift from the Earth, by Masatoshi Izumi, four massive stones hand-carved from basalt that each weigh between 17,000 and 27,000 pounds.  The four stones are named Wind, Fire, Water, and Land, each representing one of the earth's four elements.

 A Gift from the Earth

Wandering down the Las Vegas Strip from Bellagio, we head over to Aria Resort and Casino, and pass through the displays at The Shops a Crystals, which bills itself as "The Largest Collection of High-End Fashion Stores Under One Roof in the World" and is brightly decorated with kites

 Kites at Crystals

Aria's lobby is done up with clouds and, oddly enough, a horse in a derby.

 Aria Lobby

 Just off the lobby, at the Jean Philippe Patisserie, we find the Grinch, perhaps a little early for Christmas, but formidable in chocolate, made by the pastry team over two months from more than 100 pounds chocolate and 100 pounds of rolling fondant, the smooth combination of water, sugar, and flavorings used as a basis for icing.

Chocolate Grinch

But, enough hotel art.  It's time to get out and explore the city!