Downtown Las Vegas, centered around Fremont Street, is the historic
alternative to the Las Vegas Strip. It’s where it all began, when it
comes to gambling, booze and broads… and spontaneous brides…
Downtown Las Vegas (Nevada) – In Another Minute (297)
When Scott and I traveled to Las Vegas
to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary, we already knew we’d be
headed to downtown Las Vegas for a renewal of vows ceremony at the Graceland Wedding Chapel with a Las Vegas Elvis
impersonator. But it was Scott’s brother, Stephen Conklin, who lives in
Las Vegas, who suggested we also experience the historic downtown at
night. Can’t deny the suggestion of a local! So on Anniversary Eve, he
whisked us away from The Strip for a fun night out around Fremont
Street.
We started with dinner at Oscar’s Steakhouse
in the Plaza Hotel. The restaurant, owned by former mayor Oscar
Goodman, sports the slogan “Beef, Booze and Broads” and features
matching old-timey atmosphere, with charismatic waiters, huge portions
and a view of glitzy and sparkly Fremont Street.
The insider
stories of the staff at Oscar’s were only matched by our own local
guide, Stephen, who seemed to know the thrilling history of every place
and supplied us with plenty of inspiring gambler stories (“…he used
his last dollar and one a million dollars on a slot machine…”). Thank
you so much, Stephen!
We gave ourselves the full Fremont Street Experience, with the overhead light show, live cover band, cocktails from Binion’s
and finally ducking into several of the classic casinos. We did however
skip the zip line and the slide through the shark tank. Instead, I won a
$1000 in a $2 spin on a Wheel of Fortune slot machine inside the Golden Nugget!
We closed out the night at the more modern casino The D,
where the female card dealers alternate between dealing cards and
dancing on pedestals – and where the male bartenders entertain with
their flair bartending skills. A special thanks to Eddie Razo for making
the most entertaining Cosmo I’ve ever had – and letting me film the
process.
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| Fremont Casino on Fremont Street in downtown Las Vegas, Nevada |
Actually, we probably closed out the night at a bar or
blackjack table in the Cosmopolitan Hotel back on the Strip. But who can
really remember? All I know is that we had a ridiculous amount of fun
that night and still made it to our renewal wedding at Graceland Chapel
the next day on time… (In the video, this is in reverse order to give
it a nicer visual flow from day to night. Creative license and all.)
Next
week, I plan to share a 1-minute video about the Las Vegas Strip. If
you want to see more right now, please check out last week’s video: Las Vegas Sunset (Nevada) – In Another Minute (Week 296)
And
hopefully in the near future, I can return to downtown Las Vegas.
Because there’s still so much I haven’t seen and captured…
The featured song is “Boogie Woogie Bed” by Jason Shaw of Audinautix.com. He has made this and many other instrumental songs available via a CC BY 3.0 license. Thank you, Jason!
Last but not least, a very special thanks to “Elvis”
and Abe and everyone at the Graceland Wedding Chapel. Definitely, an
unforgettable and totally American experience. After all the options,
I’m so glad we chose this as the way to honor twenty years of marriage
and all the decades to come – with laughter, singing, dancing and lots
of kissing!
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| Elvis and us |