Fremont Street!

Last night I ventured out to the old strip.  Owing to my Las Vegan ignorance, I didn't even know there was a new strip and an old strip, but lo, old Fremont Street exists to combine old Vegas gambling with 21st century tackiness.  I loved, loved, LOVED it.

Don't know how to get to Fremont Street?  Follow the scantily clad women!

You could also, for a time, follow the stench of urine from the parking garage to the arcade, but I prefer to focus on the physical smut.  The girl pictured above was actually a very nice young lady.  (During my quest for a fried Twinkie, I bumped into her in the bathroom of Mermaids Casino and held the door of the bathroom stall closed for her while she did her less lucrative business.)  Fremont Street is filled with acts of all sorts.  Human statues, women adorned in nothing save pasties, illusionists, break dancers, drum acts, midget Mr. Ts (I pity da short fool!), super heroes, and saxaphonists can all be seen along the old strip.  I took limited photographs of the performers because that is there business, and they expect to be paid for being photographed.  Hey, it may not be much of a living, but it's living freely. 

This nice young man's cowboy partner appeared later in the evening.  

Las Vegas' older casinos, like the El Cortez, Binion's, and The Golden Nugget are along Fremont Street, which was the strip before Las Vegas Blvd came to be what it is today.  Eventually Fremont Street became rundown and crime-ridden, so it was "revitalized" by enclosing the street within an arcade (complete with a wicked zip line sending tourists screaming overhead every couple minutes) and adding music stages for free concerts.  Thanks to the revitalization, instead of being rundown and crime-ridden, now it's just rundown!  

You don't see a lot of real deal strip joints along the new strip proper, but thankfully Fremont Street is there to fill the void. 

If you're too cheap for a peep show though, there is plenty of free skin to be seen.  The bartenders at the Golden Gate Casino dance around half-heartedly on the bar in between shots.

And don't let it be said that these young ladies don't work hard.  The gal below was running her DJ show AND doing a dance routine while the songs were playing.  Toward the end of each track she'd rush back to get the next tune on deck.  She's blurry because I was at a distance, and she moved about quickly.  A lively little thing!

As the sun went down, the crowds picked up more, but the lights were lovely.  I told you I'm a sucker for neon.

We sat at a bar directly on Fremont Street for a couple hours listening to the band and people watching.  Everyone is weird in his own way, be he native or tourist.  This was an older guy apparently hellbent on toning his calves.  Good luck to him.  You can't tell from the picture, but his calves were about the least of his worries.  Oh well, live free, baby.

It is, however, even better to live rich.  Binion's has a station set up where you can see just what a million dollars encased in bullet-proof glass looks like.  They even give you an 8" x 10" photo to commemorate the experience.  

The tackier and cheesier Vegas gets, the more I like it.