photo posted from my iPhone
we ended up on the north side of The Strip. The old Downtown, casinos built over twenty years ago. Ancient history for this town of high turnover. Vegas feels like a mirage, where nothing is quite real. So I find myself oddly drawn to these older spots, as though these older casinos were actually soulful.
they do have some sort of odd, old soul though, no? the Artisan has a nice dark bar and it’s off the strip. not sure how old it is but there’s something comfortable there you don’t feel anywhere on the strip.
Comment by christina — September 1, 2008 @ 7:53 pm
This sense of realness and soul is really on my mind after this trip. As Alina said, “It’s so easy to fool our emotions. We humans are so cheap!”
Comment by Rolston — September 2, 2008 @ 8:08 pm
The thing is, those old casinos don’t feel like the suburbs. They don’t have the same air of desperation as the newer ones. It’s still there, don’t get me wrong – Vegas is a city built on desperation – but there the people are desperate about car payments and trailer rent and being in debt to the meth dealer, instead of brokerage fees and the cost of putting an all marble bathroom in the McMansion and Cuban cigar expenses. No dancing fountains! No cloud-painted ceilings! No plaster Venices! No celebrities. Just good, honest gambling the hard-earned paycheck away till desperation is your last and only friend. That’s livin’, Vegas-style. Looking over your shoulder one day at a time.
Did you go to Tahoe or Carson City or Reno, Jon? It gets more and more real as you head north.
Comment by Mitch — September 5, 2008 @ 9:23 pm
Real depressing. Never made it to Reno. Been before, to all three of those places. Nowadays there are indian casinos and card rooms all over California, so Reno is really feeling the pinch. I read it has become a hub for the midwest trucking industry, so it won’t fade away, but I don’t know how Vegas will diversify it’s portfolio. Will video conferencing some day destroy Vegas?
Comment by Rolston — September 9, 2008 @ 3:46 pm