I just looked at the date of my last post. It's been not only been a long time since I wrote anything, but years. COVID-19 may have been indescribable for most of us, creating fear at every turn, but there have been a lot of coronaviruses coming through Las Vegas (a result of 39,000,000 tourists from around the world coming through town) - and I've caught all of them, beginning with the lovely little thing that had me go from feeling terrific to 105 degree fever in 20 minutes and ending with a lovely "stomach bug" that kept me in bed for two months barely able to eat. Thank goodness for Pedialyte and Lay's Potato Chips.
But enough excuses, let's get to the changes in Las Vegas in the last few years. The Riviera is gone - a parking lot. There's new convention space built on the Paradise Road side of the property - built during the pandemic. It's not open to the public yet, but it looks great from the outside.
The "Blue Elephant" at the corner of Elvis Presley Way (formerly Riviera Boulevard) and The Strip is still a Blue Elephant. It went up in a flash and stopped just as quickly. The furniture that had been ordered is now at the Plaza downtown. There have been a couple of owners of what was originally called the Fountainbleu, but nothing is exiting yet.
The SLS, which had been the Sahara since the 1950's, is back to being called the Sahara. It's considered a good decision by many old time Las Vegans. The Lucky Dragon west of the Strip on Sahara was only open for a little over a year. It had the greatest chandelier that hung over the small casino, but when I was there, it only one customer - me. They filed for bankruptcy in 2018. It was sold and is now called The Ahern.
This last year has been pretty freaky driving down the Strip and seeing only a car or two and police vehicles parked at the entrances of casinos to keep people from wandering in. Bally's had a rat problem, which has been resolved, as a result of no one being in the building. Those nasty critters chewed through some wires and caused a blackout.
The Golden Steer on Sahara a block west of the Strip and Ichobad's on east Flamingo are my two favorite restaurants for great food and wonderful atmosphere, especially for the older crowd.
Best of all - Las Vegas is back. It's not exactly the same. Some companies have cut back on entertainment (a big mistake in my opinion), and Caesar's World thinks paying for parking is a good move It may be - but no for locals. But old timers in Las Vegas swore the town would come back bigger and better than ever. I wasn't as sure. I'm glad to say I was very wrong. Fremont Street is shoulder to shoulder. The casinos are busier than I've seen them in two decades. The D and the new Circa were taking head counts when people entered and left to make sure they weren't over the limits to capacity. And today everything is now open at 100%.
