Down On The Strip

We have made a few trips down to The Strip from our location downtown.  There are a few things that are new there since the last time we were here together in 2009.  (Although somehow Gary was here briefly in 2010 driving our then new-to-us motor home back from San Francisco to Detroit.  I still can’t figure out how Las Vegas fit with that trip.)  Anyway, the whole City Center Complex and the Cosmopolitan are new to us.  The thing that really struck us in this area is the use of video monitors of the type employed in sports stadiums. 

 

 

This one is for the Aria hotel/casino at City Center.  This display is 10 to 15 stories high and is constantly changing scenes among ads and pictures like these.  The shopping at City Center is so exclusive that they even have a Harry Winston diamond store.

 

 

 

Across the street at Planet Hollywood, they have a whole string of huge video boards.  Their shopping arcade actually has some stores that we could feel comfortable browsing in.

LED’s haven’t replaced neon, but they are certainly putting a new twist on the glitz and glitter that is Las Vegas.

Another new property on the strip is the Cosmopolitan.  They acquired their land purchasing the parking lot of a timeshare complex known as the Jockey Club.  In this commercial picture you can see how they built their two huge high-rise towers right around the two short towers of the Jockey Club (just to the right of the Bellagio sign).  The timeshares got guaranteed free parking in Cosmo’s garages and millions for their parking lot and loss of their views. 

As reported, we previously visited Caesar’s and Bellagio and also passed through Mirage, Harrah’s, Bally’s, Paris and Venetian/Palazzo on other forays from downtown.  We still marvel at how people can afford these places and their huge prices and incredibly high gambling minimums.  We’ll be just fine downtown in our $14 a night campground space staying in our own “luxury suite”, enjoying the $2 craft beers at the “Station”.