Thursday, February 11, 2010

Las Vegas Reflections

Having just returned from my annual “Watch the Super Bowl in Las Vegas” sojourn, and then spending the last day or so in bed nursing a bad cold, I’ve had time to gather some random thoughts about my trip.

Antique Malls

One of the things I like to do is visit antique malls – mostly to search for monkey figurines that fit my collection.

Over the past couple of years, the number of antique malls, and booth holders as well, has been dwindling.

Whereas there used to be five or six scattered throughout the city, there are now only three mentioned in the tourist guides. And these have fewer exhibitors by half.

On a side note, the Indoor Swap Meet on Decatur is still open on weekends, but when I visited this time, approximately a third (perhaps as much as 40%) of the booths were empty.

Pretty sad … even antiques are being affected by the bad economy that’s hit Las Vegas hard.

A Brush with Famous People?

While waiting for my flight from San Francisco to Vegas, I noticed the overhead flight information display board.

There listed on the “Confirmed waiting seats” screen was “Wie/M.” Could it be? Was the famous young golfer Michelle Wie on my flight? I waited with bated breath, craning my neck around to see if I could spot her.

No such luck. They announced “Mr. Wietzak” instead. Rats.

Then, before my flight back to Hawaii from Los Angeles, they called for “Peterson, Mr. Paul Peterson” to check at the podium. Paul Peterson. Could it be? Was it really “Jeff” of the old “Donna Reed Show” (‘50s television)?

I waited with bated breath, craning my neck around to see if I could spot him.

No such luck. Oh well, so much for famous people on my flights.

Snow in the Desert

Just as people are surprised when they find out it actually snows in Hawaii atop a couple of the world’s highest mountains, so was I surprised the first time I saw snow in Las Vegas.

Well okay, it’s not actually IN Vegas, but on the mountains to the west – particularly Mt. Charleston.

It was cold in Las Vegas when I was there, typically in the high 40s during the day – cold enough for it to snow on the mountain tops.

A Big Help

You’ve probably seen the email that says to look at the gas pump icon on your dashboard, and if the hose is on the left, your gas tank fills from the left, and if it’s on the right, the filling is done from the right.

That of course, is wrong.

However, my Chevy Cobalt rental eliminates the confusion. Notice the gas tank indicator in the picture. Now THAT’S useful when driving into a filling station.

Big Ol’ Bear

Finally, I always like to say hello to Mr. Papa Bear, who’s perched on top of the junk box at Black Bear Diner, one of my favorite Las Vegas breakfast restaurants.

Howdy sir … hope you’re having a great day!

1 comment:

casch said...

I have noticed the same thing about antique stores in Reno. On the other hand, I understand thrift stores are doing such a brisk business that they are actually "getting expensive". Who knew?!