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Las Vegas, Nevada
Cause when you live in the desert, it's what pretty girls do
There are many legitimate reasons to go to Las Vegas, and in 2019 I actually had one. A’19 (also known as the 2019 AIA Convention) was scheduled to take place during the first full week of June, when temperatures in the desert city struggled to drop below 100 degrees. It is possible that someone in the AIA really likes the hot weather after similarly ill scheduled conventions in Miami and New Orleans, where it was so damn hot that just going outside and walking quickly became issues. Luckily, even on a 100 degree day, things cool down significantly at night, making that walk back and forth to the Wynn a hell of a lot more bearable.
A quick note about this all too short slideshow. Like any AIA Convention, most of my time was spent on AIA tours, an extra added cost to attendees but one that allows opportunities to see places that you (usually) just can’t to on your own. Most of the images from this first page are not from the tours but from what little free time I had between them, with the exception of this first picture. Sure, you can go see the “B” at Binions any time you want, but when can you do it on a bus filled with architects listening to a live narrated commentary by a top Las Vegas historian?
The classic view of the Bellagio, with its fountains ablaze and when even the moon came out to see the show.
While this picture is not from the 2019 AIA Convention (also known as A’19), it did take me to Bellagio twice. The first was a backstage tour of the entire complex, taking us through the impressive service side rarely seen by non employees, while the second backstage tour focused entirely on “O.” There’s more about both backstage tours on the next page, for anyone interested in such things.
City Center, located just south of the Bellagio, is a surprisingly urban moment on the strip in a lot of ways, even though its center is a shopping mall. Designed by Daniel Libeskind, it looks great from the outside and good from the inside, and is a reasonably distracting way to connect to Aria. At the center point of the Crystals, right where the entrance to Aria is and right when the interior gets the most interesting, is a tram station connecting back to Bellagio and this, “Shard of Color.” a piece of art that consumes most of the tram station. Created by James Turrell of skyspace fame, the installation is a welcome addition that, despite the experience of being totally saturated in color, still feels pretty subdued for a place like Las Vegas.
Far away from the strip (but not all that far from Fremont Street) and headquarted at the old La Concha Motel (designed by Paul Revere Williams), the Neon Museum is divided into two main sections. One is spectacular- the boneyard is a collection of sign fragments from demolished signs, restaurants and casinos that require a private, guided tour to visit. The tour is certainly interesting and fact filled, although I imagine a lot of those facts have a lot more meaning to someone who grew up in Las Vegas and remembers every intact sign and every old casino. Many of the signs in the boneyard have been restored and were flashing and lit during the tour, although most are still leaning up against the fence waiting to see if they ever get fixed. However the chance to see them up close, whether lit or not, is really a wonderful experience.
While the boneyard is definitely spectacular, the separately ticketed north gallery has a spectacular that’s not quite as spectacular to be honest. Called “Brilliant!,” it is a show where another gallery of abandoned signs comes to life, although instead of being restored, the signs are projection mapped to appear as if they’re working. Certainly inventive and interesting, although there is no world where projection mapping fake neon can ever beat the real thing.
In between all of the A’19 tours and receptions and keynotes, I managed to find the time to see three local museums that I had never been to. The first one was the Neon Museum with its spectacular boneyard (see above) and the second was the Mob Museum (not pictured). It’s not that I didn’t enjoy the Mob Museum, it’s just, well. ok, I didn’t enjoy the Mob Museum. Let’s leave it at that.
The third local museum however was a winner. The National Atomic Testing Museum is way off the strip near the UNLV campus and was a damn fun experience. Your museum experience includes a theater that simulates attending an atomic test (without all of the radiation), something I’m sure I’d be stupid enough to do myself if I lived within driving range of Las Vegas in the 1950s. After that, the history of the testing sites is well explained and includes all sorts of awesome artifacts, including a great cut out of Miss Atomic Bomb, wearing a mushroom cloud. What’s not to love about that?
There are certain things you just have to do when you go to Las Vegas. You have to see the fountain as Bellagio, you have to experience the strip, you have to go a buffet somewhere (it’s hard to beat the killer one at the Wtnn by the way) and you have to pay tribute to the giant heads of Siegfried and Roy, exiled from the Magic Garden and now unceremoniously stuck out on the strip in front of a parking garage, remembering back to a time when it was still ok to touch their magic tree.
I try and remember how many times I have been to Las Vegas by how many hotels I have stayed in. I’ve been to good ones, bad ones, a few that I would recommend, a few that I wouldn’t and one that doesn’t even exist anymore (its since been rebranded). So on my ninth or tenth trip there (Luxor, Treasure Island, New Aladdin, Venetian, Tropicana, Vdara, Aria, Signature at MGM Grand, the Murder Hotel), I decided to stay somewhere new.
This is the view from my (unfortunately) low floor hotel room at Paris Las Vegas, where I had a great view of the pool and the tower but only fleeting glimpses of the oh so close Bellagio fountains just across the street. The hotel would definitely make the “recommended” list above, along with Aria and the Venetian. It’s hard not to fall in love with a place where you can get a damn tasty crepe right by the elevators.
And a quick note for anyone curious about the Murder Hotel referenced above. It actually has a different name (Travelodge) and was the complimentary hotel provided by United Airlines after they cancelled a trip home due to mechanical issues. While I have no proof that the hotel is a murder site (too many results came up to really sort through during a search for Las+Vegas+Travelodge+murder on Google to find out about that particular Travelodge), it was as a creepy a place as I have honestly ever been to. And no, the Murder Hotel did not make the “recommended” list.
