Off-Strip Attractions

Sep 21 2005

Let There Be Lake

To people who live in Las Vegas, “The Lake” usually refers to Lake Mead, that other-worldly wonder created when Hoover Dam blocked off Boulder Canyon. I say “usually,” because there are other bodies of water that also generate comment. The “water features” at the Bellagio and the Wynn resort are called lakes, and so are “The Lakes,” a set of man-made ponds in a high-end residential development on the city’s west side. But the one most likely to compete with its big brother on the Colorado is a relative newcomer in Henderson: Lake Las Vegas.


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Sep 15 2005

San Gennaro Does Vegas

To outsiders, it might seem strange that a city with world-class rollercoasters on its main drag gets excited when a carnival comes to town. You’d think that a portable Ferris wheel might be a little ho-hum to people who can go up in the Stratosphere tower any day of the year, and that a petting zoo featuring a goat and a rooster could seem awfully tame compared to the white tigers at the Mirage or the lions at the MGM Grand.


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Jun 17 2005

Oasis in the Asphalt: Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort State Historic Park

The City of Las Vegas is proud to be a hundred years old, but there’s something older with a significant birthday this year, too. Celebrating its founding in 1855 is the Old Mormon Fort, the first permanent structure erected in the Las Vegas valley.


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Jun 09 2005

Wings Over Vegas: Soaring with Dan Nezgoda

At any given moment, there are all sorts of things in the sky above Las Vegas. In addition to jets of all sizes flying into and out of McCarran Airport, there are F-16s zooming out of Nellis Air Force Base, hot air balloons lifting off from Summerlin, helicopters full of tourists or policemen buzzing overhead, not to mention an occasional blimp floating over the Strip. The sky over Sin City can be a very crowded place.


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Apr 06 2005

Close By, Clean Cut, Slot Free

Every once in a while, I find it pleasant to remember that there are cities in the world that don’t have slot machines in their grocery stores and video poker on every corner. You might think I’d have to travel to California or Arizona to visit this kind of sin-free community, but good clean fun is ever so much closer. Boulder City is only a half-hour drive from Las Vegas.


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