A COVID-19 Vegas experience was like none other we have had
before. I am glad we went, however,
there is a long way to go before Vegas gets back to any type of “normal.” It is so heartbreaking to see what COVID has
done to this amazing city we love to visit.
The biggest noticeable difference…face masks!
Boise is just now starting to require/mandate face masks. So, this was our first real experience of having
to wear them all of the time, unless you are outside and can properly socially distance. This meant wearing our masks in the Boise airport,
on the plane, in the Vegas airport, in the taxi cab, while riding the bus, and
inside the casino/hotel. We even wore
our masks when we were down on Fremont Street because even though you can
socially distance, the outside streets had the heaviest pedestrian traffic
compared to all the other streets and sidewalks of the Vegas Strip.
It was a delight to see that Vegas was having fun with it and
you would spot masks on various statutes around town. I didn’t snap a photo of Caesar, but even he
was wearing a mask. I was surprised to
see my favorite Guinness Guy was not wearing his mask. Maybe we can place the blame on him for the
COVID spread.
The second noticeable difference was how “dead” the streets
were. A typical Vegas trip is never
light when it comes to both pedestrian and vehicle traffic. Since the COVID shutdowns, it was really bare
around town. As I said above, Fremont
Street had the most pedestrian traffic, although a lot of them looked
local. The casinos were filled with people
and even our pool-view room showed people out and about.
Another noticeable difference, and maybe one of the toughest,
is that there are no bars open and most restaurants closed at 11pm, or
earlier. It made it really difficult to
find food late at night or early in the morning. Denny’s was open 24/7 so that was a plus on
one of our early mornings. There were NO
Starbucks open in our hotel area (until the last day when Kenyon spotted one we
didn’t know was hiding).
We were able to try out a new restraint on this trip, Lazy Dog
Restaurant & Bar. We arrived at
Happy Hour and were able to try several small bites including deep fried deviled
eggs, loaded hush puppies, and the reason we decided to try them, the amazing
hot dog and slaw. This hot dog was
wrapped in bacon and served on a King’s Hawaiian bun. It was served with blue cheese, coleslaw, and
some sort of spicy sauce. It was a
really great combo and served with chips on top really elevated it. We were also given a compliment parmesan
waffle fry as it was our first visit.
The beer tasted amazing after navigating the Vegas 100+ degree temps.
We also tried out Chicago Brewing in Fremont Street at Four
Queens. The bus ride to Fremont Street
took over an hour so we got there too late to dine in. They allows us to order to-go and the pizza
was amazing! I also enjoyed the beer,
which is their local brew. They let us
eat our pizza inside the restaurant, which we appreciated. It was really annoying to have everything
closed down so early.
The last major noticeable difference was how slow the bus
system was running. The transit has had
to reduce their busses and even cut some routes. This was the first trip where it would have
taken over an hour and a few bus changes to get from the airport to the
hotel. When we rode the bus, which was
just once because of all the delays, it was at least 25-40 minutes to wait for
a bus to come and then with the stop lights and bus stops, took a good hour to
get anywhere. That was enough for us to
say “no thank you” and instead, stay close to Excalibur, which had several other
MGM properties near it to get around and gamble/eat. The trams were also not running.
I don’t know when we will be back to Vegas. It is really quite sad. They need money to get back on their
feet. With bars closed, entertainment suspended,
restaurant limitations, and long bus routes, it will be a very difficult
decision to return soon.
We still had a good time and even won some money. I was able to par-take in a beer (or two...or more).
Oh pre-COVID Vegas, I really miss you!
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