Fremont Street Experience

There is no place like Las Vegas. And while the strip is bigger than life, with its huge hotels, flashing bright lights and big show marquees, is alluring, there is nothing like the Fremont Street Experience.

Located on Fremont Street in downtown Las Vegas, this is original Las Vegas. Everything is smaller and simpler. Its a piece of cake to walk the Fremont St "strip." The casinos are close together. The hotels are much more affordable than the glitzy strip hotels. But what I like best about Fremont Street isn't the gambling, the food, or the bargain hotel rooms. Its the lights.

Fremont St. is the home of the Neon Light Museum. Vintage neon signs, rescued from the demolition heap, were resurrected, restored, and are on display here and there. You can just walk around looking for the signs, and reading a little bit about their history. I have loved neon signs since I was a little girl sitting in the back seat of my parents car as they drove down El Cajon Blvd in the evening. The old motels, liquor stores, carpet repair shops, car dealerships, and gas stations all had neon signs back in the 1960s. And they were pretty and interesting to look at. And while I have watched sadly as my own hometown's neon signs disappeared into oblivion, I was pleased to see the Las Vegas folks treasure their history enough to try to save as many of the old lights as possible.





Here is the gateway to Fremont Street and its neon sign museum walk.



The Hacienda Horse and Rider came from 1967, where they advertised the Hacienda Hotel.


The Red Barn Bar Martini Glass, from around 1960. The bar burned down to the ground, but the sign was saved.



The Silver Slipper. This sign is currently down for repairs at the Neon Boneyard, but will be back in a few months.



This Wedding Info sign is from the 1940s, when war era weddings were at their peak.



The Chief Court Hotel Sign comes to us from 1940. Steamed heat?



Andy Anderson from the Anderson Dairy. This neon Guy used to live in front the Dairy in 1956.



For some reason, I can't remember who the showgirl is. I'll have to go find out really soon!




The Flame Restaurant sign used to be on top of the restaurant roof in 1961.



The Nevada Motel sign was glowing in the dark in 1950.

If you've never checked out the Fremont Street experience, you really must plan a trip some time. There is a canopy containing 12 million tiny computer-run lights, 5 football fields long. There is 550,000 watts of sound. And what happens is periodically throughout the evening, you get a animated light and music show. Its amazing, its popular, and its free. You can just hang out there all night long, watching people, window shopping, and taking in the various shows. Here are some photos of some of the images.





This show was filled with fast flying airplanes, jets, rocket ships. It was colorful, dazzling, and impressive. They set animated light shows to tunes like, Queen's We Will Rock You, and Lynyrd Skynyrd's Free Bird. Some of the tunes are patriotic, and for a while they played "Happy Trails, To You."

Yes, you can spend a fortune on Strip Casino shows, get all decked out and put on airs. Or you can throw on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, and go roam around Fremont St. It's a fun way to spend a warm summer evening.