talk the walk

In a league of their own, or maybe, it’s more like the cosmos, itself. In any case, I should know, since I am a native of South Dakota. So what a splendid surprise when the 4 pm tour brought together these 6 energetic women from Fargo-land : Teresa, Linda, Gwen, Sandy, Tammi………..and Sue, for whom 25 friends had journeyed here just to celebrate Sue’s birthday. The Big SIXTY. They had been here a few days already so let’s just say…

On an almost spring-like day, the 4 pm tour brought together Sal and Jennifer from Oregon; Jim and Debbie from Seattle., and Brian from Wisconsin. They had signed up to learn some history and they seemed to get the part about Las Vegas as an enduring outpost of the American West, defined first by its rail road history and then as America’s first gambling Main Street. Starting on the steps of the Mob Museum always instills a sense of past…

Vanessa and Ryan arrived at the Mob Museum for the launch of the 4 pm walking tour. So we stepped into the lobby for a photo with J. Edgar. They were from California, and Ryan, a musician, had been to Vegas several times for the Punk Rock Bowling Music Festival. The tour was awesome. On Third Street we stepped into Hogs & Heifers – the biker bar famous for its canopy of women’s undergarments assembled above the bar. At Casino…

It was Martin Luther King Day. The parade dominated downtown. Brandy and Thomas, from California, managed to navigate the road issues to arrive on time at the Mob Museum for our 1 pm tour. Blocking the streets seemed symbolic. Up the street we heard marching bands – on a day when justice itself seemed necessarily on the march. But the walking tour today was itself eventful and fun for me (by profession a cultural planner) since both tour goers worked…

It’s not often that you get a UN Diplomat as a tour goer. Erich, from Manhattan, joined us for an afternoon tour last week. He had a keen interest in history and seemed intent on learning more about how Las Vegas came to be. He was one of those rare visitors who knew that the fortunes of Vegas grew tremendously because of Castro’s revolution in Cuba. “You ought to build a statue of Fidel in Las Vegas,” he mused, “as…

Heidi & Troy, from Houston, and Tim & Christina, from San Diego, joined us for the 4 pm tour of Downtown. It was the “Magic Hour” – twilight, when the neon signs flicker on . They all seemed to enjoy every minute of the walking tour that began on the steps of the Mob Museum – in reality, a tribute to Oscar B. Goodman, the former Mob attorney, who later became the Mayor of Las of Las Vegas. ( Disclaimer!…