Las Vegas is open (kinda.) But the Gov has asked us to stay home for three weeks. So I am going to share things to do outside that are safer as well as things to do at home, as requested. That’s lots to do in Las Vegas that is fun and healthy!
Take a hike (literally)
The National Park Foundation encourages Americans to visit a national park instead of shopping on Black Friday. This year that is a particularly great idea.
Here is the 411 on my all-time favorite hike in Las Vegas for people who don’t or can’t scramble up rocks: The Historic Railroad Trail at Lake Mead National Recreation Area.
The history: Workers were building the Hoover Dam in 1931. They needed to get equipment and materials to the river site. They built five tunnels, installed railroad tracks and let the trains do the heavy lifting.
The tunnels are super wide because they had to accommodate the dam’s penstock sections.
The trail is the only remaining section of the Hoover Dam Railroad system that is not under way. Originally there were 30 miles of railroad tracks.
The trail is paved. It’s a 7.5 mile round trip with an elevation change of 11 feet.
Here’s the best part. The trail ends at the top level of the parking garage for the dam’s visitor center. From this vantage point you can almost reach out and touch the kewlest bridge in southern Nevada: the Mike O’Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge. I love this arched bridge. And it makes driving to Arizona easy because it eliminates the wild switchbacks and the actual driving across the dam which took forever. (The bridge opened in 2010.)
The early part of the trail is on the rim of a mountain providing jaw-dropping views of Lake Mead.
Parking is FREE at the Allen Bible Visitor Center.
Dogs are welcome on the trail, which is a big thing for me.
Try it. You’ll like it!
P.S. The free-tail bats only live in the tunnels in the summer months. So you’ll miss ’em.
Small Business Saturday
Saturday is Small Business Saturday. In downtown Las Vegas, it’s Shop Local day.
The city is offering FREE parking downtown in case you want to shop locally. Specifically, FREE covers all parking meters in The Fremont East District.
Downtown Container Park is offering FREE entertainment in its outdoor plaza and a virtual Santa.
You do have to wear a mask indoors and out. Just FYI.
For the record, parking in the Arts District is always FREE.
Learn about Grace Jones
You young-ins might not know who Grace Jones is. She was a disco queen in the 1970s. I can still hear her full-throated song “I Need a Man” in my head.
If you want to know more about her, listen to Hanif Abdurranqib‘s podcast, “Lost Notes.” He talks about 1980, which is when Grace Jones’s music moved into the New Wave movement. 1980 was an instrumental time for music!
The podcast is FREE. Here is the URL: kcrw.com/culture/shows/lost-notes.
Sirius XM is FREE is this week-end. Just download the app and tune in. The Studio 54 channel plays a lot of Grace Jones’s music.
Have a fun and safe week-end, Las Vegas.
((hugs)) BETH Ellyn
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