What’s More Vegas Than Vegas?

Fremont Street in Las VegasImage by Author

Fremont Street — The Real Las Vegas

I remember the first time I saw Fremont Street, in Las Vegas, Nevada. We were in town for a trade show, and while the boss stayed at the luxurious Bellagio, she stuck us at the much cheaper, Golden Nugget — and I’m thrilled that she did. Walking into the tiny, by Vegas standards, check-in area gave me pause, but only an hour wandering around changed my mind.

The Nugget, as it is known, is classic Las Vegas. It’s not the fake skylines, fountains, and statues of the strip. This is true Vegas. This is old-style Vegas. You expect to see Bugsy Siegel in the high roller room. The Golden Nugget has become my favorite place to stay in Vegas. And what's better, you step out the back door into the wonder of Fremont Street - The Real Las Vegas.

Golden NuggetImage by Author

We were expected to meet early the first morning to go over our client meetings. Well, early for the rest of the crew means 9 am. For me, early is five o’clock, and the three-hour time change didn’t affect that. So after a quick shower, I had a few hours to kill and went looking for coffee and something to eat. That little adventure turned into a life-changing experience.

It turns out the Nugget isn’t so old-world that there isn’t a Starbucks just inside their back door. I stood in line with the rest of the early riser and late gamblers and placed an order of a blasphemous, just black coffee, and a muffin. Looking for a quiet place to have my breakfast, I stepped out through the door and into…

There are only a few places in the world where six in the morning isn’t a quiet hour. Times Square comes to mind. But 42nd and Broadway got nothing on downtown Las Vegas at the crack of dawn. New York may be the city that never sleeps, but Las Vegas is the city that doesn’t even know what time it is. Veterans of Vegas know that there are no clocks or windows inside any casinos. You don't need to know what time it is, or whether it's day or night. Just keep playing.

Busker on Fremont StreetImage by Author

As I stepped through the door of the Nugget, I was blinded by the lights from the ceiling, and my ears were assaulted by the noise. Looking around, I could see that there were a few early risers, but mostly, it was people still up from the night before. People have a certain look when you encounter them after an all-nighter. And more than a few of them had taken advantage of the free cocktails in the casino.

The light display and music ran overhead on autopilot. Custodians and dumpster divers competed for the trash and discarded food. Late-night drunks staggered from light pole to light pole, while high functioning alcoholics practiced their focused stroll down the street. A group of acrobats practiced their routines while cyclists and runners weaved through the crowd.

I thought, if this is Fremont Street at 6 am, I have got to see it after dark.

And I did.

At night, the crowds are huge, but you can still find pockets of space to stop and take it all in. Barkers and buskers, hustlers and hustled, strippers and strutters, high-class and cowboys were uptown and lowdown. You couldn’t buy entertainment this good, and it was free.

Fremont Street at NightImage by Author

If your only experience with Las Vegas is the strip, where it’s a half-mile walk down an anonymous sidewalk from one casino to the next, you owe it to yourself to get downtown. The rooms, food, and drinks are much cheaper. Gambling is more fun. The crowds and lights on Fremont Street are reminiscent of old movies.

And who knows, you may run into Bugsy Siegal and Edward G. Robinson.

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