Along66 Dec. 2021: Bringing Those Great Old Neon Signs Back to Life (On the Cheap)

DECEMBER 28

Artist shows how he brings dead neon signs to back to life with "augmented restoration."

An artist by the name of Craig Winslow at the Neon Museum in Las Vegas is using technology to bring them back.

First, he learns what the sign looked like in its heyday and how it was animated.  He then digitally traces it onto a program and reanimates and colors them.

This is a great process to bring those back to life, especially until funds can be found to restore them.

And, as I always say, "You can always use a little more (or lot more) neon!!"

--RoadNeon

A Father-Daughter Trip on Route 66-- Part 4: From Winslow to Santa Monica Pier

Well worth watching the videos they took along the way.

DAY 7--  Winslow, Arizona  Stayed at La Pasada in the Amelia Earhart Room, Standing on the Corner, Meteor Crater  Seligman, Oatman Highway, Oatman

DAY 8--  Needle, California.  Two day side trip to Las Vegas.

DAY 9--  Las Vegas

DAY 10--  Mojave Desert

DAY 11--  By now, they'd been through pouring rain, blistering heat and lots of mechanical problems, but finally got to Santa Monica Pier.

--RoadDog

Along 66, Jan. 2020: Springfield, Missouri's History Museum on the Square Is USA Today's 2019 Best New Attraction

JANUARY 12--  The History Museum on the Square in Springfield, Missouri, has been awarded the best New Attraction in the USA Today annual 10 Best listings.

This new museum has six galleries featuring Springfield founders, Route 66 the Civil War as well as regional and area Indian cultures.

Other attractions being listed in the USA 10 best New Attractions:

#2. The American Kennel Club Museum of the Dog in New York.

#3.  The Hunger Games":  The Exhibition in Las Vegas.

#4.  Allianz Field in St. Paul, Minnesota.

#5.  J. Rieger & Co. in St. Louis.

#6.  Sound Waves at Gaylord Opryland in Nashville.

#7.  Tidal Cove Waterpark at Aventura, Florida.

#8.  Otherworld in Columbus, Ohio.

#9.  ArtsWorcester in Worcester, Massachusetts.

#10.  Chuck Williams Culinary Arts Museum in Napa, California.

Always great to have another museum.

The More Museums, The Better.  --RoadDog

Budget Vegas-- Getting That Gambling Bang for Your Buck-- Part 3

7.  Check out museums.  two of note are the Neon Museum and Mob Museum.  At least you're not losing money gambling.

8.  Also, there are a lot of street performers.

9.  Avoid steakhouses and buffet bonanzas.  Go to delis and local restaurants.  And, definitely, positively, In-N-Out Burgers.

10.  Take the bus on Route 109.  It is $2 a ride or $20 for three days.

11.  Get out of town.  Some neat places to visit are the Valley of Fire State Park and Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area.  Also Mount Charleston.

Lucky Seven-Eleven.  --RoadDog

Budget Vegas, Getting the Bang for Your Gambling Buck-- Part 2

3.  Las Vegas Boulevard has the most expensive rooms.  Stay at a non-casino hotel.

4.  Off strip casinos have the best deals.

5.  Experience Fremont Street.  Its rooms, restaurants, gambling tables, etc. are less expensive.

6.  Tickets to the big shows are expensive and often sold out.  However, you can use Tix 4 Tonight booths, which open at 10 a.m., to get better deals.

--RoadDog

Budget Vegas, Getting the Gambling Bang for Your Buck-- Part 1

From the April 22, 2014, Yahoo! Travel, Compass  "Budget Las Vegas:  How to save on Sin City fun" by Christy Karras.

Las Vegas increasingly caters to the high rollers and rich.  (A big reason why I don't care if I ever go back.)

Her brother oversees hotel casino pools and says you should avoid the pools of ones hosting big, late-night pool parties as chlorine can only do so much.

Here are some tips if you still want to go:

1.  Avoid weekends, big sporting events like the Super Bowl and big conventions.  Crowds and prices of everything go way up.

2.  Gamble early in the morning when table minimums are lower  Most of the upscale casinos now how minimum $25 bets now at other times.

More to Come.  --RoadDog

In Case You'd Like to See That Yucca Motel Sign in Vegas

After writing about the Yucca Motel yesterday, I looked it up on Yahoo!

I found out it was built sometime in the 1950s and had been demolished in 2010. The sign, however, was saved. There were even a few not-so-wonderful reviews of the place in the 2000s as it declined.

You can see pictures of the motel and sign as well as other old mom-pop motels at these sites:

Las Vegas Motels: Then and Now, 10 Neon Museum Signs We Love in the Vegas Blogs site and Roadside Peek: The Strip Motels in Las Vegas.

--RoadDog

Neon Museum Spotlights Bygone Era of Las Vegas-- Part 3

Assembling the collection also takes a lot of luck. Danielle Kelly relates the story of the Yucca Motel sign. Two years ago, she got the tip that the motel was about to be torn down. So, she went to try to get it.

The owner's son didn't want to pay to move the sign, though. Kelly began a series of negotitations with him saying they wanted to share the sign with people and tell the story of his family and business.

Finaly, the museum received money and the Yucca Motel sign is now in the Boneyard.

Just imagine how great of an attraction it would be to have a huge park of all the old signs (well, and new ones since Las Vegas seems so intent on tearing down anything over twenty years of age.

--RoadDog

Neon Museum Spotlights Bygone Era of Las Vegas-- Part 2

In the 1980s a committee was formed to help rescue neon art from the rubble of the demolished hotels and casinos. Now, parts of 150 signs are displayed on a patch of land once known as Neon Gulch.

Included in it is the original clam-shaped lobby of the historic La Concha Motel which has been renovated to serves as a greeting center. I remember this building and walked by it many times. If I recall, there was a tacky souvenir place attached to it.

Some restored pieces are in the downtown streets, but at the Boneyard, the pieces remain rough and untouched. The tall pool-playing figure that was once at the Treasure Island Casino and the gold lamp that was at the Aladdin Casino are there as well.

--RoadDog

Neon Museum Spotlights Bygone Era of Las Vegas-- Part 1

From the November 11, 2012, Chicago Tribune by John M. Glionna.

There is a place in Vegas known as the Neon Boneyard where the remnants of once brilliant neon signs reside today that had once graced the Moulin Rouge, Desert Inn, Golden Nugget and Stardust casinos as well as many lesser-known Vegas buildings.

"But time moves on, especially here. In a city addicted to reinventing itself, the wrecking ball rules." I always hate to see those old (say 30+ years old) buildings imploded and signs destroyed. You always need to save some of your past.

But now, you can see some of Las Vegas' past as the Neon Museum, located in the city's downtown, officially opened October 27, 2012. Tours are offered through the museum as well.

--RoadDog

Las Vegas' Rancho Drive Built During World War II

From the March 5, 2013, Las Vegas Review-Journal "Rancho Drive played a role during Second World War" by Laura Phelps.

With the coming of war, a path was needed in Las Vegas to connect war-related materials from the north in Ely or Henderson.  Some of the war freight was carried by trains and some more in trucks.  It was decided to build a bypass around downtown Las Vegas.

The road most likely received its name from a local ranch or estate in the area.

This new road followed the bed of the Las Vegas and Tonopah Railroad.  Since it was laid out for trains it only had a 3% grade.

Today, Rancho Drive is a main road connecting Centennial Hills with downtown Las Vegas, running parallel with Nevada-599 which divides North Las Vegas from Las Vegas.

A Road With a War Background.  --RoadDog

Las Vegas Neon Museum

From the Nov. 3, 2012, Roadside Fans Yahoo Group.

Las Vegas' Neon Museum is officially open.  It is an open air one with more than 150 signs.  Of course, Las Vegas is noted for its neon signs.  The electric bill must be stupendous..  And, of course, there are all those great signs for the casinos, sadly, many of which have been destroyed.

Before now, some 20,000 people a year went to the museum by appointment  Owners expect 55,000 this year. (I know that the next time I'm there, I'm going.)

The 1960s striking La Concha Motel lobby was donated (If I recall it stood across the street from the Stardust or nearby).  It cost $1.2 million to move it.  They also have the giant "H" from the the Horseshoe Casino.

Tours are run by eight docents and 20 volunteers assist.

I think that all casinos should donate their old signs when no longer wanted and then also provide money for their upkeep and operation.  It's just good publicity.

Lighting the Landscape.  --RoadDog

While on the Subject of Las Vegas

While looking for information as to whether Siegfried and Roy had performed their magic show at the Frontier (I never found it listed, but Liz and I are very sure this is where we saw it), I came across a list of when the casinos opened along the Strip on the Siegfried and Roy site.

I found it of interest and will list the dates here:

1941-- El Rancho became the first resort to open
1946-- Flamingo
1950-- Desert Inn
1952-- Sahara, Sands
1955-- Riviera, Dunes
1957-- Tropicana
1958-- Aladdin, Caesar's Palace
1989-- Mirage

How many of them are no longer with us? Off-hand, I think El Rancho, Desert Inn, Sahara, Sands, Dunes, and Aladdin are gone.

Hey, Ya Gotta Save Something. --RoadDog

The End of Las Vegas' Frontier

I was very sad to see the end of the Las Vegas, Nv., New Frontier last week. This is the second famous Vegas casino to come down this year, the Stardust having been imploded back in March.

It started as the Pair-O-Dice in 1930, then the Ambassador in 1936. The name was changed again in 1939 to the 91 Club because of its location on US Highway 91. In 1942, it became the Last Frontier.

On April 4th, 1955, it became the New Frontier after a major modernization.

It was the Strip's second casino and the first themed resort as a cowboy town and known for its cheap rooms.

Elvis Presley had his first Las Vegas appearance at the Frontier in 1958. Diana Ross and the Supremes had their final performance on January 14, 1970. For years, it was the home of Siegfried and Roy's white tigers and magic act. My wife and I saw it, but weren't too impressed with it. Plus, it was way over-priced.

In 1967, it was purchased by Howard Hughes and the name shortened to Frontier. It was the scene of the longest-ever strike by the Culinary Workers Local 226 from 1991 to 1998.

It closed July 16, 2007. The sixteen story hotel came down at 2:30 AM through the imploding effect of 1000 pounds of dynamite. It was quite an elaborate ceremony.

It will be replaced with an 8 billion dollar resort.

David Schwartz, the director of the Center for Gaming Research at UNLV summed up my feelings pretty-well when he said, "It's another budget option on the Strip that's gone. The future is really high end."

Plus, it would appear that Las Vegas has little care as to its heritage. I give the city low marks in preservation.

We were there in the fall of 2006 and just don't like the new Strip. It is way too expensive and upscale for us "regular folk." Thankfully, Slots-A-Fun and Circus-Circus are still there, but I'm sure their days are numbered.

Looks Like We'll be Staying Downtown. --RoadDog

Deaths: Popular Crystal Lake (Illinois) Restaurant Owner Frank Martinetti

FRANK MARTINETTI 1909-2007

Owned Popular Restaurant in Crystal Lake, Illinois

Frank Martinetti, 98, died June 24th in Crystal Lake. He was the owner of the very popular Martinetti's Restaurant which operated from 1946-1955 and 1957 to 1976. His was among the very first area restaurants to offer a salad bar, an all-you-can-eat Friday fish fry (very popular in the Chicagoland area), Wednesday all-you-can-eat chicken, and Sunday buffets. All his steaks were hand cut, usually by Mr. Martinetti himself..

He was born in 1908 and after sixth grade, prepared to work in the coal mines. But they closed at that time, so he went into construction and factory work. In 1933, he married Lucille, who already owned a grocery store. She taught him how to merchandise and how to butcher a whole cow.

In 1937, he built Rockford's first supermarket, the Kishwaukee Farmer's Market, which was the first in the state with open air produce coolers.

In 1946, they bought property on US Route 14 in Crystal Lake (where a present-day Pontiac dealership is located). They built a restaurant, lounge, 30 room motel, and a personal residence on it, but unfortunately, it all burned down in a fire in 1955.

They then moved to Las Vegas and operated a health food store for two years before returning to Crystal Lake, where they rebuilt Martinetti's on the same site. It had a 500 seat restaurant, a lounge featuring a theater pipe organ, a 24-hour coffee shop, and a 100 room motel.

Mr. Martinetti and his wife epitomize the American can-do/hard work ethic. They were truly the mom and pops of the road.

From The Northwest Herald- July 7, 2007 "Owner of CL eatery led a full life" by Sarah Sutschek.