JUNK BOAT TRAVELS: 2024 Road Trip

We started out at 10 to make sure we could get parking at Area 15 which opens at 11. It wasn't a problem, our problem on Wednesday was due to the fact that they were closing at 4 for a private event they had cordoned off half the parking lot.

It’s hard to describe the AREA15 experience, but to put it simply, it’s a futuristic shopping center. As you enter, you come into a large open space where there are different vendors mixed in with art installations. To the left and right of you, there are spaces filled with museums, interactive exhibits, and shops.

These photos were taken outside the entrance as we awaited the 11AM entry. I had bought the free 11AM general entry ticket. What I should have done, and Carol had said it to me, was bought the timed early morning entry into Omega Mart. Those tickets let you in before 11. By the time 11 rolls around it is just pass through security and walk in, no checking of tickets.

Yu can buy entry into any of the exhibits once you are inside. BUT the Omega Mart was fully booked until 2PM.

It’s not only contained within the massive warehouse, there are also outside spaces that are used to house art from Burning Man plus other murals and art installations. It has also expanded to multiple buildings making it a full campus of attractions.

Lost Spirits Distillery: Cost: $89, includes 4-5 tastings. 2 hours recommended;

Our personal favorite activity within Area 15, and one of the best things we’ve done in Vegas considering the price tag. Distillery Tour/Speakeasy/Tasting Experience.

ARMY OF THE DEAD VR
$30 for Adults, $25 for Children

Army of the Dead is a VR experience located in one of the adjacent buildings on the AREA 15 campus. Unlike the free-roaming VR experiences, you are stationary on a tactical taco truck on this one. What makes this experience unique is that the truck moves and bumps as you shoot your way through zombie-filled streets, so it feels like you’re in a moving vehicle.

You enter through a portal that doesn't give you time to get a photo.

Many people buy the $49 ticket to see this. That would be $100 US for us, we were just saying it would be worth breaking up the exhibits and each going to what interests them.

Here is a YouTube video.

Here's a quick video John shot from upstairs.

Haley’s Comet: Cost: $18. A Dual-Track zip line hanging from the ceiling. Ride this roller coaster-like ride where you can race against a friend. You see it in the video.

GET A DRINK UNDER ODDWOOD’S MAPLE TREE

The 23-foot-high Japanese maple tree is located at the center of Area 15 and is made of over 5,000 twinkling LED lights that change color.

Dueling Axes: Cost: Prices range from $35-$40 per person per hour. Reservations recommended but not required.
An Axe-throwing bar and lounge. Rent out a bay for you and your friends to throw axes. You can order food from other venues and have it delivered if you wish.

Looking down at Birdly: Cost: $13.50. “Birdly mimics every aspect of the avian experience: from the wind beneath your wings to a bird’s-eye view of some of the richest landscapes in the digital world. Take a spin through the skies above New York or get a feel for prehistoric worlds.”

Five Iron Golf: Cost: Prices range from $50-$100 per hour per bay, up to 6 golfers. Reservations recommended but not required.
Five Iron Golf is an indoor virtual golf bar and restaurant. The indoor courses allow you to play a full 18 holes on your favorite courses from around the World.

Wink World: Cost: $18-$20. Approximately 15 minutes long;
Created by one of the founders of Blue Man Group, this psychedelic art installation is unlike others. Custom music for each room and a funhouse-like vibe is what you can expect. Mirrors and lights make for infinity rooms like you’ve never seen before.

We've seen the Van Gogh (Paris, Toronto) and Klimt (Toronto) before.

Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience: Cost: $35-$40. Approximately 35 minutes long;
Step into the famous paintings of Van Gogh using a multi-projection-filled room. It’s 360-degree Van Gogh on 15,000 square foot screens with unique lights and sounds.
Klimt: The Immersive Experience: Cost: $35-$40. Approximately 35 minutes long;
Step into modernism featuring the colorful palette of Gustav Klimt. Meet the artist like never before, storytelling and cutting-edge technology delivering a light and sound spectacular of the artist’s most brilliant work in a 360-degree experience.

From here we headed to the Veterans' Memorial.

The Las Vegas Veterans Memorial provides public recognition for, and education about, armed conflict throughout our nation’s history. An open-air park design facilitates the Memorial’s integration into the existing urban fabric.Pedestrian paths circulate visitors through a series of statues, with seating areas provided to encourage contemplation. The 18 statues represent every armed conflict from the Revolutionary War to present, including a family vignette statue representing the sacrifices made by family members at home while loved ones serve our country. Black granite walls provide a backdrop to the statues, reflecting the surrounding sky and landscape and including narrative quotations that further the contemplative environment.

We did a mural stop, you'll have to wait until Monday Mural.

We headed to Fremont St. for lunch and people watching.

Lunch at Park on Fremont.

WARNING SOME EXPLICIT PHOTOS

He does have flesh toned tights on, for what it's worth.

Here is a short video John took.

Carousel Bar at the Plaza.

Pinkbox Doughnuts.

2013 photo of The Plaza.

Circa Resort & Casino - The property was previously occupied by the Las Vegas Club hotel-casino, the Mermaids Casino, and the Glitter Gulch strip club. Circa Resort & Casino is the city's first casino built from the ground up in four decades.

Circa is adults only, over 21, and you are carded before entering.

2013 photo when it was the Las Vegas Club!!!

But not everything o site is brand new. In a nod—or, in this case, kick—to the property's past, Vegas Vickie, the 25-foot-tall neon cowgirl once stationed above the Girls of Glitter Gulch strip club, has been installed in Circa's hotel lobby. And yes, the blonde icon's extended leg, thrown over the knee of the other, still kicks.
Unveiled in 1980, Vickie was taken down from her original perch in 2017, when Glitter Gulch and other Fremont mainstays, including Mermaids Casino and the Las Vegas Club, were demolished to make way for Circa.

Miss Vickie in 2006.

We wandered up and down Fremont several times.

New (to us) wedding chapel.

Really! From Denny's web site!

Denny's on Fremont Street is the perfect place to get married or renew your vows. Allow us to put the "Mmmm..." in matrimony.

TOGETHER LIKE
BACON AND EGGS
FOR $199, OUR WEDDING PACKAGE INCLUDES:

Use of the Chapel
Silk Presentation Bouquet & Boutonniere
Wedding Pancake Puppies® Cake
Champagne Toast
Two Original Grand Slams® - (good for your next visit)
Souvenir Denny's Wedding Certificate