Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Freemont Street Experience: Dazzling Old Las Vegas Downtown (Fabulous Las Vegas Series 11)

Freemont Street Experience 
Dazzling Old Las Vegas Downtown 
(Fabulous Las Vegas Series 11) 

After a night time tour at the
spectacular Las Vegas Strip,


…we headed to the old Las Vegas Downtown.


...for the famous Freemont Street Experience,
and indeed, it was an unforgettable experience.


While most cities in the world are trying to preserve
their old down towns by religiously restoring them to
their old glory days exemplified by the old brick
buildings in the Boston Commons, in Massachusetts,


…the French Quarter of New Orelans


 … the lovely historic Gas Lamp District-
in down town San Diego, California,


…the impeccably preserved Gothic
 structures in the Old Town Prague,


…the delightful San Francisco’s
old Victorian downtown,


…and even the famed Town Square
in Brussels, Belgium, to name a few,


Freemont Street restoration did the unthinkable
that could probably raise eyebrows of some traditional
heritage buffs had it happen in a more conservative society,


…by reinventing the old, laid back Las Vegas
downtown with a gaudy twist of modernity.

 

The old Freemont Street in Downtown Las Vegas
that was a part of the iconic Route 66 was renovated,


…the old buildings were restored and refurbished,



…and the street was covered  with a LED display canopy 
that stretches from Main Street to Fourth Street. 

 

Called Viva Vision,  the  LED canopy is 
supported by 16 massive steel columns,


…with nearly 2.1 million Incandescent lights installed 
and illuminated by more than 12 million LED lamps.



The Freemont Street was pedestrianized as it was
closed to vehicles, and turned to a Pedestrian Mall.



Music is played throughout the mall coming from about
220 speakers powered by 550,000 watts of amplification,
installed by its main corporate sponsor, LG Electronics.




Free nightly entertainment are also provided on
the three stages throughout the Pedestrian Mall.



The Freemont Street Experience also
offers the two- level SlotZilla Zip Line.


The lower line runs halfway through the Pedestrian Mall
while the upper level runs the entire length of the mall.


Not to be missed at the Freemont Street Experience
is the Light and Sound Shows that begin at dusk
presented on the Viva Vision video screen canopy.


The bright street side neon lights and signs
 are turned off, the concerts are stopped,
and what follows is a spellbinding spectacle.


The LED Canopy lights up in an awesome conflagration
of multi- colored dynamic abstract shapes and images,


…entrancing the tourists to a state of visual euphoria.


 It was and delightful experience of being engulfed
by the beat of a blazing rhythmic music on the 
background, and a feeling getting high not because 
of  hallucinogens but by the feast of the senses,


...of being overwhelmed by the spellbinding
multicolored images floating endlessly above you.


Except for the dazzling play of multi- colored dancing  lights 
on the canopy everything came to a stand still, and the people
seems to have been on a state of suspended animation,


…all looking up held on a virtual mass hypnotic spell
by the psychedelic light and sound show-  that seem
to be the only one dynamically moving at that time.


When the Light and Sound Show was over 
everything returned to normal- the light display the 
canopy became more sluggish and less brighter,


….the street side neon signages were lit up
again and became vibrantly lively once more,



…the SlotZilla Zip Line
 started operating again,


…the concerts resumed,


…and the people went on their own ways,
while we got ready to get home at it was
getting late and the kids are tired and sleepy.


We returned to the hotel to pack up as we were
scheduled to leave for Los Angeles the next day
where we would be staying for the next seven days.


The Freemont Street Experience, was a dazzling

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