Day 3…We spent yesterday at a different pool, one that was in the sun. We got there early and claimed good chaise lounges. The sunshine felt great and the pool was nice.
We came to this resort for the sun and pools; we also came to swim. We are the only people at both pool decks that actually swim.
No one swims! I don’t give a rats ass if no one else swims or not, we do. Being at the pools here at the resort is like swimming through a sea of thongs, fake boobies and false eyelashes. Most women have so much make up on and their bathing suits have never gotten wet. If this is the way the rich people live, they can keep it.
At the pool we discussed getting out of dodge for the late afternoon and evening. Here’s the most shocking thing that I didn’t expect on the Vegas strip, it’s not gluten-free friendly at all.
Here’s what I expected…to be able to get a gf muffin for breakfast. There is no gluten free pastries or simple breakfast food at our resort. We did go to the only place that is open 24 hours a day, and while we had a delicious breakfast without any bread products, it cost $50 bucks for eggs pretty much. Everything is so expensive.
The other thing I expected was to get a salad or something simple for lunch. Nope! No one has gf salad dressing or gf sandwiches in the hotel.
I expected the people who work in all the restaurants to have some dietary restrictions knowledge, everyone we asked about gf options looked at us like we have three heads. You get the point. To find food we have to leave the resort and walk around in circles starving, looking for food safe to eat.
All that being said we decided to try the Fremont section of Vegas. We hopped on the Deuce which is a double decker public transportation that the locals take. The Deuce is clean, air conditioned and have police ride the bus making people have their masks pulled up over their noses; they remove people from the bus who don’t comply.
Some of eateries in Fremont had plenty of gluten free food clearly marked on menus or the wait staff was informed about what was gf or not. Even the small dive joints had gf options.
We had our dinner at one of the original hotel casinos, The 4 Queens which is old school Vegas; the Golden Nugget is still there and packed. There is nothing fancy for rich people in old Vegas and they would hate it; we loved it, of course.
Our dinner at the 4 Queens was such a delicious find after being in a food desert on the strip. The place we ate at has been there since 1966, the year I was born. They are famous for their 21 hour slow roasted prime rib, a garden salad, baked potato and fresh veggies for $20 bucks.
Our meal was so delicious it was ridiculous! It was old school with good service. They weren’t too old school though since they had gf bread as an option and the waiter knew we could have everything but the au jus.
Fremont is hip and funky and the feeling is more relaxed than on the strip. There is a zip line that runs the length of Fremont street. Every 5 minutes 4 new zip lines fly through the air, some screaming.
It didn’t come without a cast of characters though. Street performers can basically do anything they want as long as they stay in drawn circles scattered around the floor.
Performers isn’t really the right word to describe who was standing in those circles, it was freaks; wacked out people on drugs with signs that read “I’m hungry” signs. “ I need money for drugs and hoes” or they were naked, not complete frontal nudity, but pretty close.
There were people making crosses out of palms like on Palm Sunday, people with political statements etc. it was highly entertaining to say the least. Amongst the crowd were more meth/crack heads, but at least they didn’t have scabs everywhere like the ones on the strip.
Because of all the bums and crackheads there is no where to sit down to enjoy the real entertainment like people zip lining through the modern high tech open air Fremont street. Live music was beginning at 8 pm; luckily we found a bar with front row seats to the live music stage. The catch was a two drink minimum for each of us. Our 4 drinks together cost the same price as one drink at the pool…$28 bucks. 4 drinks for the price of one!
The band called Alter Ego came out and these guys were fantastic. I mean really, really good. They played covers and crushed every song; they were professional performers with great stage presence getting the crowd involved.
We met a nice couple from North Carolina and hung out with them singing along to all the songs. We also watched the meth/crack heads tweak out in the crowd and buy more drugs right in front of us from a young girl who could pass as a college student with a backpack; you wouldn’t think in a million years that she was their dealer. I wanted to beat her with a baseball bat after I saw her exchange drugs for money 2 feet in front of me.
After the bands 3 sets, we set out to look for the Deuce to go back to our hotel. At night it was jam packed and almost as entertaining as the band. We rolled in at 1 am exhausted.
It was the most fun we’ve had so far in Vegas and have plenty of funny stories to tell our boys and friends when we get back.
It sounds like you guys got to see the real Vegas. Nothing beats good people watching!