Thursday, November 19, 2009

Friday My Town Shoot Out ~ My Town's Premier Attraction



(Please enlarge photo to see a more detailed image)


Believe it or not,
the sign that welcomes visitors to Las Vegas
is one of my town's premier attractions.

The sign was first erected in 1959 and was designed by Betty Willis.
The circles that encompass the letters that spell Welcome,
represent silver dollars because Nevada is nicknamed
The Silver State.
According to Wikipedia,
the design is characteristic of the googie architecture movement.

Over the years, the sign has been moved several times
farther south on Las Vegas Boulevard due to the city's growth.
It is so popular now,
that it has its own parking lot so that visitors can stop
and take pictures of this historical landmark.

Other premier attractions include casinos, shows,
helicopter rides, hiking in Red Rock, Bonnie Springs Ghost Town,
Valley of Fire, Hoover Dam, Las Vegas Raceway, Mt. Charleston,

And

One of my favorite places in the summer time
is boating at Lake Mead.



(CLICK ON PHOTO TO ENLARGE)

Lake Mead is one of the largest man made lakes in the world.
It spans over 247 square miles of shoreline.
When the lake is full it can hold over 28 million acre-feet of water
  the equivalent to about 2 years of normal average river flow from the Colorado River.
(that's about 9 trillion gallons)




There is an abundance of fish in Lake Mead
and ducks too.
This is a fisherman's dream.




(Click to enlarge)

There was even one fish who thought he was a duck.

I think in addition to the attractions I have already listed,
one of the most popular reasons people come to Las Vegas
is to get married in the wedding chapels.
We even have drive-thru wedding chapels.
I wanted to get photos of all the chapels
but I just did not get around to it.

Well, I hope you all enjoyed my perspective on my town's premier attraction.

To see more town attractions
please visit here where you will find a list of participants
on the sidebar of the main page.

This week's theme was chosen by Kent in Montana.

20 comments:

  1. Very cool - reminded me of our Reno sign - Welcome To The Biggest Little City In The Wworld - it too has been moved.

    Great shots - loved the fish in Lake Mead.

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  2. wow...those fish are amazing !
    let me think...attractions here ? well, the mustard museum just opened...seriously !

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  3. That must have been a hard one for you, JarieLyn - living in a town that is so famous! But I was delighted to see it in a new light. Love the Marina shot and love what you did with that last shot - the black and white and the blue in the water. Very cool! Sorry, Nancy said that, but I agree!

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  4. I am so embarrassed because as many times as I have been to Vegas...maybe 7 or 8 I have never seen that sign! And I havenot missed it because of gambling, because I am not a gambler. Love what you are doing with the photos. I remember Lake Mead many years ago when it was JUST a lake.

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  5. Thank you for enlightening us, the whole wide ignorant world only thinks of Los Vegas as gambling and sand.

    I like th educks and the fish. Are the fish nice to eat?

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  6. Beautiful photoshop work! Love the Las Vegas sign...reminds me of what the town looked like years ago when I entered...and when I left. But I was probably on something else rather than photoshop. The fish that thought he was a duck would be a great children's book.

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  7. That sign has always reminded me of the Jetsons cartoon show, not sure why. I love Vegas, Love that sign. I've never been to Lake Mead though. I can't believe the fish! Wowser!

    Great pictures JarieLyn, makes me want to head over to Vegas right now!

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  8. I came over here to respond to your comment on my blog about the book review and I completely forget...lol. I believe it's fiction. But it is really intriguing and it really stirred up my emotions from anger to sadness to happiness at times for the characters. I love books like that.

    I very seldom like discussing politics or religion as some people just are so one-sided about that. But I do love discussing books. Everyone in my family loves to read so we discuss books quite a bit.

    I'm looking forward to some good books during our Christmas days off.

    Ok, now I better get to work. Have a great weekend JarieLyn!

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  9. It must be difficult to choose your subjects when you have so many to choose from.

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  10. that sign is great!! Vegas is a fun place to visit. I have been there once. I need to come again and see the Grand Canyon, etc.

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  11. I think the fish may eat the duck! They are huge! I agree with you on Lake Mead. It's a pretty spectacular place!

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  12. I agree with Alicia - the sign does remind me of the Jetsons too! I never even heard of googie architecture. I'll have to see if that is the same as Jetson architecture! LOL Lake Mead looks like a great place to relax too. Was that fish following along with the ducks. Too funny.

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  13. Oh wonderful!!! I love all of the history!! How cool are all of the fish..wowowow!! I love the one following the ducks..giggle!! Wonderful shootout hon!! Sarah

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  14. Oooo, let me grab my pole! I'll be right over!
    Really, what great shots!

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  15. "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas!" Now that's a classic sign. But I would personally prefer to hang out with the ducks and fish.

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  16. Finally, I able to open your site. Got a problem opening it some hours ago. When I heard Las Vegas, casino is the thing that pop on my mind immediately. That's the place Pacman won his boxing fights. I love your photos of Lake Mead. It's beautiful and you had a great chance to take a photo of a fish behind the two ducks. I love it!

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  17. I love looking at the pictures; I've never been!

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  18. Your Lake Mead pictures look like they could be in a travel magazine, like Conde Naste or something. Really well-done!

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  19. There totally is a parking lot in front of the sign now :) We took our wedding party down to the sign for pictures before our wedding at the MGM back in September. Out of all of the fancy, formal wedding pictures we took, the one of my now husband and I in front of the Vegas sign is, hands down, my favorite!

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  20. I love how you always give us a peek into your Vegas digs in such a great artistic way! I wish I could go fishing in Lake Mead!

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