LAUGHLIN, NEVADA - Part 2

We've been spending a couple of days in Laughlin, Nevada on the Colorado River next to Bullhead City, Arizona. See Part 1 of this report here.

The morning dawns bright here in Laughlin. Our room faces west, so we don’t get the sunrise there plus the heavy duty black out curtains make is seem like midnight until I crack them open a bit to see the sunshine.

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The family crew slowly rises to meet the day. It’s breakfast at the Riverview Café, pretty much the best food we’ll find this weekend, and then off to the riverfront behind the hotel.

The USS Riverside offers narrated 90 minute cruises several times a day. We’re catching the 10:30 cruise, the first one offered. It’s ramped and wheelchair accessible, though only the interior cabin can be reached with a chair. Large windows there offer good views and the restrooms on board are not accessible…go before you go.

The cruise itself is a relaxing voyage about a mile north of the hotel to Davis Dam, which holds back Lake Mojave on the other side. Near the dam, we see a wheelchair accessible fishing platform jutting into the river on the Arizona side.

After the dam, the cruise goes south of Laughlin to the end of casino row before doubling back to the Riverside Hotel.

We take a drive over the bridge to Bullhead City to do a little shopping and to get some cheap gas. Today, it’s about 50 cents a gallon cheaper on the Arizona side than in Nevada and even more than that compared to California stations down in Needles.

Upon return, we’re up in our room, changing into our swim suits. Our big event this weekend is the Vince Gill concert that will be taking place in the resort’s temporary amphitheater.

The venue is actually some bleachers and folding chairs set up around a stage on the top level of the parking structure across the street. We called ahead and got seats stage right in the third row.

Looking out our windows, we can see the theater across the street. Viewing through binoculars, I see a tall man in a red polo shirt walking in. It’s the headliner, Vince Gill.

Taking a few minutes to see what’s going on, the band takes the stage and goes into their sound check for the evening concert. Opening the window, we can hear as well as see it and are treated to a little mini concert of about 5 songs.

After that, we head to the pool for a little relaxing.  It’s not too relaxing as the water is freezing.

I grab a pizza from the Pizza Hut in the lobby. We eat a little lunch and then Tim and I lose a few dollars at the roulette table while Letty shops.

Later, we go down for a pre-concert dinner. The fans have arrived and the lines stretch out of the Riverview Café and the buffet. Instead, we head upstairs to the Gourmet room… a very nice and expensive spot for dinner…where we dine on happy hour appetizers and have a few drinks.

After dinner, we walk over the bridge to the show. Wheelchair users get priority for the elevator. We have to wait about three loads before we can go up and get to our seats.

Our seats are very close to the stage, although some scaffolding provides minor blocking issues for Tim and me. Letty has an unobstructed view from her seat. We’re even closer to backstage…just an area cordoned off with a small barrier…where we see Mr. Gill getting ready to take the stage.

The show starts and off we go. It’s a very good concert, suffice it to say we’re big fans of Vince, and he plays his heart out for the crowd.

Security here isn’t so strict that they won’t let you take a picture so we get a few…

After the show, we’re able to meet some of the band and then Vince Gill himself.

All-in-all, completely worth it to come out here in the middle of the desert just to see a concert.

The next morning, we have one more breakfast at the Riverview and set out across the desert for the long trip home. Not wanting to hit all the tourists returning from Las Vegas on a Sunday afternoon in Barstow, we detour down Route 66, Amboy, and 29 Palms before joining Interstate 10 near Palm Springs  and going home.

Stay tuned for our Route 66 photo essay as we wrap up our journey.

Darryl

Copyright 2011 – Darryl Musick

All Rights Reserved

LAUGHLIN, NEVADA - Part 1

The hottest day in my life. On the border of Nevada and Arizona. 128 degrees farenheit (that’s a little north of 53 for my European friends).

We were lucky, we had a boat and could jump in the water at any given moment. The can of soda I left in the car wasn’t so lucky…it exploded and I had a sticky, sweet, gooey mess to clean up.

Fortunately, on this trip, the highest we’d see was 87. The weather was gorgeous the entire trip to Laughlin this time.

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Named after the owner of the Riverside Resort, Don Laughlin…who sparked a boom here back in the 60’s and 70’s...the town is like the little sister to Las Vegas and about 90 minutes away.

Not trading on the hedonistic reputation of that big city, instead, Laughlin portrays itself as a casual, laid back outpost along the Colorado River. A half-dozen casino resorts line the riverbanks with another, the Tropicana, across the street in the desert.

Our home for this trip would be the original resort, the recently mentioned Riverside Resort at the north end of town.

Laughlin got its start here with a small hotel and casino. There was no road access from the nearest town of any size, Bullhead City across the river, so Mr. Laughlin set up a free ferry service to bring gamblers across the river to his casino.

In the years since, he’s paid for a bridge to span the river next to his hotel making road access a breeze but, in a nod to the past, the ferries still run today. They make for quite a little thrill ride as the operators are intent on making the crossing as quickly as possible.

Today, the expanded resort has over 1,400 rooms and over 700 camping spaces. Along with three casinos (one non-smoking and another across the street), the complex features several restaurants ranging from fast food (Pizza Hut) to diner to buffet to gourmet (The Gourmet Room). There’s a bowling alley; a 6-screen movie theater; concert hall; nightclub; several bars; spa; dance studio; bingo hall; several shops; riverboat cruises; post office; two car museums; and two pools.

The rooms are pretty basic. Maybe just a notch above a TraveLodge. Ours was a two queen room…if those were queen size, I’m George Clooney…with an accessible bathroom featuring a roll-in shower. We had to call housekeeping to bring us soap and shampoo…asking other guests and seeing online reviews, this seems par for the course here. It took the bell service 40 minutes to bring our bags, which still beats the over-an-hour wait we had at the Mandalay Bay in Vegas.

Not the plushest room in the land but it would do. The rate was $69 which is a little more than usual in Laughlin, primarily because of the weekend’s headliner, Vince Gill, would be drawing in thousands of people.

Settled in (finally), we head downstairs where I ask a few shopkeepers and security guards where they like to eat around here. The consensus seems to be the diner, Riverview Café, so we head there and have a pretty darn good supper sitting in front of giant windows with spectacular river views. Prices were pretty reasonable too.

After dinner, we take a quick walk along the riverfront and explore the hotel. Past the bowling alley is a bridge across to the other casino across the street. Upstairs, we visit one of the two car museums here.

There are some very cool cars, motorcycles, and even some antiques gaming tables. A few are even for sale.

An AMX over there, a Studebaker here, and old Chrysler Imperial down that aisle…all stunningly restored.

They do have some competition the next morning when a car club mainly consisting of replica Cobras shows up in the parking lot.

Along with the snakes are a couple of Lamborghini Dinos, one of which followed us into Laughlin yesterday. A couple of owners show us around with pride.

We have a little shopping to do, not enough pillows in the room and we forgot to bring extras, so we’ll cross the river to WalMart, and then get ready for our big event of the weekend.

Stay tuned for that in part 2 of this report.

Darryl

Copyright 2011 – Darryl Musick

All Rights Reserved

CLASSIC TRIP - Laughlin, Nevada 2000

While you wait for Part 2 of our new Laughlin trip, let's take a trip back in the Wayback Machine to see this trip we took back in Y2K...

Down in the southern tip of Nevada is a surreal strip of landscape called Laughlin. Coming over the desert from nearby Needles where your scenery consists of sand and sun-baked scrub bushes, suddenly the Colorado River emerges and soon after that the neon-lighted row of casinos can easily think you are suffering from a heat-induced hallucination.

Although the summer temps here can easily climb into the high 120's, this is no sweat dream. Nevada's newest boom town exists to siphon of travelers of interstate 40 and those who are tired of Las Vegas' assault on the senses.

First a very brief history lesson. For years a basic bait shack & small village across the way from Bullhead City, AZ, Laughlin took hold when it's namesake, Don Laughlin, built the Riverside resort complete with free ferry rides over the river to his new casino. Soon others followed and now it's a very busy little stretch of activity.

What sets Laughlin apart from its larger sister to the north is that there is a lot more to do here than gamble and watch Disney-esque pirate battles or man-made volcanoes. Here you can actually get out and enjoy that which nature has willingly provided, mostly on the west's lifeblood, the Colorado River.

Most people arrive in Laughlin after a long drive from California or Arizona on Interstate 40 (just drive to Needles and head north from there or cut up highway 95 on the Arizona side of the river), but there is actually an international airport over on the Arizona side of the river offering scheduled service. Okay, it is a dinky airport, but it's long runway was actually used by a 747 to get that international certification.

In Laughlin, there is a plethora of accomodations to choose from. Here's our quick observations of the hotels:

The Good

Harrah's is the best we've tried, but unusually hard to get reservations at on a weekend. One of only two in Laughlin that actually have a sandy beach on the river. Also has a no-smoking casino. Unfortunately, their web page is very lacking.

Harrah's is one of only two local hotels that actually have a beach.

The Tropicana Express is also top-notch. Not actually on the river, it's across the street. Railroad themed with free train rides around the parking lot. Laughlin's best buffet and best Italian restaurant are also here. Highly recommended.

The Avi Resort is the other hotel that actually has a sandy beach. Actually located a few miles south of Laughlin and owned by the local Indian tribe. A more low key atmosphere with a friendly staff, good casino, and lots of ancillary activities.

All the above have accessible accomodations. The Avi also has very affordable suites with in-room spas.

The Bad

We cannot recommend the Riverside or the Edgewater. There was nothing to enjoy at either one.  All the above have accessible accomodations.

The Unknown

Other hotels here include the Flamingo, the Golden Nugget, and the Colorado Belle. We have not stayed at any of these and have no opinion either way.

Our trip to Laughlin...actually this is a mosaic of many trips...begins with our drive to the desert spot. The quickest way for us is via Interstates 15 and 40 from L.A. If we have time, sometimes we'll dip off of the freeway for the interesting detour route 66 takes through Amboy. If you like desert scenery, you'll love this detour with it's remnants of highway life, old vacation cabin ruins, and the Amboy Crater. If not, stick with the freeway.

At Needles, we take the Laughlin turnoff and head north another 20 miles to our destination.

Tired after a long drive, we have a little snack...maybe a drink...and retire. The next morning, we'll get down to the buffet and gorge on the second thing casinos are known for...lots of cheap food! This will fortify us for most of the day.

Next, we drive back to Needles and head to the east side of town to the very lovely Park Moabi Regional Park where we meet with Vaughan at the Park Moabi Marina. Here we pick up a patio boat for the day...you can also rent ski boats or fishing skiffs...and head south on the river.

Tim takes a turn at the helm.

We head that direction because of the beautiful and unspoiled scenery of the Topock Gorge, a 17 mile stretch of wilderness that is accessible only via boat. We ready for this trip...we have an ice chest full of beer and soda and enough sandwiches to rescue the Donner Party.

I might also say that this trip was in August and the days temperature reached 128 degrees - no that is not a typo.

The heat posed no problem...except for getting back in the car later...because we're on the river. Get hot? Pull over and jump in the water! We followed these tried and true steps all the way through our 2 hour navigation of the Gorge.

At the other end is Lake Havasu and a quick journey takes you over to the crowded little channel that winds under the London Bridge. Here, if you can find a spot, you can beach your craft, jump into the water, and have a drink at the bar overlooking the whole scene.

As the sun drops towards the horizon, we head back through the gorge marveling at the show the lengthening shadows create on the surrounding cliffs. This is the time of the day that many of the local animals come out to feed. We see eagles, herons, rabbits, and coyotes chasing rabbits as we slowly head north.

The graceful arch of the Interstate 40 bridge that connects California to Arizona signals that we have arrived back in civilization and we turn in our boat. The cost was $110 for half a day of cruising ($180 for a full day), plus $40 more for fuel and oil.

We head back to our digs at the Ramada Express and have a wonderful Italian dinner followed by a train ride around their huge parking lot (the train is accessible via a ramp and has three accessible station stops around the property).

That night, classic movies are being shown in the hotels auditorium and we end it by relaxing in the pool & spa that are shaped like a locomotive...everything here has a railroad motif from the "berths" (rooms) to the "station" (checkin) and especially the wonderful model trains sprinkled throughout the casino. Also here is a top-notch model train shop.

The next day we take to driving around the surrounding area. We stop at Oatman, an old mining town on an old, narrow stretch of route 66 that has gone from mining town to ghost town to hippie town to tourist mecca today. Wild burros, decendants of those abandonded by miners, roam the town freely. Mine shafts surround it and some can even be explored by the adventurous. About half of the towns shops and boardwalks can be negotiated by wheelers.

There are many mine shafts to explore in Oatman but you'll never know what you'll find inside.

Oatman's fun, if a bit touristy, but Tim is bothered by the noise generated from the mock gunfight put on. It's also a rather small place and can be thoroughly covered in a couple of hours.
We head over to Kingman, a pretty little railroad town about 40 miles east, and have a nice steak dinner at the local Golden Corral.

Then, it's back to Laughlin where we take a quick look at the outlet mall next door to our hotel and decide there's not much there and head back to watch another movie and relax in the pool.
Our last morning there, we have breakfast and slowly get ready to head home. Have we forgot anything? Oh, yeah...they have a casino here!

The wife and I take turns dropping some money into machines and onto tables (someone has to stay with Tim, kids alone in casino arcades are not a good idea after what Strohmeyer did) and even come out $40 ahead before we check out and drive home.

-Darryl
Copyright 2000 - Darryl Musick