LAS VEGAS VERSUS HONOLULU

When I first left Honolulu for California in 1958, our state population was 650,000.  

• Metro Las Vegas only had 75,000 people. 
• Today, Hawaii has 1.43 million people and Greater Las Vegas is twice our size, soon to hit 3 million people.  
• While Hawaii will soon top out at 10 million visitors/year, Las Vegas has historically received 40 million annual tourists.
• The city of Las Vegas has a population of 660,00, while Henderson, 16 miles away (and part of greater Las Vegas), has 330,000, making it the second largest city in the state.  Reno, not part of Greater Las Vegas, has 269,000 people and is #3.

Some history:

• People began living in this general area from over 10,000 years ago, with Paiutes coming around 700 AD.
• Mexican scout Rafel Rivera in 1829 was the first non-native American visitor, and soon thereafter, this site was named Las Vegas, Spanish for meadows.

• 
  The Battle of the Alamo for Texas independence from Mexico occurred in 1836, leading to our war 
  with our neighbor to our south.  It was here that The Holy Trinity, William Barret Travis, James Bowie and David Crocket, died. 
• In 1844 John Charles Fremont was appointed by President John Tyler to lead a group of military advisors to prepare for war with Mexico.

• 
  James Polk was elected president that same year with an expansionist strategy.  Most today don't know how successful he was.
• After Texas was annexed by the U.S. in 1845, we attempted to purchase some of these properties, but Mexico refused, so we invaded the country, fighting a war from 1846 to 1848.
• Mexico is large enough as it is, for it takes 31 hours to drive from Tijuana to Mexico City and another 19 hours to drive to Cancun.
• 
  However, Mexico is now half what it was before.
• Mexico was larger than the USA, including a large portion of Texas, Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Utah.
• 
  Mexico also owned what is now Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras Nicaragua and Costa Rica.
• The USA became around a million square miles larger during Polk's presidency.  We today have a total of 3.5 square miles.
• Some say the Civil War was stimulated by our Mexican adventure, for the Army felt prepared to go to any new war.
• In 1855 came some Mormon farmers to Vegas, then seekers from the California gold rush.
• A U.S. Army fort was built in 1864.
• 
  Las Vegas was officially founded only in 1905 as a stopover for trains traveling between Los Angeles and Salt Lake City, and entertainment grew.  Click on that to gain details of what this meant.
• Fremont Street was named after that same John C. Fremont,  the city's first paved street and site of the first gambling establishment.
• 
  It was about a century later in 2004 that the famous barrel vault canopy over four city blocks with 12 million LED lights became the Fremont Street Experience.  
• Now 6 blocks long with overhead zip lines.
• See Golden Nugget's 200,000 gallon shark aquarium
• Take a photo of a million dollars at Binion's.
• Has a Neon Museum.

• 
  A dirt airfield was built in 1929, and grew ultimately into what became Nellis Air Force Base, named for William Nellis, a U.S. fighter pilot.
• From 1931, Vegas was being identified as a gaming and entertainment center for adults, partly because nearby Hoover Dam was being constructed, and workers needed entertainment.

• 
  Tommy Hull got the first license to build a casino and hotel and opened the El Rancho in 1931, on what became the Strip.
• Then came Bugsy Seigel with his Flamingo in 1945
• Organized crime began making inroad from the early 40s, then later opening the Tropicana in 1957 and Caesars Palace in 1966. 

• 
  Howard Hughes arrived in the late 1966, purchased a number of casino hotels, and led the way for the federal government to eliminate Mafia control.  The last casino to be neutralized was the Stardust in 1983.

• 
  Las Vegas:
• Is in an active earthquake zone.
• Has poor air quality.
• Needs to mostly import water.

• Has 150,000 hotel rooms, the most of any city in the world.  Bet you're surprised about that.
• 
• #2 is Orlando, Florida (140,000).
• #3 Shanghai, China (120,000).
• Next are New York City, Bangkok, Paris, London, Beijing, Tokyo, and #10 Los Angeles
• 
  However, another source says that Dubai is getting close to 150,000 rooms, and having just been there, I believe this to be true.  
• Marriott alone has 55 hotels in Dubai.
• Part of this confusion is that Dubai has built a lot of hotels in recent years 
• Las Vegas: the Circa in 2020 was newest construction since the 2010 Cosmopolitan.  A few more are now in various phases of opening.
• Hawaii has had no MAJOR new hotels for a very long time now.  Anything new involves remodeling of something older.
• 
  Finally, Las Vegas clearly allows gambling.  Hawaii, and Utah are the only states prohibiting gambling.

• 
  However, Halemaumau just erupted again (click on that and watch the lava fountains), so I now begin to worry about the volcanic haze wafting over to Honolulu. Normally, Honolulu has among the best air quality conditions in the world, while the American Lung Association just gave Las Vegas an F rating.

We had dinner with nephew Wendell and wife KC at Barry's Downtown Prime in the Circa Resort.

Caesar Salad, bone marrow and steak, with a $24 martini.  Food/drinks are not cheap.

They then took us to the hospital where by brother was recuperating, and took some photos along the way.

Got dropped off at the Fremont Street Experience.

Then a bit of gambling.

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