Frommer's Las Vegas 2004

198
CHAPTER 7 . WHAT TO SEE & DO IN LAS VEGAS
Mayor Oscar B. Goodman’s Top 10 Places to
Recapture Old Las Vegas
1. The proposed “Mob” Museum in the old U.S. Courthouse and
Post Office (300 E. Stewart Ave.)
2. “Bugsy” Suite at the Flamingo Hotel & Casino
3. Bob Taylor’s Ranch House on 6250 Rio Vista (where the old timers
went)
4. Fellini’s Restaurant on 5555 W. Charleston (ambience of yore)
5. Piero’s Italian Cuisine on 355 Convention Center Dr. (characters
eating pasta)
6. 200 feet at bottom of Lake Mead
7. 6 feet in desert near the state line
8. Howard Hughes’s Bungalow behind Channel 8
9. WELCOME TO LAS VEGAS sign south of the Strip
10. The Huntridge Theater on 1208 E. Charleston
Oscar B. Goodman is the Mayor of Las Vegas.
magical places you’d never find on your own or on a commercial tour. Char is a
lecturer and storyteller as well as a tour guide. She has extensively studied southern
Nevada’s geology and desert wildlife, its regional history, and its Native
American cultures. Her personalized tours, enhanced by fascinating stories about
everything from miners to mobsters, visit haunted mines, sacred Paiute grounds,
ghost towns, canyons, and ancient petroglyphs. She also has many things to entertain
and educate children, and carries a tote bag full of visual aids, like a board covered
in labeled rocks to better illustrate a lecture on local geology. Char has certain
structured tours, but she loves to do individual tours tailored to the group. This
is absolutely worth the money—you are definitely going to get something
different than you would on a conventional tour, while Char herself is most
accommodating, thoughtful, knowledgeable, and prompt. Char rents transport
according to the size of the group and can handle clients with disabilities.
Depending on your itinerary, the cost is about $100 a day if you use your own
car (more, depending on the number of people, if rental transportation is
required; however, it’s even more of a bargain with a larger group). It’s a good
idea to make arrangements with her prior to leaving home.
6 Fore! Great Desert Golf
In addition to the listings below, there are dozens of local courses, including
some very challenging ones that have hosted PGA tournaments. Note: Greens
fees vary radically depending on time of day and year. Also, call for opening and
closing times as these change frequently.
If you’re a serious golfer, you may want to contact American Golf (& 800/468-
7918), a nationwide reservations service that’s based in Arizona. They can help
you arrange golf packages and book hard-to-get tee times.
Note also that the Rio All-Suite Hotel (p. 97) has an affiliated golf course.
Angel Park Golf Club This 36-hole, par-70/71 public course is a local
favorite. Arnold Palmer originally designed the Mountain and Palm courses (the