Vegas Days Gone By: Boulder Highway

The Klondike was a funky little joint just off Sunset and Boulder (there was a twin on Las Vegas Boulevard not far from the famous "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign, of which not a trace seems to remain), which had $2 blackjack and 10-cent roulette, cheap wings, and hourly drawings where you could win a chance to spin the wheel for fifty bucks. Dealers told me they would come up here after their shifts and play 10-cent roulette to blow off steam.

The Roadhouse on the other side of Sunset and Boulder looks like it's been closed for quite a while, although there's talk it may be reopened now that some of its legal issues have been resolved. It'd be great to see it in operation, as I really like its art deco styling. There are also some cactus plants planted alongside its walls which have grown into some intriguing shapes, like the pair of ballroom dancers pictured below.

If no one else ever steps in to operate it, my poker buddy Brian and I are willing. Brian has an idea for a joint that would offer one-stop shopping: a casino, strip club, and wedding chapel. You could do some gambling, get drunk, fall in love with that stripper and get hitched to her, all in one spot. I saw a billboard for a strip club that included a steakhouse and said, "Dude! We need to add a steakhouse, too!" Then I saw another billboard for a Brazilian steakhouse and said, "Dude! It could be a Brazilian steakhouse! All the waitresses would be Brazilian! And they'd all have Brazilians!"

We're still trying to attract investors.

Here's one last mysterious casino from bygone days, this one at Henderson Plaza. Its name has been effaced like that of an Egyptian pharaoh who has fallen from grace, and similarly seems to have been cruelly obliterated from history. Couldn't find any info about it at all; anyone from those parts have any recollection? Seems a shame any time a bowling alley closes its doors.