Area Of Beyond The Neon

Look the area of Beyond the Neon and you will find that Las Vegas is, like the god Janus, a two-faced town. One is about make-up and make-believe; the other is like that of other American towns, with more than 500 churches, first-rate community centers, parks, and playgrounds. Las Vegas is a city where significant research is undertaken at medical centers, and where cultural performances take place almost every night. It is also a growing city with many ethnic neighborhoods.

Two Excursions of Beyond the Neon, first in the morning. It’s begun with an early morning stroll around the UNLV campus, stopping at the Marjorie Barrick Museum of Natural History. Drive through the Green Valley area to Foxridge Park where if children are in your party, the play equipment will be the main attraction. Then it’s on to the Ethel M. Chocolate Factory for the free tour and walk around the cactus garden. On the way back to your hotel, lunch at one of the terrace tables around the interactive fountains at Green Valley Center. You’ll have the afternoon free, but if it’s Friday, don’t miss the Henderson Farmers Market. Or, if traffic is not too heavy, you can take a second excursion.

Then, the second is on afternoon. It’s begun at the Nevada State Museum.  Motor-racing fans should then make their next stop the Las Vegas Speedway. Finish up at Chinatown Plaza, where the herbalist-health food shop is a repository for remedies such as dried sea horses (good for the kidneys), herbs, and shark fins. After an hour or two shopping, head up to the second floor of the Plaza, where you have a choice of different Asian restaurants for dining. Among them are Plum Tree Inn, Pho Vietnam Restaurant, Kapit Bahay Filipino Fast Food, and Dragon Sushi.