Week Eleven: November 20-26
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Manhattan from the BQE: Financial District at left, Midtown at right
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Jamaica Bay & Rockaway
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Go West
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| New York, Las Vegas |
My taxi to JFK is stuck in traffic and a drizzling rain on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway—enough time to get a shot of the city’s new profile.
A few minutes after takeoff, the plane passes over Rockaway Beach, the site of the American Airlines crash two weeks ago.
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| JFK |
Unfortunately, my seat is on the wrong side of the plane, so I don’t get a good view of the city.
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| Clouds |
I’ve never been to Las Vegas before, but from my taxi I see two familiar shapes that look like squashed and re-inflated Chrysler and Empire State Buildings.
It’s the New York, New York Hotel & Casino.
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Fauxdobe
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| Extra stuffing |
Thanksgiving dinner with my family proceeds according to tradition: turkey with sausage and apple stuffing, squash and mashed potatoes, green peas and fresh cranberry sauce.
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Oldest & youngest
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| Red Rock Canyon |
To work off the excess we hike and climb ...
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Ben climbs the Calico Hills
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| Icebox Canyon |
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Or else climb upward
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Better than the climbing wall
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... then head downtown to see the Strip.
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| ... and new security |
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| New billboards ... |
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Paris
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Botanical Garden at the Bellagio
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| The Bellagio |
Vegas is quiet (so I’m told) and concerned (the increased security measures are clear). Some hotels have closed floors and laid off staff; Bellagio security checks incoming vehicles, and the Eiffel Tower is closed.
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| Preparing for rain at the Venetian |
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From the Stratosphere
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The Strip
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Little Lady Liberty
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| “To our brothers in the FDNY ...” |
At the New York, New York casino, signed t-shirts from dozens of fire companies around the country have been placed around the 150-foot, half-scale replica of the Statue of Liberty.
The Empire State Replica glows red, white, and blue—just like the real building does in New York.
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Brooklyn Bridge
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Strange
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Great Wall of Magnets
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Target
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Lawn Santas
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Flag, Clock, Empire
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Elsewhere, it’s hard to miss the flags, and the Santas.
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Mall Santa
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| Hoover Dam |
My last stop was the Hoover Dam, built in 1931-35 by the Bureau of Land Management’s Department of Reclamation. The dam holds back the Colorado River to form the largest reservoir in the country, Lake Meade.
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| Heighten security |
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| High-scaler |
Of course, since September 11th much of the dam has been closed: trucks are now prohibited on the dam road, and the famous hard-hat tours of the power station have been cancelled.
The hasty replacement, a $10 “self-paced Discovery Tour,” is a ripoff, despite the free “Dam Proud” sticker at the gift shop.
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| Lonely lands made fruitful |
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| 726 feet down |
The inscription at the base of the flagpole reads: It is fitting that the flag of our country should fly here in honor of those men who, inspired by a vision of lonely lands made fruitful, conceived this great work and of those others whose genius and labor made that vision a reality.
