Reno: The Biggest Little City That Couldn't
I got the opportunity to visit Reno, Nevada last week to meet several members of my fiancee's family for the first time. They are a colorful and fun family, and Reno is definitely a colorful city. Fun? Well...cross Las Vegas with Poughkeepsie, New York, and you've pretty much got Reno.
We stayed at the Circus Circus Hotel and Casino, a hotel that pretty much delivers what its name promises. In addition to an enormous casino and the normal glitz and flashing lights and buffets associated with casinos, it has a circus-style midway with carnival games. I embarrassed myself pretty thoroughly on those games; Laurie more than held her own and won several prizes for her adorable niece.
Reno is pretty much surrounded by mountains, making for a pretty view from our hotel window. Drive literally ten minutes west on Interstate 80 from Reno, and you'll be in the midst of the Sierra Nevadas, which seriously tested the engine of our tiny rental car. (The Nissan Versa is a nice, solid car that rides amazingly well for something so small. But seriously, it made my fifteen-year-old Saturn seem like a rocket sled.)
We happened to be in town on the weekend of a major classic car show, which is something Reno is apparently known for. That thing doesn't look too practical, but I bet it was faster than our Versa.
Some of the vehicles weren't identified. This was probably some classic British sports car. It could just as easily be a prototype of the Batmobile.
I fell down on the job here, because I have no idea what this car is, either. But the background will give you some idea that Reno, away from the glitz of the casinos, is about as attractive as a down-on-its-luck town that lost its Plymouth factory decades ago.
The town just had a very strange vibe. It seemed as if every other store was a pawn shop. Away from the main drag that held the car show and casinos, Reno was all but deserted and a little creepy.
That said, the cars were damn cool.
Henry Ford always said that you can buy your Model T in any color you like, as long as it's...purple?
This picture gives you a bit of a glimpse of Reno's casinos...and a sweet old Chevrolet.
Never mind the fact that the car's temperature gauge is pinned to "hot"...that awesome shifter and white shift knob make me seriously wish I could drive a stick. But the drivers and pedestrians of New York City are probably better off with me sticking to something with a little less horsepower.
We stayed at the Circus Circus Hotel and Casino, a hotel that pretty much delivers what its name promises. In addition to an enormous casino and the normal glitz and flashing lights and buffets associated with casinos, it has a circus-style midway with carnival games. I embarrassed myself pretty thoroughly on those games; Laurie more than held her own and won several prizes for her adorable niece.
Reno is pretty much surrounded by mountains, making for a pretty view from our hotel window. Drive literally ten minutes west on Interstate 80 from Reno, and you'll be in the midst of the Sierra Nevadas, which seriously tested the engine of our tiny rental car. (The Nissan Versa is a nice, solid car that rides amazingly well for something so small. But seriously, it made my fifteen-year-old Saturn seem like a rocket sled.)
We happened to be in town on the weekend of a major classic car show, which is something Reno is apparently known for. That thing doesn't look too practical, but I bet it was faster than our Versa.
Some of the vehicles weren't identified. This was probably some classic British sports car. It could just as easily be a prototype of the Batmobile.
I fell down on the job here, because I have no idea what this car is, either. But the background will give you some idea that Reno, away from the glitz of the casinos, is about as attractive as a down-on-its-luck town that lost its Plymouth factory decades ago.
The town just had a very strange vibe. It seemed as if every other store was a pawn shop. Away from the main drag that held the car show and casinos, Reno was all but deserted and a little creepy.
That said, the cars were damn cool.
Henry Ford always said that you can buy your Model T in any color you like, as long as it's...purple?
This picture gives you a bit of a glimpse of Reno's casinos...and a sweet old Chevrolet.
Never mind the fact that the car's temperature gauge is pinned to "hot"...that awesome shifter and white shift knob make me seriously wish I could drive a stick. But the drivers and pedestrians of New York City are probably better off with me sticking to something with a little less horsepower.