Want to know what it was like growing up on the biggest ranches in Southern Nevada?  

Well, this Saturday, April 28th, Rex Bell, Jr is going to share his memories of

Growing Up on the Walking Box Ranch 

 There will also be other panelists who will speak as well about the ranch. 

The Walking Box Ranch was built in 1931 by western film star, Rex Bell.  He and his wife, silent film star, Clara Bow, lived on the ranch and raised their two sons there.  Throughout the 1930s the ranch, also home to some 1,800 head of cattle, served as an escape destination for some of the couple's famous Hollywood friends including Clark Gable, Carole Lombard, Errol Flynn and Lionel Barrymore. In addition, Rex Bell had a western wear store on Fremont Store, was a yearly participant in the annual Helldorado Parades and was Lt. Governor.

Rex Bell, Jr grew up at he sprawling 400,000 acre ranch.  He went to elementary, middle school and one year of high school in Las Vegas before going off to military school.  He returned to Las Vegas and served as Clark County District Attorney before returning to private practise.  He will highlight the discussion with his stories of learning the ways of cattle, horses and people, reminscences of ranch life and antecdotes of the ranch-bred system of values that followed him into the larger world. 

You won't want to miss this rare opportunity to hear the stories! 

 This Saturday, Not to be Missed!

Reception: 1:00 pm

Panel:     2:00 pm 

Clark County Museum
Outdoors on Heritage Street

1830 S. Boulder Highway

We hope to see you there!

It was announced yesterday in the Las Vegas Review Journal that the MGM/Mirage has purchased the vacant property across the street from the Sahara Hotel.  What's the big deal?

Well, the MGM/Mirage is building the huge CityCenter complex on the South Strip.  By buying this long vacant property, it will give the MGM/Mirage 100 contiguous acres of land from Circus Circus to Sahara Avenue.

MGM acquired Circus Circus in a deal done in 2005.  Plans include the elimination of the RV Park and the original motel style rooms. Speculation is that they would use this property along with the newly acquired property to do a similar CityCenter project on the North end of the Strip.

The vacant land that they recently purchased from the Bennett family, the former owners of the Sahara Hotel, is one of the most hallowed pieces of property on the Las Vegas Strip.  It was here back in 1939 that hotelier Tommy Hull had architect Wayne McAllister design a new hotel for him:  The El Rancho Vegas.   Hull, good friends with local businessman and civic booster extraordinare, "Big" Jim Cashman had wanted to build a hotel in Las Vegas for some time.  Cashman had been trying to get his friend to build it downtown on Fremont Street.  But when the time came to purchase land, Hull opted for the cheaper land prices just over the county line.

The El Rancho opened in 1940 overlooking the old LA Highway. The Mary Kaye Trio introduced the lounge act there.  The Chuckwagon which became the Buffet was introduced there.  For twenty years it was home to the Red Hot Mama herself, Sophie Tucker, Lili St. Cyr, Jimmy Durante, Joe E. Brown and Harry James and his Orchestra.  In fact, Harry James and his Orchestra which included his wife, Betty Grable as the singer, had just finished their act one evening in 1960 when Ms. Grable noticed that something appeared to be on fire.

A fire had started in the kitichen and quickly consumed the main buildings.  Fire trucks responded and everyone was trying to help put out the fire.  Red Skelton was on the scene filming the efforts, reporters and photographers such as Ken Jones and Bo Boisvert were there documenting the loss.  When the fire was finally extinquished, the main buildings had been gutted.  The bungalows that were separate from the main buildings were spared.  Then owner Beldon Katelman promised to re-open the popular hotel.

Instead, the property sat dormant.  In the late-1960s, Howard Hughes bought the property.  For years, you could still see the aging, deserted bungalows baking in the desert sun and follow the circular drives around the deserted property.  Early one morning in 1974, I think it was, flatbed trucks hauled the remaining bungalows off the property and the last remnants of the El Rancho Vegas were lost to history.

For almost forty seven years, the property has stood there bedeviling locals and tourists alike trying to figure out why no one has developed it.  Now, it looks like those days, too, are about to pass into history.

 Read more about the purchase here:

http://www.lvrj.com/news/7096416.html

For years I have been making the trek via car from Los Angeles to Las Vegas along I-15.  And for years I have wondered what the hell is that water park doing there?

For as long as I can recall there is never anyone there.  I remember when it was Lake Delores and actually was open to the public.  You'd drive by in the summertime, look over see cars parked in the parking lot and imagine how cool that water must feel.  The giant waterslides, shimmering in the sun, beckoned you to pull over and cool off.  Somehow they got Coca-Cola to be a sponsor and erect a giant can of Coke next to the park.  There even appears to be some sort of drive-in movie screen on the property as well.  But unlike the drive-in on Highway 58, just as you exit I-15, no one is ever lined up in the evenings to see a movie here.

But, that was long ago.  A few years ago, it was rechristened Rock-a-Hula but even changing the name hasn't helped the attendance.

The only signs of life I have seen there recently, was the local Fire truck draining water into the reservior that sits near the freeway.

So there it sits, like a mirage in the desert or something out of Stephen King's The Stand, empty and ghost-like.

Does anyone know the story behind this boondogle?   Who paid to have it constructed?  Why is it empty? There is a little community on the other side of the freeway.  Is it used for late night raves?

Inquiring minds want to know! 

If you live in Las Vegas or are visiting this weekend, please note that the wonderful Hilltop House is serving its last meals on Sunday, April 1st.  I wish this was an April Fool's Joke, but unfortunately, it's not.

This is a great old-Vegas restaurant and haunt.  With a wonderfully simple neon sign that just says Hilltop House it began life as a ranch house in 1954.  In 1961, it was converted into a dinner house.  In 1972, Stan Wojtowicz and his wife, Valerie, bought it from former sheriff Glen Jones.  The family has owned it ever since.

Mr. Wojtowicz and his wife died within five months of each other last year and their children, who grew up washing dishes and helping out, have been running it ever since.

The two waitresses, Connie and Sue, have worked there serving the famous Hilltop House frog legs as well as steaks and fried chicken.  Almost equally renown as the frog legs is the salad bar.

Craig and his brother, Aaron and sister, Carrie will likely being managing the place over the weekend.  Stop in, have a dinner and toast another Las Vegas landmark leaving the scene.   Take note of the Christmas lites above the bar, they are always on, no matter what the season.  Those Coors globe lamps, we probably won't be seeing in many other places.

Located out on Rancho Road, (we used to call it the old Tonopah Highway when I was a kid), it is located at 3500 N. Rancho Road.  Phone number is 702-645-9904.

Change your plans, go have dinner there.  You won't be disappointed.  It's worth it. 

Once the restaurant closes, it is presumed the family will sell the land. 

Later today when Roadsidepictures gets back, we'll have photos!   In the meantime, please share your memories!

Thanks to Allen "Roadsidepictures" Sandquist for allowing us to use his photos!

It happened in the dead night.  The end came for another grand dame of the Las Vegas Strip.  The Stardust Hotel had a date with the wrecking ball in the wee small hours of the morning on March 12th.

 It's towering neon sign had been dismantled and sent to the Neon Museum boneyard where it was reunited with its original Jetson Age letters.  The Kermit Wayne designed original neon galaxy that once promised all the luck in the galaxy just another memory.

Other memories that I have:

Donn Arden's Lido de Paris with its line captain Fluff LeCoque, dancers Marty Gavin, Valerie Perrine and others.  The sinking of the Titanic was first staged by Ardenn on the showroom stage by Ardenn.  It would be so successful he would turn it into an art form at the original MGM Grand with his production of Hallelujiah Hollywood!  He would hire two talented but not then known magicians, Sigfried and Roy.

The Aku Aku Restaurant.  Back in the early 1960s, when everything Polynesian was all the rage this was the Las Vegas equivalent of Trader Vic's.  Before Don the Beachcomber settled into the Sahara Hotel, we went for frosty island drinks, scorpion bowl drinks and tangy sweet and sour food at the Aku Aku.  With its giant Miori tiki god out front on Las Vegas Blvd beckoning visitors, it was paradise without the humidity.

 The Stardust Drive-In.  This was the old Motor-Vue Drive-In that sat on the back of the Stardust property approximately where the Boyd corporate offices are today.  It was a great way to see a movie on a hot summer night when I was a kid.  My dad took us to see Viva Las Vegas there.

The original Royal Nevada Hotel that opened before the Stardust but closed shortly after the Stardust opened.  It was next door to the Stardust on the south side of the building.  The Stardust would annex the property and it would become part of the Stardust Auditorium and Convention Center.  The crown that was the logo for the Royal Nevada was replaced by the letters SA for Stardust Auditorium.  The Crown is now in the Neon Museum boneyard as well.

See our Then and Now Gallery for photos of the Stardust from back in the day!