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Las Vegas Rocks Cafe at Neonopolis in downtown Las Vegas.

In retrospect, it probably wasn’t the best idea to venture downtown on a rainy day.

True the Fremont Street Experience is covered by a Viva Vision canopy, and said canopy towers 90 feet above Fremont Street spanning the length of five football fields with more than 12 million LED lights.

Also true, the Viva Vision canopy is by no means rain proof. It’s actually more of an open grid than a canopy. I guess I just never really looked at it very closely, apart from watching the Viva Vision light show.

Note to self: Next time don’t leave the umbrella in the car.

Despite the rain, downtown was still somewhat busy mid-day and the crowds appeared to be having a good time. Tourists of all ages filled the casinos, yet there were still plenty of yard-long margaritas, deep-fried Twinkies and shrimp cocktails to go around.

Gone fishing

The newest building in downtown Las Vegas is the Golden Nugget’s opulent 25-story Rush Tower. The centerpiece of the tower is a 75,000-gallon tropical aquarium, which sits behind the registration desk, inside the new Chart House restaurant. The Tower is just around the corner from the hotel’s Tank pool area, which features a 200,000-square-foot shark tank.

The 1,000 exotic fish in the Chart House aquarium and the Tank sharks are off limits, but you can still “go fishing,” so to speak, across the street in the Vegas Club’s The Lobster Zone, an unsavory cross between a live lobster tank and an arcade game (also spotted at Micky Finnz). I’m not suggesting you spend $2 to try and catch one of these morose-looking lobsters, but if you do succeed in catching one, please do me a personal favor and set the poor little guy free.

Prefer to meet your crustaceans after they’ve already been cooked and placed on a plate? You’re also in luck. (None for me, I’m allergic).

Downtown is still home to the city’s original Shrimp Cocktail at the Golden Gate Hotel. Served with cocktail sauce and a wedge of lemon, the shrimp cocktail is only $1.99.

On Friday nights at Flame Steakhouse in El Cortez, you can eat stone crab claws for only $28 per pound.

If fish (dead or alive) just isn’t your thing, no worries. Maybe you would be more at home at the Beef Jerky Store, located in downtown Las Vegas just to the north of Fremont Street, between the Fremont and Fitzgerald’s casinos.

Or you could go eat tapas in a dome overlooking Fremont Street at the Plaza’s Firefly. Rest assured, no actual  fireflies will be harmed while cooking your meal.

Mermaids is home to deep-fried twinkies, deep-fried oreos and deep-fried arteries. It is also home to a bar with free samples of multi-flavored frozen alcoholic beverages, including mudslide, watermelon and ice tea flavors. If you like what you taste, you can buy a football-shaped cup filled with the stuff, or a yard-long plastic cup.

No smoking

El Cortez is in the process of converting its Vintage and Tower rooms to non-smoking. All the rooms should be smoke free by mid-April. The only smoking rooms that will remain are the Pavilion rooms.

Neonopolis

It’s dead, Jim

With its empty storefronts, boarded up windows and lonely neon signage, Neonopolis looks like the Vegas version of a ghost (down)town.

Still, there are some signs of life.

While the parking garage beneath Neonopolis was eerily empty, my first indication that there was someone else out there was the Telemundo van I was parked next to. Telemundo has a television studio located in Neonopolis.

Also spotted, a Sinful Delights Sweet Shoppe and Las Vegas Rocks Cafe.

And if the rumors are true, Star Trek the Experience, formerly housed at the Las Vegas Hilton, will be opening at Neonopolis sometime this year.

My final reminder to anyone heading downtown. Parking isn’t free. So don’t forget to validate!

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With 2010 only a few days away, do you have plans for New Year’s Eve yet?

Live rock music. A mesmerizing show with millions of lights. Thousands of people. If you still need plans to welcome 2010 in style, why not celebrate at Fremont Street Experience?

During Fremont Street’s 2nd Annual TributePalooza you’ll see concerts by eight tribute bands, a 2009 year-in-review show on the Viva Vision screen, followed by a countdown to midnight with Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman and an LED virtual fireworks show.

And if you’re a fan of any of the following artists – Aerosmith, Depeche Mode, Guns N’ Roses, INXS, Led Zeppelin, No Doubt, U2, Van Halen and Jimi Hendrix – then you’re in for a ride. For only $20 ($10 for locals), this 21-and-older event is sure to rock your socks off. Wristbands can be purchased in advance by calling (702) 678-5600.

With approximately 30,000 visitors, the five-block Fremont Street Experience event is expected to be Vegas’ largest block party. See continuous live concerts on both the 1st Street and 3rd Street stages from 6 p.m. until 1 a.m. The performance schedule is as follows:

6 – 7:15 p.m.
INXS-IVE (INXS) – 1st Street Stage
The Joshua Tree (U2) – 3rd Street Stage

7:30 – 8:45 p.m.
Blasphemous Rumours (Depeche Mode) – 1st Street Stage
Fan Halen (Van Halen) – 3rd Street Stage

9:15 – 10:30 p.m.
No Duh (No Doubt) – 1st Street Stage
Led Zepagain (Led Zeppelin) – 3rd Street Stage

10:00, 11:15 p.m. and 12:15 a.m.
“Jimi Hendrix and the Psychedelic Ride” – Main Street Stage

11 – 11:45 p.m. and 12:15 – 1 a.m.
Aeromyth (Aerosmith) – 1st Street Stage
Appetite for Destruction (Guns N’ Roses) – 3rd Street Stage

Can’t get enough of your favorite songs?  The party continues after New Year’s and this time, free of charge. The entertainment schedule is as follows:

Friday, Jan. 1 and Saturday, Jan. 2
8 – 9:45 p.m. – Fan Halen, 1st Street Stage
8 – 9:45 p.m. – Blasphemous Rumours, 3rd Street Stage
8:30, 9:30 and 10:30 p.m. – “Jimi Hendrix and the Psychedelic Ride,” Main Street Stage
10 p.m. – Midnight – Led Zepagain, 1st Street Stage
10 p.m. – Midnight – Aeromyth, 3rd Street Stage

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On Saturday, Oct. 24 downtown Las Vegas was invaded by plastic-brain-eating zombies who gathered on Fremont Street for the First Annual Zombie Walk.

People of all ages participated in the event, each portaying their own version of a blood-thirsty zombie. Wearing white facepaint and blood-spattered clothes they lurched their way downtown from the Plaza to Beauty Bar.

After the walk, zombies could be seen drinking at some of the downtown bars, congregating  in the street and dancing to the music of Frank & the Steins, one of the free live acts performing for OktoberFrightFest.

If you missed the walk, don’t worry. You can still enjoy Halloween activites at OktoberFrightFest through October 31. The festival features live Halloween-themed entertainment and a Viva Vision sound and light show themed to spooky songs including “Monster Mash” and “Time Warp.”

Here’s a gallery with photos of some freaking-looking zombies who rose from the dead for the First Annual Zombie Walk.

Click here to see other Halloween events taking place in Vegas.

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