Vegas does Halloween right

Halloween was fun-filled to say the least. We started with NHRA (details to come) and then headed downtown Saturday evening and we finished the night – err, morning off at the Hard Rock. Fremont Street was packed with visitors in their Halloween costumes. We’ve never been on the strip or Fremont for Halloween so we were in for treat. Most Halloween’s Frank has been stuck working, although, one year we did get out to the Orleans for Monday Night Football. That was neat to see all the cocktail waitresses dressed up. However, I never imagined the number of costumes we saw this year. Las Vegas has to be the largest Halloween celebration around.

We met up with Jimmie and Kate at Golden Gate and then decided to kick off the night at Firefly for bacon wrapped dates and sangria. You cannot go wrong there. The restaurant was packed, and I think we might have been the only ones without a costume. The staff was overwhelmed, but we eventually got waited on. Joe Dirt was our server. How great is that? We quickly learned people watching would be our entertainment for the night. We saw a great Blues Brothers duo, the Teletubbies, the sluttiest Belle from Beauty in the Beast, saw a Kate from Jon & Kate + 8, plus many many more. My brother joined us, and then we decided to move on.

When Jimmie first planned the trip he asked if we wanted to go the Fetish & Fantasy Ball at Hard Rock. It sounded fun, but pricey. We passed, and he later decided against it, too. Instead, we chose to head over around midnight and check out the vibe and see what kinds of characters were roaming about.

The hall from the parking garage was packed quite the bottle neck formed it took us a bit to make our way into the casino. The center bar was four and five people deep. We managed to sneak in to order a round. Jimmie was brilliant and went ahead and ordered two drinks for everyone. The bright side to the crowds was that it was amusing to see what everyone was wearing. For the most part bare skin was key, I even saw some men that were wearing less than the ladies. Thigh highs for the women were extremely popular, but no complaints here. We saw slutty and creative costumes, both are great. The Flintstones characters seemed to be one of the most popular costumes this year. Along with officer Dangle from Reno 911 and Lady Gaga. Also, saw a few guys with baby’s ala The Hangover. Some look-a-likes were so dead on I had to do a double take, Raoul Duke from Fear and Loathing, Brett Michaels, and Gene Simmons are a few that come to mind. Oh, and Michael Jackson, he was better than impersonators on the strip. Some of the more original costumes I enjoyed were Cleveland Browns fans who wore paper bags on their heads, Green Man from Always Sunny in Philadelphia, a Facebook profile, and OJ Simpson complete with blood and knife, and Wonder Women with body paint.

With a drink in each hand, we set off to find a spot on the outer ring of the casino to people watch. There was a constant parade of people all decked out - some funny, some trashy, some really hot, and others that were just plain fun. We hung out for a couple hours, before heading home. The others hit the strip, my brother said the costumes were even better on the strip. The Carnival Court and Rockhouse at IP had the biggest crowds. He spotted a bunch of neat costumes at Bellagio, too.

I’ve decided Halloween in Vegas is a lot like New Year’s Eve. Crowds are a bit smaller and there are no fireworks, but there is a lot less clothing and a lot more skin. People watching is more fun for Halloween, but New Year’s is a larger party. Both are a guaranteed good time.

Costumes were really great it’s a shame I didn’t get better photos, just another reason to check it all out next year. But even in person they might appear fuzzy and blurred... I suppose it depends how great of a night it was.

Great MJ!


Almost the whole Sesame Street was there, only Oscar and Cookie Monster seemed to be missing.


The pope couldn't even miss out on this party.


Officer Dangle ran by chasing Terry fortunately he was captured. Criss Angel didn't care to notice.


Britney and Chris Farley from the SNL skit with Patrick Swayze (he was there, too) where they do the Chippendale routine.



Now, can you just imagine how entertaining the elevators and casino entrances had to be around 9am on Sunday morning. You know hundreds had to make that walk of shame.