I decided to check out two Strip hotel/casinos today (Sunday of Labor Day weekend) and since time was of the essence I picked one that I consider to be among the worst and the other which I consider to be among the best.

And in both cases I was happily surprised as each appeared to be very busy with lots of visitors losing lots of money at the tables.

Las Vegas certainly needs more of this!

I consider Circus Circus and the Sahara to be among the very worse of what Las Vegas has to offer, so I picked the Sahara to see what was going on.

And BOY! ... What a mess that place is!

Entering the check in area is somewhat like entering a dirty cave at midnight in a black and white grade 'C' movie. I even looked for sleeping bats hanging from the non discript ceiling.

But things colored up a bit as reached the casino floor due to the blinking lights searching for today's non-existent slot attendants,

As I continued onward into this den of inequity I wondered what ever happened to those good old days when the Beatles used to gather here for a fine steak dinner...... which now more than likely serves hot dogs on a stick and jello shots.

But to my surprise the joint was packed with anxious players waiting for vacant seats at one of the many $1 blackjack tables offering even money plus a $1 match-play coupon.

It was depressing, but at least it was crowded and a ten-minute visit was more than enough to get me out of there.

so my next plan was to visit another casino on the opposite end of the color spectrum .....

And that's how I ended up at the somewhat colorful Aria.

And it was also very busy with anxious players at $10 -$25 tables.

Another good sight to see as we genuinely need a turn for the better in these very difficult economic times.

Then I took a very brief stroll through Crystals. Lots of tourists looking through store-front-windows but those store interiors still appear to be customer-less.

A very interesting day during a very busy holiday weekend through two very different casinos ... neither of which I felt very comfortable in..... but it's great to see a LV casino when it has lots of people inside of it.

A sight I have not seen enough of lately.

Maybe Obama should consider stretching Labor Day Weekend into a three month holiday or at least up to the Christmas season.