By Mick Bailey

Las Vegas just came off its biggest weekend of the year, New Years Eve. The City that Never Sleeps had little time to rest up for its second biggest weekend; Valentine’s Day. This is going to be the sixth year in a row that Las Vegas will be America’s most popular Valentine’s Day destination. All year long Vegas is full of romance for couples, but what makes the 14th of February so special? Weddings!

Over 100,000 couples choose Las Vegas to get married each year. There are over 50 wedding chapels and most major resorts have their own. You have to look past the numbers and understand what is so special about getting married in the Entertainment Capital of the World. Traditional, unusual, romantic or just quick, Las Vegas offers everything for weddings and they are performed 24 hours a day. This year Valentine’s Day falls on a Thursday so most couples will take advantage of this and make it a four day weekend. Getting married is the priority for couples on this weekend, but what other Valentine’s Day festivities can they enjoy? Here are a few.

 1) How did Fremont Street get its name?

The first fifty years of Las Vegas was focused on a small street named “Fremont” named after explorer John Charles Fremont. This is where legalized gambling started at casinos named the Northern Club, Golden Gate, Gold Nugget, Binion’s Horseshoe, El Dorado Club and more. The lights from these gaming halls were so bright the western end of Fremont Street was referred to as “Glitter Gulch”. What followed was the golden age of Downtown Las Vegas. Numerous television shows and Hollywood movies wanted to be filmed with the neon lights of Las Vegas in the background.

 By Mick Bailey

Stories of women and World War II often include images of Rosie the Riveter with her sleeves rolled up. Women were for the first time doing jobs traditionally held by men such as building airplanes, tanks or other war equipment. This was new to our country and became a vital part in the effort to win the war. Women entering the World War II workforce were key to our winning, but few people today realize the biggest contribution to the war effort by women was to the railroad industry.