Walking Journal #17 -Northline

I left The Nugget and headed towards 4^th Street. Allison lived in an apartment on 4^th Street. She did not like the apartment at first, but cleaned it up and grew very fond of it, for a little while. She headed towards the local Salvation Army on 4^th Street, and guess what, there is a thrift store on 4^th Street! Probably not the same one. I ventured mostly west on 4^th Street so I could visit the Eldorado Casino. This casino is definitely one of the better looking ones, yet, there is still plenty of homeless people roaming around the area and kids/students asking for rides. There are constantly cops patrolling this street because of the drunks that walk from bar to bar or casino to casino ready for a fight. My ultimate impression of this particular street was that of a nicer part of downtown Reno because it had the Silver Legacy which is very spectacular as well as the Eldorado, another gracious casino in downtown Reno. Both are on either sides of 4^th Street and make this part between Sierra Street and Virginia Street look like the best part of downtown that I have been to.

Eldorado Casino

Silver Legacy Casino

           

Bridge inbetween the Two

In the book, Allison mentions the Eldorado many times and elaborates on how it is a grand casino, so I believe that they have kept up with the renovations and prestigious look in order to continue having customers and passer-byers stop and think of it as one of the only few casinos/hotels worthwhile to stay at. 

           Later on during that day I drove down 4^th Street in an east direction to see what the apartments look like and if there was a Salvation Army. The part of town was trashier than downtown and did not look at all like a good living condition. All of the apartments there where unkempt, were not aesthetically pleasing, and looked like it could be Northern Reno’s ghetto because of the risky buildings and people. I understand why Allison’s inner mind, Paul Newman, told her not to live here anymore and try to look for a new place to go.

 Map: Head out of the Nugget onto Virginia Street.

            Make a left and head North on Virginia.
            Continue until 4^th Street, make a left.
           Head towards Sierra and make a loop.

Walking Journal #16 -Northline

Virginia St. Entrance

Late at night; I am hungry. Might-as-well go to the Little Nugget and get an Awful Awful burger. Penny shows Allison this gracious burger after one night at work. I have been there many times, usually late at night when you have that awkward late night hunger. When I read the Awful Awful part in Northline, my mouth started to water. I finally made another late night stop by the mystical hole-in-the-wall joint and enjoyed a mouthwatering burger. The burger is huge! It is built with onion buns, meat, fixings, and grease! Plus a pound or two of seasoned fries. I can never finish it, but still always want one to myself. The atmosphere is great too. For example, one time I went with a group of friends and the fryers were making jokes with us. They even cussed in a whole-heartedly way. It was such a joy to see that friendliness in a restaurant. Also, the people that go there love to chat with you.

            When Allison went there, she did not mention much about her experience aside from the scrumptious burger. She said she loved it as well. The food I great and the atmosphere inside has a good vibe, but overall the place is a dive. The front/back entrance (not sure which one) comes from a dumpy alley that smells like garbage, and the casino entrance is just that, a smoky, alcohol infested little room with tons of gamblers. Everything about this casino draws in the wrong crowd of people. The Awful Awful burger is “scrumdiddlyumtious”, however, everything around this little restaurant/snack shop is terrible. I am petrified to go by myself here anytime, even in the daylight because of the gruesome crowd that lingers around it.

Alley-way Entrance

            This whole idea of a dump casino plays onto the last mentioned blog with regards to the fact that downtown Reno has become trashy and scary to walk through. Even the casinos, which are supposed to seem more-or-less elegant, are not anything spectacular. Downtown  Reno has taken a far left turn from the descriptions Allison gives us in the book. Yeah, they had plenty of bars back then, but the bartender took care of Allison when she passed out, he did not take advantage of her, did not let other customers take advantage, and he did not just throw her in a cab. Instead, he laid her down somewhere alone and quit. Nowadays, it would be awfully scary to pass out in downtown Reno anywhere.

Map: Corner of Sierra and 10^th St.

            South on Sierra, left on 6^th St.
            Right on Virginia.
         The Little Nugget is on your right hand side.

Walking Journal #15 -Northline

Allison mentioned walking down 1^st St. after work once, so that is where I headed after my meal at the Cal Neva Casino. Walking down the street, I noticed that this street was not filled with stores; rather it only had a few on the section I was walking. I remembered that this street was where a man’s car would not start and Allison felt bad for the family sitting inside waiting. She worked her second job here as a telemarketer. I looked around the street and saw no cars. I bet this street has changed significantly since the time of which the book references it. There was saw three stores and one was called Coin and Bullion; coin reminded me of money. On the way back I looked out for pawn shops because she mentioned that in the book. I found three different ones and wondered if any of those three could have been the three she had mentioned. Probably not, but who knows!

             Downtown Reno is very unsafe at night nowadays because of the odd people that roam it giving you funny looks or asking for money. I always see police cars patrolling the area for people like that who start fights. If Reno was like that thirty years ago, I do not understand how Allison wanted a graveyard shift at the Cal Neva because she could get taken advantage of or robbed. What also surprises me is that she felt comfortable here in lieu of Las Vegas. Downtown Las Vegas may be bigger, but they are both downtowns with creepy people and casinos constantly advertising the next greatest thing in gambling. I wonder why she did not choose another place other than Reno. Watson must have made an impression on her to continue her path to Reno, NV. Anyhow, she was safe all throughout the book when she came to Reno, nice folks at the bar when she passed out and what not. Reno has definitely changed throughout the years and it shows through the streets like 1^st St which had many parked cars on it, casinos because there are so much bigger and “magnificent”, and through the people that roam it like homeless people asking for money and rides to different cities. I notice a change from a decent part of town to a part of town that people are scared to walk alone and always have buddies.

 Map: From Cal Neva to 1^st Street

            Down 1^st St. until Sierra than turn back.
            Make a left on Virginia and walk back the way you came.

Walking Journal #14 -Northline

As I walked downtown Reno, a parade was going on. Veteran’s Day Parade! I started on Tenth St. and Sierra and made my way towards downtown Reno. I realized that Allison would take Virginia St. to get to her work, so I took Virginia St. all the way to the Cal Neva. The Cal Neva looks like an older building so I imagine that it is the same building as the supposed Allison worked in. I made my way to floor 3 and looked aimlessly for the Top Deck Restaurant. Eureka! It was right in front of my face. The casino inside had the similar look as Allison described it and even had a whole section for betting horse races, football, anything. I was seated inside of the restaurant and noticed that Keno was I big thing to play in this restaurant as mentioned in Northline. As I looked around the restaurant I became aware that waitresses are very social, or are supposed to be. I got to thinking about Allison and how being a waitress at the Cal Neva was really part of her character and the need to get away from Las Vegas. Maybe she wanted to socialize with her customers instead of having a friendship until she was ready. Dan Mohany came every morning so it made it easier for them to talk more about life rather than simply an order. She was finally ready, and she and Dan became friends. I began to eat my “Classic Breakfast” that came with eggs, bacon, hash browns, and sourdough toast and wondered how they did not become friends sooner. He went there every morning and ate the same thing I was eating.

          

  Allison needed a friend and so did Dan, so through the daily small talks and he sitting in her section it happened after a long while. Maybe this was because of Allison’s personality, waitresses are hired based on how friendly they can be with customers and she did just that, always wanting to please. I find it very interesting how Allison found the friend she needed who was so similar to her through serving him coffee and breakfast each morning. This breakfast was quite tasty and cheap actually, so I understand why Dan went every day and sat in the section with the lovely waitress.

 

Map: Corner of Sierra and 10^th St.

            Head South until 6^th St. Make a left on 6^th and a right once you reach Virginia.
             South on Virginia. Cal Neva will be on the left-hand side about a half mile down.