Best of Las Vegas -- Las Vegas Review Journal

From cemeteries to striking views, readers share their favorite spots

By HEIDI KNAPP RINELLA
REVIEW-JOURNAL

If you haven't been to the top of Sunrise Mountain, go. Right now. Put the paper down and drive to the far eastern end of Lake Mead Boulevard.

Back? OK. Now you can rest assured you're not missing something that's dear to the heart of what must be half the population of the Las Vegas Valley.

Sunrise Mountain -- actually Frenchman Mountain, a common mistake -- is one of the most popular spots in the valley, showing up with amazing regularity in a review of 20 years of Best of Las Vegas readers' poll balloting.

In 1982 -- Best of Las Vegas' inaugural year -- Sunrise/Frenchman Mountain was chosen as the site of the Best View of Las Vegas. It held that honor each time the category was offered until 1997, when the Stratosphere began its domination -- interrupted only by the VooDoo Lounge in 1998 -- of the category in a triumph of engineering over nature.

During the years of the poll, Sunrise/Frenchman Mountain also was chosen Best Place to Make Out and Best Place to Watch the Sunset -- which may be one and the same, but let's not digress.

A few other spots dominated their categories as well. Sunset Park was deemed Best Park from 1982 until 1994 (except when the category wasn't offered in 1983). Angel Park also interrupted its run, in 1995, but only for a year. The valley's most beautiful natural spots -- Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, Mount Charleston -- and most famous creations of man -- the Strip, Hoover Dam -- also showed up again and again.

And while the fleeting nature of the institutions of modern life led to lots of places mentioned in other listings dropping out of sight soon after their time in the sun, that wasn't the case with the Locations listing; most of these places endure.

There are exceptions, of course: How many remember Carlos Murphy's and the Elephant Bar (voted Best Singles Bar in 1982 and 1983, respectively, before the category moved to the Entertainment listing).

In the first year of Best of Las Vegas, there were 17 categories in the Locations listing: view (Sunrise Mountain), video arcade (Circus Circus), place to neck (at home), movie seats (MGM Grand), people-watching (McCarran International Airport), singles bar (Carlos Murphy's), golf course (Desert Inn), recreational park (Sunset Park), shopping center (Meadows mall), scenic drive (Red Rock Canyon), tourist attraction (Hoover Dam), one-day trip (Valley of Fire State Park), historic site (Hoover Dam), hiking trail (Red Rock Canyon), bike path (Red Rock Canyon), bookstore (B. Dalton Bookseller) and thrift shop (Opportunity Village).

Best Place to Meet People was added the following year, with TGI Friday's taking the prize. In 1984, R-J readers took a more sober approach, choosing church as the Best Place to Meet People.

The last half of the '80s, as it happened, were slim years for the Locations listing, with a half-dozen or fewer categories each year. During those years, Hoover Dam dominated as the top tourist attraction.

The '90s were growth years for Locations, with 24 categories in 1995 and 1996, including Best Department of Motor Vehicles Office (Carey Avenue office in '95, the Flamingo Road office in '96), Best Place to Make Out and Best Place to Watch the Sunset (both won by Sunrise/Frenchman Mountain in '95 and split between Mount Charleston and Sunrise/Frenchman Mountain in '96), Best Route for a Sunday Drive (to Blue Diamond with a side trip through the Red Rock Canyon scenic loop in '95 and Lake Mead National Recreation Area in '96) and Best Teen Hangout (the malls in '95 and Circus Circus in '96).

Controversy erupted in 1995 when we added Best Place to Drive Fast. It was a joke, son, and those who got it chose Interstate 15. Many angry readers called to demand how dare we encourage people to drive fast (as if they had never thought of it or it had never happened before 1995).

We responded by including the category again in 1996 and readers again chose Interstate 15. To show who's boss, we offered it one more time in 1997 and readers got bolder, choosing Rampart Boulevard as the place to floor it. We finally retired the category in 1998 after Interstate 15 won yet again. Another category that raised a few eyebrows was Best Cemetery in 1996. Readers chose Palm Mortuaries & Cemeteries. However, some people thought we were being ghoulish -- even for us -- and the category was deep-sixed the next year. Back to index