Vaping in Vegas, smoking in CA!

[SpaceCadet]

Just back from a great jaunt involving 4 nights in Vegas, then a tour around California ending in San Francisco. I haven't given up the cigs, was down to 4 a day. I bought a carton in duty free thinking it was gonna last months... yeah, right. I blame Vegas. Anyway, here's a lengthy post about what happened.

So, in Vegas you can smoke many more places than anywhere I've been in recent years. Well, most casino/hotel public areas, and the dive bars we decided to frequent! That hooked me back in to the analogs to some extent, but I decided to switch to vaping while playing 1c slots on Fremont Street. Man, I was getting some nic highs, bouncing in the seat as I gambled my life away. Actually I chucked away about $11 total, heehee, but it was all about the fun, not winning. In the Four Queens, not one person commented, though I was so busy on the slots (and 'merry' on Miller High Life) that I may not have noticed!

On Fremont Street there was a Smoking Everywhere stand. Ho ho. I decided to have some fun and strolled up with my penstyle. The guy saw I was kitted out already and tried to sell me a case. I said I didn't need one, and he insisted, so I sighed, took apart the penstyle and said "That will not fit!". He tried, then asked why the e-cig was so big. I replied that it's 'cos it's powerful! Had a quick vape-off that I won hands down, and a bystander asked where to get one. I told him in a garbled way to look at ECF, but by now both my boyfriend and the smoking everywhere guys were eager for me to leave - damn! Hope he got the message OK.

I couldn't help but spot the irony of selling a product named 'Smoking everywhere' in a place where there are possibly fewer places you can't smoke than can, tee hee!

After Vegas, on to California where I dreaded being cast out for sneaking the odd cig. Indeed, at our first rest stop some woman in a car stared at me crazily when I lit up. Oops. No ashtrays anywhere, eek. However, later on at the hotel in Fresno, a fellow tour-mate smoked his pipe around the pool so I joined in. Safety in numbers. I switched to the penstyle later and got favourable comments from all, mainly non-smokers - yay!

After this things went pear-shaped and the analogs took over, I'm afraid. I got a big shock in Sonora. There was a - gasp - smoking-permitted bar. Like, 2 bars in the whole town, and one was old-skool smokey hell. How long has smoking been banned in CA now? You wouldn't have guessed it! Long story short, CA seemed to accept smoking on the whole far more than the UK. I even spotted a seperate smoking room in a bar in San Francisco, and there was far less of this no smoking near building entrance stuff.

Anyway, lots of damage to undo here, I need to get back to vaping ASAP!

[j_royall]

Whoa now, I'm heading to CA next month, and plan on stopping on Sonora and San Fransisco! Do you remember the names of any of those smoke friendly bars? I'm completely down with the vaping, but when I drink, I need a SMOKE!

[Harry Crazington]

Heh..yaa...we encourage smoking anything anywhere anytime here.

" NEVADA .. it's like a whole other country!! "

" What happens in Vegas, SHOULD be happening to YOU "

[SpaceCadet]

Whoa now, I'm heading to CA next month, and plan on stopping on Sonora and San Fransisco! Do you remember the names of any of those smoke friendly bars? I'm completely down with the vaping, but when I drink, I need a SMOKE!

Heh, I can't remember the name of the bar in Sonora but you can't miss is - it's on the main street and has a big neon cig in the window, not to mention a smokey whiff emanating from the door! In San Francisco the Edinburgh Castle pub had a smoking room which I only spotted on the way out, and there was a guide book (think it was one of the little Black Book ones) mentioning full-on owner operated smoking bars but I didn't go in search - no time!

As for Vegas - seems the usual rules just don't apply! What a cool place

*hearts the West*

[Vapor Fiend]

No one will say much to you if you smoke in Vegas, cigarettes or e-cigs.

Frisco may be a different story, they're are snobby up there again.

If you go south to Burbank (by LA) or Orange County, they have banned smoking in public. That would be a good place to go to get a reaction.

[jcoppers]

Just back from a great jaunt involving 4 nights in Vegas, then a tour around California ending in San Francisco. I haven't given up the cigs, was down to 4 a day. I bought a carton in duty free thinking it was gonna last months... yeah, right. I blame Vegas. Anyway, here's a lengthy post about what happened.

So, in Vegas you can smoke many more places than anywhere I've been in recent years. Well, most casino/hotel public areas, and the dive bars we decided to frequent! That hooked me back in to the analogs to some extent, but I decided to switch to vaping while playing 1c slots on Fremont Street. Man, I was getting some nic highs, bouncing in the seat as I gambled my life away. Actually I chucked away about $11 total, heehee, but it was all about the fun, not winning. In the Four Queens, not one person commented, though I was so busy on the slots (and 'merry' on Miller High Life) that I may not have noticed!

On Fremont Street there was a Smoking Everywhere stand. Ho ho. I decided to have some fun and strolled up with my penstyle. The guy saw I was kitted out already and tried to sell me a case. I said I didn't need one, and he insisted, so I sighed, took apart the penstyle and said "That will not fit!". He tried, then asked why the e-cig was so big. I replied that it's 'cos it's powerful! Had a quick vape-off that I won hands down, and a bystander asked where to get one. I told him in a garbled way to look at ECF, but by now both my boyfriend and the smoking everywhere guys were eager for me to leave - damn! Hope he got the message OK.

I couldn't help but spot the irony of selling a product named 'Smoking everywhere' in a place where there are possibly fewer places you can't smoke than can, tee hee!

After Vegas, on to California where I dreaded being cast out for sneaking the odd cig. Indeed, at our first rest stop some woman in a car stared at me crazily when I lit up. Oops. No ashtrays anywhere, eek. However, later on at the hotel in Fresno, a fellow tour-mate smoked his pipe around the pool so I joined in. Safety in numbers. I switched to the penstyle later and got favourable comments from all, mainly non-smokers - yay!

After this things went pear-shaped and the analogs took over, I'm afraid. I got a big shock in Sonora. There was a - gasp - smoking-permitted bar. Like, 2 bars in the whole town, and one was old-skool smokey hell. How long has smoking been banned in CA now? You wouldn't have guessed it! Long story short, CA seemed to accept smoking on the whole far more than the UK. I even spotted a seperate smoking room in a bar in San Francisco, and there was far less of this no smoking near building entrance stuff.

Anyway, lots of damage to undo here, I need to get back to vaping ASAP!

I saw those guys on Fremont street also, tried to tell me that is product was much better than mine. Npro=RN4081, same damn thing. He did not much like me either, shot down everything he said. It was kinda fun though

[Mohave]

I saw those guys on Fremont street also...

Someone is also regularly set up with an e-cig kiosk mid-Strip, on the east side of Las Vegas Blvd. between Harrah's and Imperial Palace. I don't remember what company's product they're peddling, maybe the same one, or not. I did learn that the salespeople working the crowd there are rotating among different sites around town where they have space rented. I was paying more attention to the Parguayan salesbabe than the product, since she was kind of a hot little number.

[AGNES PEACOCK]

Fun to hear of your trip to California. I am a 4th generation Californian. Are you talking about Sonora, which is on the way to Yosemite? You are not confusing it with Sonoma in the wine country right? Were you on a tour bus?

Just asking, as the California you are describing is not the one I have lived in my whole life. And I live in a tri county area of less populated foothills which includes Sonora. Interesting, to hear your take on it. Guess I'm going to have to take the short jaunt over to Sonora and look for that bar. I would assume it is just a renegade owner protesting the law and awaiting their long arm.

Very sad to say, but our state has become a nanny state. The majority seem to be worried about what the rest are doing and inacting a new law to stop them. Many of the new laws never allow a public vote, they are just inacted. With more and more laws constantly put on the books all the time here, one has to wonder just how to, or who could possibly enforce all of them. But then you realize that bigger government will be needed to enforce them. Makes one just shudder to think of it, doesen't it?

Well, I am happy that you were able to see a little while here, of how we once were. Here in the (once) wild west. We still have alot of wonderous and beautiful places here, inspite of the overpopulation.

[SpaceCadet]

Fun to hear of your trip to California. I am a 4th generation Californian. Are you talking about Sonora, which is on the way to Yosemite? You are not confusing it with Sonoma in the wine country right? Were you on a tour bus?

It was indeed Sonora, and a google reveals the bar's name to be the Zane Iron Horse Lounge at 97 S Washington St I think it's legal under the owner-operator loophole, but no doubt that will stop one day too. I was just so shocked to see such a thing in the original smoking ban state! Good times.

We were indeed on a tour bus, and also visited Sonoma in the wine region, and lots of other beautiful places.

I will visit CA again, smoking bans or not - though I looked up the bans such as in Burbank and that's just evil - extreme restrictions on smoking outdoors! I've heard Birmingham UK is pondering the same, so it's not just California!

All this aside, I need to get back off the cigs - the cough is back

[AGNES PEACOCK]

Hello again Space Cadet:

Yes, you are right. I had forgotton as it has been so long since the law was inacted. Smoking can be allowed in a stand alone bar if the owner, or owners are the bartenders. (no smoking if they have employees). One of the selling points of the law was to protect employees from the smoking. I was a bartender at that time. I remember organizing all the other bartenders I knew to try to evoke common sense to the law. We then wanted the owner of the stand alone bar (no restaurant attached) to be able to hang a sign outside as to a smoking or no smoking establishment. Every bartender I knew at that time was a smoker and had chosen the job because of being able to smoke while at work.

You are also allowed to smoke in a hotel lobby at the owners discression. I've only known one up here where I live that had their hotel lobby extending into the bar and they just continued to smoke there. Sadly, It just closed lately. I am sure there are some others as well, and more of the owner operated bars scattered through out the state. But most likely few and far between. I'm going on a search to see if there is a list made up somewhere.

Great to chat with you. Hope you easily slip back into your personal vaporizer after your little jaunt on the wild side. Tee hee