Bone-Chilling Las Vegas Photos Are Blunt Reminder Of COVID Insanity
A Reddit user is going viral with some flashback photos of Las Vegas during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
As OutKick readers know, I'm a huge fan of Las Vegas. I think it's the best vacation destination in the country.
It's a city full of opportunity. Whether it's crushing it at the blackjack tables or cutting it up at Hogs & Heifers, it's always a wild time…..right up until the moment it wasn't.
*RELATED: Insane Las Vegas Strip Club Rant Goes Viral, Draws Wild Reactions*
A look at the Las Vegas strip in the early morning hours. (Credit: David Hookstead)
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Flashback photos of Las Vegas during the COVID-19 pandemic go viral.
Las Vegas was hit incredibly hard during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. The tourist hot spot turned into a ghost town once lockdown orders were implemented.
The bustling city was pretty much abandoned overnight. It's hard to believe that it was already more than five years ago.
Reddit user r/Theebobbyz84 took to the site to share a look back at just how eerie it was once Sin City closed down.
The Reddit user wrote the following:
"In the early days of Covid airfare was cheap and the strip was interesting to say the least. Got a $89 RT flight from Philadelphia and stayed off strip on Paradise at a Fairfield that never closed. Places to eat still open for takeout included Tacos El Gordo, Pizza Rock and McDonald’s. Beers to walk the strip were available at Stage Door and a few other places along the strip. The eerie stuff was bikes on the sidewalks and the strip along with the still long lines at the Welcome to LV sign. Security was outside the casinos with temporary fences up by most. Also took a trip out to see Seven Magic Mountains which was crowded and the Pioneer Saloon in Goodsprings, also open for takeout. Overall I’m glad I did it in spite of the risks as no one knew what the future held at that point. Hopefully a few enjoy these unique pics of Las Vegas in a way we hopefully never see again."
Check out the chilling photos of what Sin City looks like completely empty below.
*READ: Porn Stars, Chaos And A Serious Injury In Las Vegas*
(Credit: Reddit user Theebobbyz84 with permission)
(Credit: Reddit user Theebobbyz84 with permission)
(Credit: Reddit user Theebobbyz84 with permission)
(Credit: Reddit user Theebobbyz84 with permission)
(Credit: Reddit user Theebobbyz84 with permission)
(Credit: Reddit user Theebobbyz84 with permission)
(Credit: Reddit user Theebobbyz84 with permission)
I actually was in Las Vegas during the early days of COVID, and while most of those photos were lost to time, I can confirm it was utterly insane.
There were mask mandates everywhere, pretty much nothing was open and seeing another person felt like being found after getting lost in the desert.
You literally couldn't take your mask off for a single second unless you were in the active process of eating or drinking. It was so unbelievably stupid.
To make matters even more interesting, I actually was planning a trip when the country shut down in March 2020. Thank goodness I never got on the plane and went. It was bad enough months later. I can't imagine how terrible it was in the opening days.
Las Vegas completely shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo by AaronP/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images)
The good news is that Vegas has been back to normal for years, and we're never going back. Don't ever forget what was taken from us with the idiotic restrictions. I certainly won't. Do you have a crazy pandemic story (we all do!)? Let me hear it at David.Hookstead@outkick.com.