Las Vegas was our last lunch stop on the road trip home from Boston, luckily the In-N-Out was still open for takeout.

The city was literally a ghost town.  The Strip was empty, the walkways and escalators were closed, and every casino had K-rails up blocking entrances along with their private security staff and Las Vegas Metro Police Officers.  The only people on the street were tweekers, transients, and foreign tourists who hadn’t gotten out yet.  There were so few people you could a couple blocks without seeing someone on a sidewalk which was so surreal considering how busy that town usually is.  Construction workers for a new casino and the new Raiders stadium were interestingly all working.

After a couple passes driving down The Strip so I could photograph from the car we headed to the iconic Fabulous Las Vegas sign.  There was a man there hustling for tips by taking photos of people in front of the sign with their own cellphones and cameras.  He said the city had just put in the blue Corona Virus warning sign that morning and explained how he was wearing gloves to prevent contact with people’s phones for safety.  He said he was concerned for how he would survive after the city shut down and expressed his hoped the closure would be brief.  While waiting in line to photograph the sign I heard the couple in front of us say how they visiting from Winnipeg and had to fly out later that day before the border crossings were closed.  The reality of the shutdown was coming clearer in to view for us.  We made it home later that afternoon.