THE VEGAS OF YESTERYEAR GOT A CRAVING FOR NEON, NICKEL SLOTS AND 99-CENT SHRIMP COCKTAILS? HEAD BACK IN TIME - TO FREMONT STREET.

Byline: Richard Irwin Staff Writer

LAS VEGAS - The baby squirmed in its stroller as the tattoo artist struggled to finish the bright-green sea turtle on its right leg.

Now, this was not your everyday tourist destination. Where else could you see infants getting tattoos (albeit temporary, airbrush ones)?

Down a side street, a couple of pawnshops beckoned with their promise of quick cash. Interesting: a gambling town where visitors are always a stone's throw away from a place to hock their valuables.

This was Las Vegas. Or, to be more precise, this was the downtown area where it all began.

Visitors accustomed to the fancy mega-resorts at the south end of the Strip will find an entirely different experience here, though it is only a mile away.

The area seems to have a blue-collar attitude - no pretensions here. It's an actual downtown region populated by serious gamblers who hope their luck will change any day now, not some elaborate resort where a dentist from Boise thinks he can beat the system.

Visitors are lured by neon lights (rather than high-tech video screens), low-stakes slots, traditional lounge entertainment and reasonably priced hotel rooms, drinks and dinners.

You could say this is the real Las Vegas.

Mormon settlers arrived in 1855, and the town was founded in 1905 when land was auctioned off at the corner of Fremont and Main streets. You might be interested to learn that the first hotel, Hotel Nevada, grabbed some prime frontage on Fremont Street for $1,750.

It was one of those newfangled, fancy hotels. The rooms measured 10 feet by 10 feet (spacious for the time) and boasted electric lighting and steam-heat radiators. And the cost for room and board was $1 per day.

You can still stay at the Hotel Nevada - now known as the Golden Gate Hotel. Tourists will be reassured to learn, however, that the original rooms have been upgraded a little and the cost has risen with inflation (but not unreasonably) - $39 for a double Sunday through Thursday, $55 on Friday and Saturday.

The hotel celebrates its history with large black-and-white photos along the walls and artifacts scattered about the casino. Tourists might be stumped when they come across a display of long wooden boxes.

An informational placard reveals that these wooden conduits were built to carry the first telephone lines underground. Las Vegas' first telephone was, in fact, installed in the hotel at 1 Fremont St. Back then, visitors would ask the operator to ``Ring 1, please.''

It's fascinating to see photos of Vegas with dirt streets and cowboys. Fremont Street wasn't even paved until 1925.

It was a rowdy place back then, with plenty of gambling, women and whiskey - about what you'd expect from a booming railroad town in the West.

OK, so the gambling, booze and female companionship part hasn't changed much, but the place sure looks different today.

Everywhere you look, there are brilliant neon lights. Once again, Vegas' oldest hotel, the Hotel Nevada, played a part, erecting the first large electric sign in 1927. Who knew that this would become a trademark of the city that shimmers in the desert darkness?

In 1935, Boulder Dam helped put the small city on the map. President Franklin D. Roosevelt paraded down Fremont Street on his way to the dedication ceremony.

Today, FDR probably wouldn't recognize the place. In recent years, the city closed off Fremont Street and turned it into a pedestrian promenade - with a spectacular light-and-sound show.

The Fremont Street Experience, a free show that is conducted hourly after dark, features a 90-foot frame that arches over a four-block section of the downtown area. This futuristic canopy holds more than 2 million light bulbs. These are joined by 180 high-intensity strobe lights. All the lighting is controlled by 36 computers. The light show is accompanied by 216 speakers producing 540,000 watts of concert-quality sound.

The six-minute shows give the street a carnival-like atmosphere.

That feeling is only reinforced by casino hawkers who stand by their entrances trying to entice people inside. One had a Mardi Gras theme, with two young women passing out beads to passers-by. Another had a large roulette wheel that visitors could spin for prizes.

This is part of downtown's eccentric mix that many visitors find so intriguing.

Where else could you find Glitter Gulch and the Golden Goose with ``world-class topless girls'' next to a Blimpie's and a Baskin-Robbins?

Or a beef jerky store next to a jewelry store that advertises that it buys gold? (Sell your jewelry and buy some wholesome jerky?)

Nearby, the Pioneer Pawn Shop - where a sign declares ``Making cash loans since 1938'' - the emphasis is clearly on customer service: It has a drive-up night window!

But for the main part, Fremont Street is an eccentric experience. The average tourist will certainly enjoy shopping in the downtown area.

Of a mind to do some shopping? Drop into Tiffany's Gifts and take a look at the dice clock - a steal at $14.99. I had my eye on the slot-machine piggy bank for $11.99. A Vegas T-shirt was only $1.99.

I was disappointed that Trader Bill's Jewelry Outpost had been turned into a Harley-Davidson souvenir shop.

Eating along Fremont Street isn't likely to break your budget, no matter how you're doing at the tables.

One establishment advertised Coney Island hot dogs for 99 cents, while just a little farther on, not to be outdone, another place was offering two hot dogs for $1.

In the casinos, meanwhile, you might be surprised to find fast-food chain outlets right off the casino floor - a Burger King inside the Four Queens, for example, and a McDonald's adjoining Fitzgeralds.

For more substantial fare, the casino buffets are always a good bargain. But be warned, the lines can be long - one wrapped along the entire back wall of one casino.

Everyone's familiar with the famous Vegas shrimp cocktail offered at a ridiculously low price. The Hotel Nevada/Golden Gate reportedly played a role in this tradition, too, offering the first shrimp cocktail at a bargain price in 1959.

Year after year, local residents voted this a Best of Las Vegas bargain. And in 1991, the Golden Gate celebrated selling 25 million shrimp cocktails with a party, attended by four mayors whose terms coincided with the tradition.

Casinos here also offer either free drinks for gamblers or low-cost beverages at the bars. We're talking daiquiris for $1, but don't expect them to be particularly large - or strong.

The entertainment downtown is vastly different from what you'll find at the mega-resorts down the Strip. It isn't particularly cutting edge, but it can be a lot of fun.

You might catch Tony Orlando at the Golden Nugget. At Fitzgeralds, Craig Newell offers his ``Tribute to Elvis,'' while Larry Jones is billed as a ``Man of 1,002 Voices.'' The Las Vegas Sun wrote of the latter: ``If you can't afford Danny Gans, go see Larry Jones.''

Best of all, the entertainment is free, as it used to be all over Vegas. (There is a one-drink minimum for Larry Jones.)

Most visitors, of course, seek their primary amusement in the casinos themselves, and downtown Vegas welcomes rollers both high and low.

There are 200 nickel slot machines at Fitzgeralds, for example.

Setting my sights on a new BMW Z3 hovering over the slots, I began to play. Many of the slots had signs posted on them that bragged, ``This machine paid out 100 percent last week,'' or, ``A billion nickels paid out.''

I thought the odds might be better on this side of Vegas, but as they often say in this town: A fool and his $2 are soon parted. Disappointed that I wouldn't be driving a new BMW home, I moved on - to dime slots.

A giant plastic dairy cow stood over the Moolah machine. I figured I would milk the slot machine for all it was worth, even though I felt ridiculous standing under the cow's plastic udders.

Another $2 in losses convinced me I couldn't win a dime in Vegas.

But at least the low stakes of downtown eased the sting of the losses.

And heightened my appreciation for this historic area where Vegas' origins are kept alive - and celebrated.

IF YOU GO

FREMONT STREET EXPERIENCE: The six-minute light-and-sound shows, presented on Fremont Street between Las Vegas Boulevard and Main Street, are held every hour on the hour, from early evening until midnight. Information: www.vegasexperience.com.

GOLDEN GATE HOTEL: [phone]; www.goldengatecasino.com.

INFORMATION: The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority can provide general information: [phone]; www.vegasfreedom.com.

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(1 -- 3 -- color) The Fremont Street Experience light-and-sound show, above, and goofy street acts, left, have lured visitors back to downtown Las Vegas, where lengendary Vegas Vic, top left, still cocks his neon thumb in welcome.

(4 -- 5 -- color) The Hacienda Horse neon sign, left, beckons visitors to downtown Las Vegas, above, and area one mile north of the high-tech casinos of the Strip.

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IF YOU GO (see text)