"I think we should try 'Las Vegas – the Fremont Street Experience,' " said Amy.

Fremont Street is vintage downtown Las Vegas made new again. The location of the city's first paved street, the site of the first casino, the place Wayne Newton began his Vegas singing career – this is the Glitter Gulch where it all began. It is a street of famous hotels, including the Golden Nugget, the home of the giant gold nugget – and they mean giant: It's 61 pounds, 11 ounces.

A $70 million rebuild has made this historic downtown area better and in certain important ways friendlier. Dad doesn't drive much, complains when he spends money on taxis, and mostly enjoys walking, but at his own pace. Fremont Street fits him to a T.

The heart of Fremont Street has been transformed into a four-block covered pedestrian mall. A 90-foot-high canopy over the boulevard-wide walkway keeps temperatures comfortable and walking easy. The Fremont canopy also incorporates state-of-the-art LED technology that transforms it into the largest screen in the world. At night, all four blocks of the arched roof fire up with high-tech animation featuring a special-effects light show with music from a 550,000-watt sound system.

A retired WWII and Korean War Navy veteran who sailed the world, my father passed through this gambling town 50 years ago, and Fremont Street was the Las Vegas he remembered fondly. The pedestrian mall allowed him to stroll down memory lane without the hazard of traffic or the bother of Las Vegas sun.

Amy and I were happy with the situation: Dad is our only living parent, so we're both a bit partial to him. All of this is to say my Einstein wife found a vacation place to satisfy all of us. On Las Vegas' highly touted South Strip, places seem far apart. On Fremont Street, everything – hotels, casinos, restaurants, entertainment venues, Starbucks, and Krispy Kreme Doughnuts – is steps away. Under the canopy – or nearby – are 10 casinos, 60 restaurants and a gazillion slots.

The downtown environment caters to a certain kind of Vegas visitor. Nice people of all ages wander the shade of Fremont Street. High rollers and down-and-outers seem to be someplace else. People seem approachable. Everyone is talking and smiling. Service is great. No one is hurried – the mood is copasetic. Service follows the rhythm of the street. At Binion's Horseshoe Casino, the hostess took the time to chat and to recommend the house cabernet.

Amy and I took an immediate liking to the area because we like to wander on foot. On our last trip to Vegas, we felt stifled and entombed in a mega resort. More our style was strolling the Fremont mall, hopping from shop to shop, casino to casino, looking for fun, friendly quarter machines, and deals.

Places here are proud of their history and find ways of highlighting it. Walls of the Golden Gate Hotel and Casino, which opened in 1906 with room and board for $1 a day, are lined with early pictures of the area and San Francisco, home of the casino's original owners.

Main Street Station, right off Fremont, is Victorian in design and features antiques and collectibles throughout, including Buffalo Bill Cody's private rail car, a fireplace from Scotland's Preswick Castle, and chandeliers from Paris' Figaro opera house.

Downtown hotels also honor history by offering room deals I thought were only a thing of the past. We chose to stay at the Golden Nugget because, like most of Fremont Street, it enjoys a full history and overall is a great bargain. This was the first Las Vegas structure designed ground up as a casino. (For a standard deluxe room Sunday through Wednesday in mid-March, on Feb. 24, the hotel's Web site quoted an average price of $106 – the charge is different on some days.)

The Golden Nugget is an elegant, AAA four-diamond hotel. Small things are telling. Glass entry doors are hand-engraved, imported marble covers the lobby, ornate crystal chandeliers grace the reception area, along with live plants and fresh flower arrangements. Clusters of miniature white lights brighten this no-neon casino-hotel.

The marble floors, chandeliers, and wood and brass finishing impart a sense of style and aura of solidness that can only be found in a structure built before plastic composites were king.

Recent remodeling has kept the amenities contemporary. One addition to the Golden Nugget is a Starbucks with an indoor entry but with an outdoor patio on Fremont Street.

We made certain to be on the street in time for the overhead digital show. There are two ways to experience the light and music show – as a pedestrian beneath the canopy or, nicer, from the upper floor Center Stage restaurant in the Plaza Hotel. It's at one end of the mall and its windows make it possible for diners to sip their wine while watching the show.

Activity on the mall picks up in the evening, with street artists, musicians, jugglers and magicians entertaining the crowds. Want your caricature drawn, or your photo taken with seven parrots perched on your arms, shoulders, and head? Want to hear a guy play a jazz saxophone and watch an energetic group break dance? Want your name in Chinese calligraphy or a discount-priced Las Vegas polo shirt? This is the place for it.

I queried Pop, the master of understatement, about the vacation: "Did you like it?" "The place has changed."

"But did you like it?" "Walking around was real nice. The lights and sound were something."

Anything else? "The chow was good." (He especially liked a $1.99 breakfast.) "And?" "I'm ahead on the quarter machines."

"So that's it?" "No. This was a very nice vacation, one of the best. Thanks for bringing me along. It was nice you thought of me."

"Anytime, Dad"