I know what you are thinking, out of all of the places that the characters visit in the novel, why would I pick Babies R Us? Well for one, I didn't want to pick another damn casino and more importantly, I believe that this particular place represents a pivotal moment in the book for Allison Johnson.
As children, the majority, if not all, of us have probably ventured inside a Toys R Us, whether it was against our will or not, and explored all manner of fluffy objects and Lightsabers. But to Allison Johnson, it was a different experience entirely - sobering if not traumatic. Looking over all of the products, the families with their babies, and finally coming to a rest outside of the store on a bench, she cannot help but envision her baby son coming to the store with his new parents, what he must look like, and how much he must be growing.
This moment in the novel is a melancholy one, however, amongst a plethora of bad choices that Allison has made throughout the story, this one puts a break in that trend as allowing her newborn son to be put under the protection of other parents was probably the best decision she could have made in her condition.
If there's anything that ensures a bright side to any seemingly depressing or mundane situation it's the idea of new life, whether it's in human form or not, and I love how Willy Vlautin inserts these bits and pieces of hope and joy into the text of Northline; they add depth and meaning not only to the characters, but to the overall storyline.
Below is a link to the Google Maps of the Babies R Us I visited off of Kietzke:
https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&q=babies+r+us+reno&fb=1&gl=us&hq=babies+r+us&hnear=0x809940ae9292a09d:0x40c5c5ce7438f787,Reno,+NV&ei=QZmgUOXiMsi1iwK0i4CIBw&ved=0CLwBELYD
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Northline Walking Journal - The Little Nugget
Nuggets are a happening thing in Northern Nevada. I can always recall my grandma taking me to the Nugget in Carson City for Thanksgiving lunch....or dinner...whatever meal it's classified as, then there's John Ascuaga's Nugget in Sparks, and last but most certainly not least, the Little Nugget on the Reno strip - home to the infamous Awful Awful and where Allison chats with Penny about miscellaneous topics like her education and boy history.
Miles, Austin, and I visited here after snapping a few pictures of the Cal Neva and went inside to share an order of their amazing fries. The atmosphere of this place, especially in the back where the diner is located, seems very busy - maybe almost hectic - and the perfect setting for hushed conversations while waiting for your food.
I feel as if this place acted as a safe zone for Allison, a place for her to finally unravel what's been going on in her mind and confide in Penny - maybe almost in a humorous way - and Penny could do the same. At this point in the novel, we realize that Penny is a very sympathetic and loving character for Allison, boosting her self-esteem by volumes and providing a much-needed outlet for our protagonist. Personally, I could see the Little Nugget being a setting for many long conversations between close friends; a space to talk about the ups and downs of life before having to return to the real world, so the next time you are due for a good ol' venting session, grab your posse and head down to the Little Nugget for a little bonding time!
Miles, Austin, and I visited here after snapping a few pictures of the Cal Neva and went inside to share an order of their amazing fries. The atmosphere of this place, especially in the back where the diner is located, seems very busy - maybe almost hectic - and the perfect setting for hushed conversations while waiting for your food.
I feel as if this place acted as a safe zone for Allison, a place for her to finally unravel what's been going on in her mind and confide in Penny - maybe almost in a humorous way - and Penny could do the same. At this point in the novel, we realize that Penny is a very sympathetic and loving character for Allison, boosting her self-esteem by volumes and providing a much-needed outlet for our protagonist. Personally, I could see the Little Nugget being a setting for many long conversations between close friends; a space to talk about the ups and downs of life before having to return to the real world, so the next time you are due for a good ol' venting session, grab your posse and head down to the Little Nugget for a little bonding time!
Northline Walking Journal - Cal Neva
Unfortunately, I was not able to have a meal on the Cal Neva Top Deck Restaurant as I had limited funds for the weekend (a.k.a I'm a broke a** college kid) however I managed to snap a picture of the exterior when walking with Miles and Austin on a verrrryyyyyy coooooollllld Thursday night.
Admittedly, I have never been inside the casino but I distinctly remember as a child always thinking how cool it was that they combined California and Nevada and made it into a casino name in Reno. Another confession, I honestly never paid much attention to its existence until now. I always saw it as one casino in a horde of others that sprinkle different sections of Reno. It's strange how you grow up so close to a certain area, yet you only see it as the big picture while taking for granted all of the bits and pieces that build the picture.
Regarding the two physicists who visited Kronberg Castle in Denmark who wrote:
Admittedly, I have never been inside the casino but I distinctly remember as a child always thinking how cool it was that they combined California and Nevada and made it into a casino name in Reno. Another confession, I honestly never paid much attention to its existence until now. I always saw it as one casino in a horde of others that sprinkle different sections of Reno. It's strange how you grow up so close to a certain area, yet you only see it as the big picture while taking for granted all of the bits and pieces that build the picture.
Regarding the two physicists who visited Kronberg Castle in Denmark who wrote:
“Isn't
it strange how this castle changes as soon as one imagines that
Hamlet lived here?”
This is exactly what happened to me when finally seeing the Cal Neva for the first time.
Instead of just seeing it as the Cal Neva Casino of Reno, I saw it as the Cal Neva Casino in the book Northline by Willy Vlautin and imagined the characters ordering their food in the Top Deck Restaurant at exactly the same time as I was looking at the casino (and how creepy that would be on my part). How would the characters react to Reno in its present state? Was there really so much that was different back then? Could 1999 even be considered "back then" yet? Regardless, this opened my mind to many things that I may have overlooked in Reno.
Northline Walking Journal - Old Harold's Club
I thought that the Harold's Club was a particularly interesting place as Northline concludes with Allison and Dan viewing its destruction (along with the Nevada Club) in the early hours of December 1999 and though there is nothing left today but an open plaza, I felt it was a relevant setting to touch on.
In a sense, the demolishing of the Harold's Club could not only symbolize the city of Reno preparing for the upcoming new millennium and making way for new renovations to accommodate a new generation, but it might also symbolize Allison making way for a new life as well, and demolishing her past.
As I viewed that plaza from a distance (near present-day Harrah's) I could only imagine what it would be like to stand there in the dark and cold of December while a gargantuan building takes a blast and crumbles to the ground. It would be awesome to see, but also somewhat sad in that acknowledging that a group of people put a lot of work and effort into a project whose fate would lie in nothing more than dusty rubble. Luckily, there may be a movie about the Harold's Club currently in pre-production so that this infamous site can leave its tattoo on the city of Reno for all to see and learn about its rich history.
In a sense, the demolishing of the Harold's Club could not only symbolize the city of Reno preparing for the upcoming new millennium and making way for new renovations to accommodate a new generation, but it might also symbolize Allison making way for a new life as well, and demolishing her past.
As I viewed that plaza from a distance (near present-day Harrah's) I could only imagine what it would be like to stand there in the dark and cold of December while a gargantuan building takes a blast and crumbles to the ground. It would be awesome to see, but also somewhat sad in that acknowledging that a group of people put a lot of work and effort into a project whose fate would lie in nothing more than dusty rubble. Luckily, there may be a movie about the Harold's Club currently in pre-production so that this infamous site can leave its tattoo on the city of Reno for all to see and learn about its rich history.
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