My partner and I, along with our favorite travel-buddy couple, have resolved to visit all 50 United States by 2030. When my birthday rolled around, it naturally presented an opportunity to check a state off the list. We stayed at the Palazzo on the Strip, and yes, gambling occurred, but we all know that story. One of the best parts of our trip was getting off the Strip, out of downtown, and checking out places that didn't rely on games of chance, but were still very uniquely Vegas. On a sunny Saturday morning, our group decided to venture over to the Arts District for a low-key day of casino decompression. Behaving as we would at home while on vacation allows us to see another side of a place, and is a welcome respite from the general crush and chaos of the more touristy sights. We hopped in a Lyft for the 10-minute ride from the Strip to the Arts District, starting our adventure on Main Street just south of Charleston Boulevard. It's worth mentioning that Lyft driver's cars in Vegas are astoundingly clean. I'm used to relatively nice late-model vehicles, but they've got something special going on in Vegas. Our first stop was Makers & Finders, a jam-packed coffee shop and cafe, where I immediately wished we'd come for breakfast–instead of the extortionate brunch we had in the hotel. We grabbed a kombucha, a drip coffee, and an Americano (all perfectly tasty and reasonably priced) and meandered down the street to the first open shop. It was around this point that I started noticing we must have found the right neighborhood for thrift shopping. Black boots, band tees, leather jackets, and technicolor hair were plentiful. The Antique Alley Mall, our first stop, is a labyrinth antique shop full of independent booths. Every decent-sized city has one, but most of them aren't full of Vegas memorabilia and old hotel castoffs. I picked up a promotional magazine for Rocky Horror Picture Show ($7) and strongly considered some original cell art from the X-Men cartoon. Other standout finds included a full-size coffin (classic wooden style, with a velvet interior) and an impressive selection of midcentury clothing and furniture. We moved across the street to Retro Vegas, which is the cleaned-up and curated sibling of the two stores, featuring beautiful (and pricey) midcentury modern furniture, clothing, a small vinyl selection, and an impressive array of drinkware and cocktail sets. Seriously - if you need a fancy cocktail set, a Vegas antique store is the place to find it. The mind boggles at the selection. A block south sits the best find of the day: Rebar. Calling it a bar doesn't do it justice - they also serve a wide variety of vegetarian and vegan-friendly bar bites (with plenty of options for the carnivores as well) and - here's the kicker - it's a functioning antique store. Most of the chotchkes, art, and games on display are for sale. We stopped by here twice - once for a quick beverage and again when heading back north for a late lunch. They have a $6 serving of hummus that's a whopping 16 ounces, so if you need to load up on protein before heading back to the Strip it makes a good option. Near Rebar you'll find Main Street Mercantile, with a lovely selection of elegant vintage clothing and vintage-inspired new pieces. I found a fully beaded dress and velvet jacket for $75. There's also a Buffalo Exchange on this block, which you can find in many cities, but is always worth a visit, especially when the locals are as stylish as Las Vegans. Across the street, Modern Mantiques packs a more interesting punch than it's name suggests. The front room features artfully staged, hard-to-find treasures (such as a Challenger space shuttle launch plaque for $12k or handmade books for $100) while the back is packed with memorabilia that'll give GenXers and Millenials plenty to reminisce about. After our day in the Arts District, we did eventually make our way up to Fremont Street, dodging vomit (successfully) and Chippendales (somewhat less successfully). The Arts District remains a highlight of the trip, and makes a nice change of pace from the casino chaos.