Questions answered

LJ wondered: "Did you notice if there were fewer tourists there? A few of my coworkers who have went to LV & love it have wondered if the economy is affecting LV yet."

Whew boy, you'd better believe it, Lisa. Things still seemed to be hopping by our standards, but everyone from our cab driver to several of the dealers told us that 2008 was a bad year for Vegas. We noticed a lot of empty tables, but then we were there during the week. When we checked in, they asked us if we wanted to upgrade to a suite; Marty writes that they tried to get him to stay another night at the Bellagio. We had heard that some of the construction was being suspended, and I just read yesterday that the big new CityCenter complex (it's huge!) is slowing down construction. The Harmon hotel (part of that complex) is halting construction for a few months, and I believe it was the condo portion that they have completely halted, and will give the money back to those investors.

So by all accounts, Vegas is hurting. Casinos and hotels are offering deep discounts on their room rates, and show tickets are easier to get at a discount. Perhaps it will put a halt to the almost out-of-control building that went on for the past few years. Caesar's Palace, of all places, was putting up another building. If you've ever seen Caesar's--or been caught in the seemingly endless twists and turns of the place--you'll know that it's this huge network of buildings and underground shops. I'm not even sure how many buildings there are in Caesar's, but it seems like a couple of dozen! (I'm exaggerating. Probably no more than half a dozen.)

I just saw an ad online for cruises, and I told Ken that if we had the money for another cruise right now, it would be a great time to get a deal. Ken said he has a feeling it will be that way for a while, and I suspect he's right. Tourism would be a tough trade to be in right now. Did you hear that several Broadway shows are closing early? I think I heard "Hairspray" and "Jersey Boys" are going dark a few months before scheduled. So yeah, it's a tough time, and I think destinations like Vegas will be hurting for a while.

Question Two: I mentioned that the Golden Gate had the first phone number issued in Las Vegas, and said that anyone who guessed it would get a gold star for the day. I suppose I need to up the ante, so to speak, because only one person, Laurel, hazarded a guess. She guessed "7," and that's a pretty good guess. She realizes that this was long before the seven digit phone number, or area codes. Remember when phone numbers consisted of a word and a few numbers? For instance, if you were told to dial "CIrcle-842", you'd dial the corresponding digits to C and I, then 842. Maybe the most famous example of this was Junior Samples on "Hee Haw" and his phone number "BR-549," which I believe later was used as the name of a country group.

But I digress. The Golden Gate's phone number (and this was before it was called the Golden Gate--I think at the time it was the Hotel Nevada, or something like that) was even simpler than that. Their phone number was "1." That's it. If I were a marketer back then, I would say that a good slogan would have been "Dial 1--for fun!"