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!"

Livin' on Vegas time

I don't know if it's all the vampire movies we've been watching, or just the anticipation of the late hours in Vegas, but we've been staying up till the wee hours and sleeping very late! It's cool, we know that we'll be staying up late in Vegas, so I'm kind of glad we're getting acclimated. Personally, I think Vegas is much more exciting at night (I love all the lights and neon!), so I'd much rather be wide awake at 2 AM than at 2 PM!

Speaking of 2 PM, we have a nice little visit planned for Wednesday with a fellow blogger! It turns out that Marty of Heard at Starbuck's is flying into town that day for a convention, and we arranged to meet at 2 PM! I hadn't said anything yet, because I wanted to make sure that it was going to work out for him (I told him that we're on vacation, so we're flexible!), and barring any unforeseen last minute glitches, we'll be meeting in one of the bars at the Bellagio. It worked out perfectly, because we're staying right across the Strip at Bally's! I'm looking forward to meeting him and chatting with him in person. I'm actually a little bit nervous, because this will be the first time we've met a blogger in person! Although we did meet our New York friend RaQuel a few years ago, after she and I had corresponded for a few years, and that went great, and we're still friends! Marty seems like such a cheery, interesting, and funny guy, and I have a feeling we'll all get along fine and dandy. I'm sure a Bloody Mary will help alleviate my nervousness! [wink]

But before our meeting, we've got plenty going on, including front row seats for "Love" (the Cirque du Soleil show with Beatles music), a tour of the Neon Museum's Boneyard (where aging signs go to retire), and a seafood buffet probably Tuesday night after the Boneyard. I suspect we'll be able to fit a little gambling in there, as well!We've been practicing Blackjack on Facebook, and it's good to hone our skills a bit before sitting down at an actual table. Except just like in real life, there is always a dumbass or two in the bunch...one guy last night hit on 19. I was thinking, "Dude, WTF? You had 19!" Kind of reminded me of Austin Powers. Didn't he hit on 20? Hahaha!

Speaking of Facebook, one of the reasons we've been staying up so late is because we've both become hooked on Mafia Wars. Milwaukee Dan #2 invited me, I invited Ken, and now we're both hooked. Dan is a Level 14 Mogul, Ken is a Level 12 Mogul, and I'm a Level 10 Maniac. Miss Ginger, Mort, and Barbara have also joined the Family, and they've all had my back several times! Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to save me this afternoon when we were out running errands. Turns out a little weasel named Archie put out a hit on me, and someone whacked me. Jeez, just because I fought him until I took all his money? Well, as Mark Twain said, reports of my death are greatly exaggerated, and I'm back at full strength and ready to carry on with my duties. Watch your back, Archie, whoever you are. Extra Arm doesn't forget.

In the meantime, I've got pretty much everything out that I want to take to Vegas. It was kind of hard to pack for this trip, because we're leaving cold Indiana for Vegas, which will be in the 50's during the day, but get down into the 30's at night. I've got enough variety with jeans, slacks, sweaters, and even a Hawaiian shirt, that I should be okay. I wish I didn't have to take a winter coat, but I know how cold I get!

We got in a Vegas frame of mind last night by watching "Ocean's Thirteen." I know 12 and 13 weren't as good as "Ocean's Eleven" (and I love the original with the Rat Pack!) but I still think the movies are a blast. C'mon...Clooney, Brad Pitt, AND Matt Damon? I'm just sayin'. Anyhoo, it was fun to see the Strip and to start to get into the mood. After the movie, I found the trailer for "Viva Las Vegas," and it is a kicky blast! It shows a lot of downtown (which is our favorite part of Vegas), and it's sad to see how many legendary casinos are now gone. The Mint that was downtown was such a cool building! Quite a few of the downtown casinos have survived, including Binion's Horseshoe and the Golden Nugget (and my personal fave, the Golden Gate). So many on the Strip are gone, though--the Aladdin, the Stardust, the Desert Inn, the Sands, and the "champagne tower" at the Flamingo shown in the trailer are all history. The new casinos and hotels are beautiful, but I'm old school and love the allure of the old, glamorous Vegas. I'm sure that's why I love downtown so much--those casinos have been there for decades. And Vegas Vic abides!

We're taking the laptop, both of our cameras, and my little Flip video camera, so stay tuned for the sights and sounds of Vegas, Baby! In the meantime, sing along with Elvis!

Viva Las Vegas

Bright light city gonna set my soul
Gonna set my soul on fire
Got a whole lot of money that's ready to burn
So get those stakes up higher
There's a thousand pretty women waitin' out there
And they're all livin' devil may care
And I'm just the devil with love to spare
Viva Las Vegas, Viva Las Vegas


How I wish that there were more
Than the twenty-four hours in the day
'Cause even if there were forty more
I wouldn't sleep a minute away
Oh, there's blackjack and poker and the roulette wheel
A fortune won and lost on every deal
All you need's a strong heart and a nerve of steel
Viva Las Vegas, Viva Las Vegas


Viva Las Vegas with your neon flashin'
And your one arm bandits crashin'
All those hopes down the drain
Viva Las Vegas turnin' day into nighttime
Turnin' night into daytime
If you see it once
You'll never be the same again


I'm gonna keep on the run
I'm gonna have me some fun
If it costs me my very last dime
If I wind up broke up well
I'll always remember that I had a swingin' time
I'm gonna give it everything I've got
Lady luck please let the dice stay hot
Let me shoot a seven with every shot
Viva Las Vegas, Viva Las Vegas
Viva, Viva Las Vegas!

Vegas plans, and the danger of assumptions

I saw five bluebirds at our heated bird bath today! They and the other birds seem to love it in the wintertime, and I see the bluebirds more in the winter than I do in the summer. They're so pretty.

I got something done today that I really needed to get done. Now that we got the tree up and the bins of wrapping paper out, I got the presents wrapped and packaged to send to our friends Kimberley and Steve (we're meeting up with them in Vegas). The question is, will I be able to get out to the Post Office tomorrow? It's snowing fairly heavily at the moment, and Ken leaves for Kansas City (They got some crazy little women there, you know...anyone who gets that reference gets the gold star for today!) tomorrow afternoon. So if I get stuck in the driveway, I'm stuck until Ken gets back, or until I'm melted out, whichever comes first!

I also had fun today researching our Vegas trip. I'm not trying to be our group travel agent, and I'm very flexible about where we go, but I always like having a few ideas in mind before we go, and I've got the time to do the research. We love going to downtown Vegas, and I read that the seafood buffet at the Fremont got excellent reviews from travelers, and is half the price of places on the Strip. So that's a definite possibility. Ken and I loved the Golden Gate (also downtown, and the first hotel in Vegas!) and plan on playing some blackjack there, as well as picking up one (or three) of their shrimp cocktails--they're the ones who originated the cheap Vegas shrimp cocktail. They have a neat little restaurant there called the Bay City Diner, so that's another possibility. Our Cirque show is at the Mirage, and it turns out they have a Brazilian barbecue restaurant there, a carnivore's delight! So that's a maybe before the show. There's a place called the Peppermill Inn, a lounge across from where the Stardust used to be (RIP Stardust). The review said that the ambiance was 70's era Dean Martin...! I wanna go there!

But the best bit of news came late this afternoon, when I got an email from my contact at the Neon Museum. They have restored a handful of classic Vegas signs (including the original Aladdin's Lamp at the Aladdin) and those can be seen downtown. However, they also have what is called the Boneyard, a few acres outside where they keep all the signs that haven't been restored yet. They are open for tours by appointment only, and they were unsure of their hours after Christmas. Erin emailed me that they had a couple of tours both Tuesday and Wednesday, and which tour would I like? Happy happy joy joy! I'd resigned myself to not getting to see it this time, but I was pleasantly surprised! I've written about my love of signage...this place has some of the Vegas icons, like the light-bulbed slipper from the Silver Slipper. I'm as happy as a little girl!

Another topic. I've mentioned before that if someone tells me that I have to do something, I'm more than likely to not do it...just because I'm ornery that way. Mark says he's kind of the same way, and calls himself a "contrarian." I like that. I think I'm a contrarian, too. But if there's anything I like less than being told what to do, it's being told that I would feel or think a certain way in certain circumstances.

Fair warning: don't make assumptions about me. I have many different opinions and many different viewpoints, and some might surprise you. If, after reading my blog for a short time, or even at length, you think you know everything about me...my feelings, my thoughts, my opinions, and my reactions...you are mistaken. If we read each other for a while, I believe we get a pretty good idea of how we feel about certain things, but to assume that I think a certain way about a particular topic is not only presumptuous, it is patronizing.

A person's thought processes and psyche cannot be summed up by a blog. There is always more than meets the eye. If you really want to hear my opinion on something, email me at Luvrte66@aol.com. No promises that I'll share my opinion, although I have plenty, but that would be the place to start. Assuming that you know what I would feel or how I would react is foolish, and telling me, not asking me, what my thoughts would be is condescending. I may be as happy as a little girl, but I'm not one, and don't need to be told that I would or should behave or think in a particular way.

Life is much more complex than that, as are people.