Beth’s Books: Hit Me!

Hit Me!: Fighting The Las Vegas Mob By The Numbers by Danielle Gomes and Jay Bonansinga

This was an incredibly good and fun read.

It tells the story of Dennis Gomes, an accountant by trade, but whose goal was law enforcement. He was on the verge of joining the FBI when he got an offer to work on the Nevada Gaming Commission in Las Vegas. As the youngest head of the Audit Division ever (only 26 years old!), his job was to monitor the casinos and make sure that their counts were on the up-and-up. Since this was Las Vegas in the '70s, he obviously encountered plenty of illegal activities and Mob involvement.

His most consuming investigation was that of the Stardust, involving the Chicago Outfit guy, Frank Rosenthal, and Tony "The Ant" Spilotro, a psychopathic enforcer who loved to torture his victims. That situation and those characters were covered in the movie "Casino" (a movie I love).

Gomes had a deep-seated sense of justice, and it enraged him to see mobsters getting away with blatantly illegal activities, with many Nevada politicians turning a blind eye. My impression of Gomes was that of a kind and decent man who just wanted to see justice done and worked tirelessly to make that happen. The book was co-written by one of his daughters, and her love and respect for her late father shines through. Gomes is apparently a legend in the gaming industry and his memory is still well-respected.

I loved this for many reasons, but it was a lot of fun to see some of my favorite places mentioned. We've stayed at the Tropicana, the oldest casino still standing on the Strip, and one of the coolest places in Vegas is the Peppermill. Dennis and his wife visit the Peppermill for a bite to eat, then have a drink at the Fireside Lounge.

"As bright and festive as the dining room was, the Fireside Lounge was dark and mellow, but no less over the top. In the center of the room was a flaming pool, and there was always at least one couple brazenly kissing and fondling one another."

Vegas, baby! The flaming pool is still there!

If you are fascinated by the Mob, you'll enjoy this book. If you are fascinated by Vegas history, you'll enjoy this book. If you are fascinated by the history of the Mob in Vegas, you will love this book as much as I did! Highly recommended!

Cool cats at the Peppermill Lounge

I have more to write about Las Vegas (as well as lots more pictures), but I wanted to write about my new favorite place in Vegas: the Peppermill.

Located on the Strip, just south of the Riviera casino, the Peppermill was built in 1974. If not for the flat screen TVs they’ve put up in the lounge, you might think you had actually traveled back to that year. This place is old school Vegas, something you don’t see much of on the Strip these days. (In Vegas years, something built in 1974 is practically a dinosaur.) The place is actually separated into different (but attached) areas, the restaurant and the Fireside Lounge.

I had read about this place when researching for our last trip, but we didn’t manage to make it there last time. This time it was a must-see for me, and we took the opportunity to arrange to meet some online friends, Bill and Libby. Due to some family arrangements, Bill couldn’t make it, so we met Libby there. It turned out to be a good choice, because despite having lived there for several years, she had never been to the Peppermill! We had a great time talking with her and picking her brain about Vegas (whether old school or the new style).

How to describe this place? I walked in there and felt like I was a guest on the Dean Martin Show. The lounge itself is small, but a combination of low lighting, purple and pink neon, and a mirrored wall provides the illusion of a larger place. We were there at 4 o’clock in the afternoon, so pretty much had the place to ourselves; it’s open all night, and when going by there later, the parking lot looked packed. I bet they do pretty good business later on. (Libby told us that some of the entertainers hang out there after their shows; she knows that Penn Gillette has been spotted there. Cool!)

The seating is arranged in circles or semicircles, low to the ground (this short person rejoiced), and covered in a plush pink fabric. In the circular seating area, there is a firepit with a flame erupting from a pool of water. As I mentioned, it’s quite dark, but the lighting is skillfully arranged so that you don’t feel blinded. Of course, there’s all that neon bouncing off the brass rails and the mirrors!

Peppermill 1 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Our waitress was wonderfully friendly, and they wear long black dresses with a big slit up the leg...a little more glamorous than most places. Inspired by the glamour, I felt like having something a little more glamorous than a beer, so I had a grapefruit juice and vodka. I wish I could have remembered that it’s called a Greyhound, but I had to settle for ordering it by ingredient. We decided to have some appetizers, so we got a sampler platter (lots of fried food, pretty good except for the onion rings) and a fruit and cheese platter. We were able to lean back on that pink upholstery and completely relax, like we were at someone’s home...if their home happened to look like a swingin’ ‘70s pad, that is! Groovy.

I can’t begin to tell you how much I loved this place. It will be a stop during every single Vegas trip from now on. I hope it survives for many years, because they don’t make them like this in Vegas anymore. Peppermill Lounge, don’t go changin’. I love you just the way you are.

Peppermill 2 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Blown away

No, not by Irene!

Okay, today is my birthday. I haven’t spent a lot of time online today, but I woke up this morning to message after message on Facebook wishing me a happy one. I can’t reply to all of them—I think I lost count at 50—but I appreciated each and every one of them.

There were people who sang to me (What song? “Beth,” of course!), people who posted videos for me, people who called me awesome, a birthday wish in German, people who provided great quotes, people who just generally wished me well and wished me a fantastic day. Some were from relatives, some were from friends, some were from people I’ve met or people I will meet one day, and some were from those who I’ll never get a chance to meet. I grinned as I read them all, and I can’t begin to tell you how much I enjoyed it. I rant and rave there, I act like a brat at times, and more often than not, I’m a grade-A smartass...but you guys seem to kinda like me, anyway. Or at least you tolerate me. That makes me happy.

Those who say that online friends aren’t “real” friends obviously don’t have many online friends! If they did, they’d know better than to say such an idiotic thing.

Anyway, thank you all, very VERY much. I’m still smiling!

As for my day, it hasn’t been all that much different than the usual. Next week will be different (more on that in a moment). I made sure that I got some outside sun/reading time in. Yesterday, we went to see my Mom, and my cousins Denise and Jason stopped by. Mom mentioned that my birthday was the following day, and asked Denise and Jason to guess how old I was going to be. Denise said, “Let’s see...you’re younger than our parents, so I’m gonna guess 50!” I said she was close...I’d be turning 49. Mom said something like, “Well, enjoy it, because once you hit 50, things really start going fast.” The way she said it was so funny, and I said, “So I guess I’ve got one good year left in me!” So, one year...I’d better get busy living or get busy dying!

We don’t really do much on our birthdays or anniversaries anymore. I don’t need to go out to dinner on the very night, and I’m not into bling. However, we do kind of save it all up and treat our vacations as our presents. Next week, we’ll be heading to Vegas for several days (not quite a week), and we’ll do some fun stuff there. (First, though, is the Notre Dame season opener on Saturday. More about that this week!) I got us front row tickets to “Viva Elvis!” (the Cirque du Soleil Elvis show), we’re going to do a day trip to the Grand Canyon and Hoover Dam, and of course there will be some Blackjack involved! We don’t spend as much time gambling as we first did. It’s still fun, but we can’t spend hours doing it. We’ll also be meeting up with a couple, Bill and Libby, who fall into the category mentioned earlier: “people I will meet.” They are long-time fellow bloggers, and we will be meeting them at the Peppermill Lounge (A fairly historic place in Vegas, and despite living there, it turns out they’ve never been there…perfect!) for some cocktails and deep discussion. I look forward to it!

It’s going to be some hot weather out there next week, but maybe it will burn all the summer out of me, and make me ready for fall. Nahh, I doubt it!

Thanks again, everyone. You’ve made my day a wonderful one. Mmmmmwah!