I’d sooner find my way out of cones of desert sands than I could make my way through the labyrinth called the Vegas Strip. But at least, my mother could help me find my way.
This is very late but I do want to weigh-in on Vegas.
Marge and I first went to Fabulous Las Vegas in 1967. It was an elegant place, had to wear suits and dresses for the dinner shows ($15 per person for steaks including two alcoholic drinks), had to tip the mafia to get good show seats, three shows per night at every casino (saw Elvis, Sinatra and Liberace in one night), almost empty Strip most of the days and $1 Blackjack tables.
Then they paved Paradise, put in a Parking Lot!
I wished they had just started a new Vegas somewhere in Lower Alabama and left the original Vegas in the Nevada Desert. Vegas is crude, dirty, expensive, pushy, gross, expensive, crowded, rude and expensive. If you are interested in any or all of the Seven Deadly Sins, Vegas is your place.
But we still go back once a year in the fall. We find a perch over the Strip, have a coconut-rimmed Margarita, watch the crazy people cross LV Boulevard, see how far the male strippers on the street will go to woo-in midwestern ladies for a good tip, and laugh. So for us, it’s still Crazy Lost Vegas but once upon a time, it was Fabulous Las Vegas.
The “seaters” were short, dark hair and well-tanned Italian men, whose only job was to walk us to our seats. Their hand was always out, pointed backward, and palms up. The first time, I shook it and we got a seat in the back. I then learned the art of tipping, with a $20 (in 1990 $) getting us a middle table in the front.
This is very late but I do want to weigh-in on Vegas.
Marge and I first went to Fabulous Las Vegas in 1967. It was an elegant place, had to wear suits and dresses for the dinner shows ($15 per person for steaks including two alcoholic drinks), had to tip the mafia to get good show seats, three shows per night at every casino (saw Elvis, Sinatra and Liberace in one night), almost empty Strip most of the days and $1 Blackjack tables.
Then they paved Paradise, put in a Parking Lot!
I wished they had just started a new Vegas somewhere in Lower Alabama and left the original Vegas in the Nevada Desert. Vegas is crude, dirty, expensive, pushy, gross, expensive, crowded, rude and expensive. If you are interested in any or all of the Seven Deadly Sins, Vegas is your place.
But we still go back once a year in the fall. We find a perch over the Strip, have a coconut-rimmed Margarita, watch the crazy people cross LV Boulevard, see how far the male strippers on the street will go to woo-in midwestern ladies for a good tip, and laugh. So for us, it’s still Crazy Lost Vegas but once upon a time, it was Fabulous Las Vegas.
I love your remembrances! Never a dull moment if you have to tip the mafia!
The “seaters” were short, dark hair and well-tanned Italian men, whose only job was to walk us to our seats. Their hand was always out, pointed backward, and palms up. The first time, I shook it and we got a seat in the back. I then learned the art of tipping, with a $20 (in 1990 $) getting us a middle table in the front.
Thank you, thank you! You were both fabulous and easy guests to have!!
And of course, what happens in the desert, stays in the desert!
Indeed!
Love this!! Glad to have shared a piece of this adventure with you!!
I should have written about our dedicated hosts too! But you were both fabulous!