ShortArmsDeepPockets: My First Vegas Trip

ShortArmsDeepPockets shares his First Vegas Trip…

In the halcyon days of 1999, I made the foray into married life and the first big decision my wife and I made was where to honeymoon. She wanted a tropical beach destination, I wanted to go to Vegas.

We went to a tropical beach destination.

But the financial gods smiled favorably upon us and, thanks to some windfalls, we were flush with a small amount of cash and a chance for a second honeymoon, and this time I got to pick.

We were Vegas bound!

We booked a package holiday at Bally’s, and after a disappointing initial room assignment, we were generously upgraded to a honeymoon suite on the 25^th floor overlooking Flamingo Boulevard. We could see the entire North Strip from our panoramic floor-to-ceiling windows. Our enthusiasm for the room was tempered days later when, while visiting a display of historic Vegas photos at the Tropicana, we noticed our room was prominently visible (not in a good way) in photos of the MGM Grand fire of 1980.

I would later joke that I didn’t get much sleep on this honeymoon, though for reasons more paranormal than romantic!

As newlyweds on a budget, we dined at an eclectic mix of budget places. Some highlights:

• The Monte Carlo buffet: Our first meal in Las Vegas. What an extraordinary variety! I could not believe that, for under $12, we could have such an amazing dinner!
• Caesars Palace café: In Canada, a café in 2000 meant a dingy coffee shop serving terrible food. Nothing could have prepared me for the steak dinner we enjoyed. To this day, one of the best cuts of meat I have ever dined on.
• Sahara Buffet: Okay, this was a mistake. We decided to walk all the way to the Stratosphere and, along the way, found a coupon for a $3.99 breakfast buffet (the ad featured a fork and straw asking “Are you ready to eat, and eat, and eat? And drink?” I sure was!) at the Sahara. We entered the expansive yet inexpensive dining hall and marveled at the litany of food choices – they had brought out lunch items – so we scored lunch for a breakfast price. Sadly, everything tasted like soap. The queasy feeling would only last a day but the memories would last a lifetime.
• Sbarro at Bally’s: It’s always fun to venture back there if only to pay homage to its staying power.

We saw Rick Thomas’ magic show after winning a free ticket on a game outside of the Tropicana. We saw an Elvis impersonator at Bally’s who was exceptional.

Our last full day was supposed to involve touring the South Strip; however, we stopped at the Excalibur for a few dollars’ worth of gambling and stayed there for almost eight hours. Our gaming time was extended exponentially by a generously-paying video roulette machine and our poor judgment fueled by an equally generous cocktail server, who ensured our Bailey’s on the rocks and screwdrivers never stayed empty for long!

Perhaps the most memorable moment was taking the Boyd Gaming shuttle out to Sam’s Town and watching the Mystic Falls laser show.

As an epilogue, 14 years later I had the privilege of taking my (then) 12-year-old son to the same show, and we stood in the same spot that his mother and I had stood back in 2000, by the waterfall beneath the watchful eye of the animatronic wolf. I was humbled and awestruck by how much had changed in the span of a little more than a decade. Though I rarely get emotional, I distinctly remember the warm and heavy tears welling in my eyes as the magnitude of life’s changes weighed on my emotions recalling the simplicity and innocence of that first Vegas trip.

It is a testament to the magic of Sin City that my love of Vegas has outlasted the marriage which helped bring me to the valley for the first time. I went back in January of this year, my 15^th trip to Vegas but first since the marriage ended, armed with a newfound sense of freedom and basking in the liberating vibe that only the jewel in the desert can provide. Though the memory of that first Vegas trip represents the start of a chapter now closed, the most recent trip represents a rebirth. Bring on trip #16 in July!

[Images: ShortArmsDeepPockets, Associated Press, Ebay, Youtube, VintageVegas]

Vegas Bright