IrishGirl: My First Vegas Trip -1978

IrishGirl (one of our readers) shares her first Vegas trip from 1978…

On my first Vegas trip, well, let’s see now. I think I was 22 so it would have been June 1978. I went with my friend Gloria, and we were so excited! We use to watch VEGAS with Robert Urich and imagine what it was going to be like. I kept looking for Dan Tanna everywhere!!

We stayed at the Riviera Hotel, in a building by the pool. I don’t remember much about the room, a normal room. My friend was a little more sophisticated than I was, I can admit it. Do you know what it’s like trying to act sophisticated, like your friend, when inside all you wanted to do was scream… “I’M IN VEGAS, I’M IN VEGAS, YIPPEE!!”?

Well, I couldn’t do that, but I could go and play Blackjack. This was back when they had $2.00 tables. I sat down at that table like I knew what I was doing. I DIDN’T! One card down and one up and I was too nervous and couldn’t count that fast, especially with everyone watching. Here I was, trying to be sophisticated, but suddenly scared to death! It was traumatic. I thought I was so clever; I would bet $3.00 and when I won they would give me a $5.00 chip and a $1.00 chip. I would put the $5 chip away and put two more ones on the table. I didn’t spend those $5.00 chips either until I cashed them out to go home. After that, it was years before I had the nerve to sit down at a Blackjack table again.

This was when you could still put quarters in the slot machines, and people would come around to make change for you. You took your quarters and put them in the bucket. Then you lost all your quarters, but it was OK because you still had…….THE BUCKET…..with the hotel/casino name on it. It was nice because you still went home with a souvenir.

We saw Bobby Vinton at the Riviera, and he was great. This was back when the showrooms had tables and booths. We were sitting right up front. Don’t know how we managed that. BobbyH had a comic as a warm up act, and he was so funny, the whole place was hysterical. Unfortunately, I can’t remember his name.

My sophisticated friend’s father knew someone who got us free tickets to see Wayne Newton. I think it was at the Sands. We sat in a booth with some people we met, and it was a great show. The thing about him that I remember most was how effortless he made it look like it was all off the cuff and easy. I would never have guessed, then, exactly how choreographed it all was. I guess that’s the mark of a true entertainer.

At about three in the morning after seeing Wayne Newton and getting some drinks and walking around, we sat down at a Roulette table at the Riviera. The dealer was really nice and friendly and was explaining the game and how people play. A man came up and sat down and started playing the same three numbers. He would put chips all around the box the number was in and then one in the middle. He played 5, 11 and either 23 or 26….over and over and over again. After about 45 minutes he left. After he had been gone, the dealer told us that he sat down with $50.00 and walked away with $1500.00. Umm, what were those numbers again?

There was and still is something so exciting about Las Vegas. There is a magic to Vegas when the sun goes down, and the lights come on. There is no better place to people watch than the strip. What I remember most about that first trip was the feeling of possibilities I had, like anything was possible there. Since that first trip, I have both flown and driven into Vegas. Driving into Vegas at night is an amazing site, and each time I go back, I still feel the same magic I felt on that very first trip.

[Images: Sands Corp., Ebay, LV Tourism, Paramount Home Entertainment]

Vegas Bright