Michael James: My First Vegas Trip – 1989
Michael James gets in on the First Vegas Trip action by sharing his “first trip” story from 1989
As often discussed in my articles, I was fascinated by Las Vegas at an early age. So once I turned 21 it made sense that Vegas would be in my near future.
When the time came, a friend and I (buoyed with $1500, of which the source won’t be divulged) decided to take a five day trip in late-July, 1989. We stopped into a travel agent in Kansas City (where I was living at the time) and booked redeye flights in each direction on America West Airlines, and staying at the Imperial Palace. I believe that left us with a total of about $900 to last those five days.
The evening that we were to leave, I had first to work my job as a hotel desk clerk. I had made arrangements with the third shift clerk to come in a couple of hours earlier so I could get to the airport in time. As luck would have it, she forgot to come in early and after a panicked call to her, she arrived about an hour before my shift was supposed to end… less than two hours before the flight was scheduled to leave.
And, because we’re talking about Michael James and this is how I roll, I was pulled over for speeding on the freeway on the way to the airport. However, it did work out, and we got to the gate in plenty of time.
On the flight, we had time for a meal… a dry-as-a-fart turkey sandwich and a hunk of Brie. I had never before had Brie, but I recall it tasting like wax. Since candles are much cheaper, I haven’t had Brie since, either.
We arrived at the IP around 1:30 AM and I was amazed at the number of people in line to check in. While my friend stood in line, I took the opportunity to learn how to gamble. I found a slot machine near the check-in line, grabbed a quarter from my pocket, inserted and pulled the handle. I did this a few times, and before long I had lined up (in order) a red, white and blue seven! I had won a jackpot!
Until nothing happened.
It may have been five seconds but felt like an eternity of waiting for the bells to ring and the money to drop. Then I actually looked… that combination only paid off with a three coin bet. “Curses,” said I, “I don’t have seventy-five cents to spend on every slot pull. Who do they think I am, Telly Savalas?”
The next day, we rented a car and drove to Hoover Dam. I understand that Hoover Dam is an engineering marvel. I also now know that without Hoover Dam, Las Vegas would have never boomed during the early-30s construction and without it, the best entertainment destination we’d have in this country would be Branson, Missouri. But I found the drive through the desert far more exciting than descending into a power plant on that day when temperatures were in excess of 110 degrees F.
After returning that evening, we headed to the Desert Inn to see the Louie Anderson / Marilyn McCoo show.
Before heading into the venue, I made my first ever sports bet… I put a whole $5 on the Milwaukee Brewers to beat the Texas Rangers. While in the show, I discovered how fantastic that smartphone technology is; being able to watch the game (and the progress of my bet) on my phone while laughing at Louis Anderson. Unfortunately, that hadn’t been invented yet, so I sat in the theater, cut off from civilization, sweating my bet. But in a way, shouldn’t I be credited with the invention of the smartphone? When we came out of the theater, I ran over to the book and found that my bet had won.
There is a scene in the movie Vegas Vacation, where Audrey and Cousin Vicky are sitting by a pool and a couple of well-built men are glossing themselves up with sunscreen. I actually got to witness that live, as the next day (as the money was starting to run out) we went to the IP pool and watched this guy – with a perm, cheesy 80’s porn mustache and a skin color that can’t be found in a Crayola box – do just that. I realized then that I was not gay (not that there is anything wrong with that) because of how ridiculous he looked. On the other hand, I couldn’t avert my eyes from him…
With three more days and a dwindling bankroll, we had to work harder to stretch our money. We ate a cheap breakfast buffet at O’Sheas. I recall walking in the furnace desert sun from the IP to the Dunes one evening as they had the cheapest dinner buffet. It had gotten so bad that we actually searched out a time-share presentation.
At this presentation, they offered us two things. The first was two tickets to “Evening at La Cage” at the Riviera. It was cheesy and a little boring to me, though it was cheap entertainment. Little did I know that the show would run for 20 years and apparently be missed once it closed abruptly in 2009.
The other offering from the time share was the choice of either some luggage (boring… I mean, I brought luggage to Las Vegas with me) or this…
Another freebie was the Imperial Palace Car Collection with tickets that were given to us out front. I was never a gearhead, but free is free, right? And even better? It was air conditioned! In walking through the collection, I really did come to appreciate much of what was on display and (based on the amount of photos I took) was glad that I took the time.
On the last day, we had some money left, so we took the city bus up to Wet and Wild to get, um, wet and wild. Did you know that a water park would be crowded on a day that was 115F? Apparently I didn’t because we couldn’t get near a water ride. I recall that I stood in line for at least an hour for one particular ride… in the direct sun, in the heat, with no water to drink while waiting. I almost got sick from waiting and when finally on the ride, it was a chore. I believe we left shortly after because of how miserable it was.
I learned a couple of lessons on the trip. One was to not go without researching the trip on the internet. The other was to not go to Las Vegas if under-capitalized. Those lessons help to explain why it took 16 years for me to get back there.
[Photos: Michael James, Jarek Cecerz]
Michael James is a true Vegas Nerd. First falling in love after hearing details of an aunt’s visit in the ’70s, and nurtured when the gambling bug hit as casinos started opening on every street corner across the country in the ’90s. When not reading Vegas blogs and message boards, he’s a metals buyer by day and a competitive bowler by night in Milwaukee.
3 thoughts on “Michael James: My First Vegas Trip – 1989”
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Thanks for sharing, I am sure many of us can relate to much of your adventure.
Brought back memories of my first trip in 2001. We stayed at the old IP and the trip was underfunded as well. We also did the timeshare thing, just to gain some perks and freebies. We had 3 small kids at and things were tight moneywise. It sure left the love of Las Vegas in our eyes though.
the old cars in your photo are more interesting than the ones at the IP collection. thx for sharing.