Neutered Vegas (day 4)

 I've been putting off writing this final chapter, perhaps because it lacks a spectacular final moment. 

Saturday, Oct. 10, followed a similar script. No breakfast, just a breakfast bar in the hotel room. But instead of heading out to lunch, we headed out to the Fashion Show Mall. I didn't stay at the mall, however, I was simply dropping off my life partner. For me, it was off to the Pinball Hall of Fame.

Every Vegas trip for at least a decade has included at least one visit to the Pinball Hall of Fame. Some trips include more than one visit. Some trips feature the HOF as a final stop before returning the rental car and going home. Our departure on Sunday morning was too early for a pre-flight visit, so Saturday's trek to the HOF was all I was going to get, and I promised to stay for one hour. 

I've written about the HOF before, and shared mediocre pictures of its games. I won't recount its history, or any more of my history with it. 

It's 2020, what better time to develop a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles pinball machine. (It's not the first, there was a game produced in 1991.) I played it one time, and it seems like a lot of fun. I look forward to playing it again. 

The latest pinball machine to feature Elvira, the ageless mistress of the dark, was released in 2019.

The Pinball Hall of Fame has an assortment of video games and other coin-operated machines, including a pair of 1961 machines from Disneyland. These are not Mold-A-Rama machines, at least not in name. I assume it's the same technology at work. But Mold-A-Rama, the name brand associated with this type of machine, debuted in 1961. The Mold-A-Rama technology dates back to the 1950s, according to Wikipedia.

Fun fact: I own one pinball machine, the game seen on the left side of this picture.

Not to my surprise, just about every other machine was turned off to help provide social distancing. There are two front doors, and one is now designated the entrance, the other the exit. There was a turnstile to ensure one door was for exiting only, and there was a sign at the entrance regarding safety protocols and rules. 

I'm not paranoid about getting sick by playing pinball, so it didn't bother me that I didn't see any indication that the volunteer staff was wiping off machines after people finished playing them. I didn't see any hand sanitizer available, either. I'm not saying that there was no such protocol, I just didn't see it. Although I wasn't looking for it. 

I played a couple of new machines I had never tried before. There's a new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game that is a lot of fun. Elvira, the mistress of the dark, has licensed her image to machines twice in the past. The HOF has all three machines, so I was compelled to play all of them. 

I'll spare you the pinball analysis and simply note that the machines were produced in 1989, 1996 and 2019. I had played the 1996 game, Scared Stiff, occasionally over the years, and enjoy it. I don't recall ever trying the 1989 game, but found it to be enjoyable, given its vintage. I played the 2019 game one time, and wasn't dazzled by it. Perhaps I'd enjoy it more after learning the rules better. It's got modern bells and whistles that weren't being used in pinball manufacturing 23 years earlier, but that didn't make it a better game overall, based upon my first play. 

An hour passes, I head back to the mall and we head back toward the Orleans. It's pool time. But first, we need to pick up lunch. We opt for Jack in the Box, a chain we don't get back here in Minnesota, and something different than the past two fast food lunches. There's one very close to the Orleans, and after picking up an order via the drive-thru, we parked in the nearby Home Depot lot and ate. Fancy! 

Time to head back to the hotel. I decided to take an access road near strip mall buildings across the street from the Orleans, sure enough, it's an easy shortcut between the Orleans parking and Jack in the Box, eliminating the need to pull onto Tropicana Avenue. I had just discovered an amazing Vegas hack! 

One final afternoon at the pool for this trip. Another Vegas afternoon in the 90s. Oh how I miss that. 

The pool staff wasn't obnoxious, but there were a few "wear your mask" touts directed at us loungers during the afternoon. It got to the point that whenever I noticed a staff person starting to walk around the pool, I slipped my mask on and/or grabbed my beer. 

We stayed out at the pool for a few hours before cleaning up and heading to Ellis Island for a cheap barbecue dinner. Two chicken and rib dinners and one coupon makes for an insanely cheap night out. We didn't have to wait long, either, much to my surprise on a Saturday night. 

Obligatory dinner photo

There wasn't much gambling on Saturday evening. I dropped a few bucks in a machine or two and we headed back to the Orleans. Final night in town means big gambling, right? Nope. I picked up cheap postcards at the souvenir store near Ellis Island and spent Saturday night scribbling short notes to eight people. I'm weird, I know. I just didn't have the gambling bug during this trip. 

We headed for the airport about 8 a.m. Sunday, as we were flying out about 10:30 a.m., and I'm old, I guess. Three hours sleep before heading to the airport is not my idea of a good time. 

I don't regret going to Vegas. I'm very appreciative of the fact I was able to spend a birthday in Sin City, even if the city is less vibrant and pandemic tinged. I didn't think I'd be going to Vegas at all this year, so the fact I did seems like a win. But I wouldn't have been bitter had I waited for the pandemic to end before returning, and now that I have, I'm more determined not to go back until it looks and feels like Vegas again. 

#VegasHalloween (day 6 and 7): A quiet ending

Unlike those who like to go out with a bang, I tend not to overdo it during my last day or so in Vegas.

I'd rather not drink all night and head to the airport hung over and tired. I'm old. I'm boring.

I had hoped to meet up with Karla for breakfast on Friday, Nov. 3. She flew into town two nights earlier from Minnesota, missing all the Halloween fun, and was heading home on Friday night. She had flown to Vegas, along with her heterosexual life partner, to gather with a few other Prince fans for two nights that really had nothing to do with Prince, the little purple musician from Minnesota who died less than two years ago.

Karla couldn't shake free of her conclave to meet up for breakfast, even though I was willing to drive down to Mandalay Bay to meet up with her for an hour. So instead I had another egg breakfast in our Tahiti Village unit and drove over to Orleans for a couple of hours of cards. My girlfriend wanted to take it easy and read a book, and we had decided we weren't going to spend our afternoon at the pool. It was still sunny and pleasant, but it was a bit windy, and not as warm as it had been at the beginning of the week. Oh well. We still have a great week by the pool, something we weren't going to get in Minnesota.

I drove over to Orleans and found, much to my disappointment, that they weren't dealing $5 double deck blackjack, again. I played Ultimate Texas Hold 'Em and didn't have much luck. A guy sat down next to me and was betting big right from the start, and he hit big hands quickly. I think he raked in about $1,000 while he was there, betting a lot of $25 hands. I couldn't get a decent payoff to save my soul for about 30 minutes. I eventually made a few decent hands to start to reverse the trend, but that didn't last long enough for me to break even. I finished my session down $145. Not a huge loss for the day, but combined with my losses the previous night, I was in the hole with 24 hours to go. Not by much, and that's fine. I'm  happy if I can break even for my week.

I picked up burgers and fries from Jack in the Box for lunch. There was a location south of Mandalay Bay that was easy to hit up on my way back to Tahiti Village. I don't normally dine at Jack in the Box when in Vegas, but it was easy, quick and not something I get here in Minnesota. We didn't love it, but it was fine.

Our afternoon started with a trek over to the Pinball Hall of Fame. That's the one place I get to during every trip to Vegas, at least once, no matter what. I'm a bit disappointed I didn't spend more than a couple of hours there during my six-night stay, but time is a precious commodity.

I won't say much about the HOF. I have long intended to write about it, although it has been featured in hundreds of blogs and Vegas tourist websites. It's not a secret at this point. Here are a few pictures from this visit.

This game is often hard to photograph. It's called "Pinball Circus" and this is a prototype machine that's more than 20 years old. It was from the early '90s, and is unique in that it's a pinball machine built within the confines of an arcade video game cabinet. The project was shelved, and this prototype was eventually donated to the Pinball Hall of Fame years later. It's the only one you can play here in the United States, and perhaps the world. I'm still not clear about where any other prototypes are, and opinions differ as to how many were produced. Some say two, others say four.

This long, silly, old baseball game involves rolling an object (puck, if I recall correctly) into the playfield, sort of like Skee Ball. It's silly, it's old-fashioned fun, and you likely won't ever find this old game anywhere in the United States

This machine has a very old-fashioned playfield, but it was produced in 2015. It's very creative and cheesy, and a little suggestive, obviously. It's not the most exciting game to play, but somebody decided there's a market for new retro pinball gaming, and this is the end result of that. 

Nothing special about this old, simple pinball machine, but you will find dozens of old machines like this, and many more from the past 40 years, at the Hall of Fame.

Here's another classic machine that is impressive to see. I always play several games. It's a poker game where balls bounce into a 25-hole board that represent playing cards. You get to "discard" the cards you don't want for a second chance at making a better hand. It's pretty neat to see how well this machine works, given it was created long before arcade games have any sort of "computer" components within them. It's one of several old relics you won't find on display in many places. I have seen this game on display at some roadside attraction video I watched on YouTube once, but I've never seen it for myself anywhere else, and I'm quite sure I never will. This game likely dates back to 1959, based upon my Internet searches. 

We left the HOF and made the long, slow trek to downtown about 5 p.m., taking Maryland Parkway much of the way there. Damn, Friday afternoon traffic is a slow, tedious exercise.

We parked in the California's ramp, which didn't have many spaces to spare, and used a Las Vegas Advisor coupon for two-for-one dinner in the cafe. We both had the prime rib meal, which is decent and offers you plenty to eat for, including a salad bar, for about $10. I expected it to take 30 minutes to get a table, it always seems to at dinnertime, and yet we were able to get a seat without having to wait. So weird!

After dinner we went to Main Street Station. My girlfriend likes their microbrew, so we always end up having a couple of beers at the Boar's Head Bar. This time, however, I left her behind and trekked down to El Cortez, expressly for redeeming my free play coupon from the Las Vegas Advisor coupon book. I'm not militant about using every free play, but I always make a point to visit El Cortez, and my girlfriend didn't want to walk back and forth.

I ran $10 through video poker and won a few bucks more than that. Rather than chase a big payoff, I took my modest cash payout and headed back toward Main Street Station. During our stay there I did play a little $5 double deck blackjack. I didn't win much, but I got a beer out of the deal.

After Main Street Station we popped in and out of a few casinos, turning in a couple of match plays and free plays. We eventually went to the Fremont, where I played more $5 double deck blackjack, with no luck. I was about $30 down by the end of our night, which ended a bit early for a Friday. We weren't going to stay out and booze it up until 1 a.m.

We drove back to Tahiti Village and enjoyed one last late night session in the hot tub. The tub was a bit crowded as a bunch of folks who were in town for the annual SEMA show and were soaking up the warm water. I listened as several people traded stories about how many time share weeks they own, how great of a deal they got for the second week they purchased, all the ways the time share property try to upsell people who already own a week, etc.

Nobody asked if we were owners, so I didn't have to tell them I bought a week of time share at Tahiti Village through the resale market for less than these folks pay for their annual maintenance fees. Entertaining stuff.

After the hot tub we called it a night, as we had to pack up and be out by 10 a.m. on Saturday.

Our final morning was uneventful and we had a late first meal back at Ellis Island. I had another two-for-one cafe coupon, so we had lunch. I ordered the ridiculously sinful half-and-half burger. The patty is half ground beef, half bacon. I'm sure my blood pressure went through the roof following that meal.

We had an early afternoon departure, so Ellis Island was our last stop. While waiting for a table in the cafe, I played a few $5 blackjack hands. I was down $29 to start the morning, and won $15 before lunch. I figured if I could break even it would be a huge victory, despite my lousy luck the previous 24 hours.

I had but a few minutes left after lunch before it was time to head to the car rental center. I played $5 hands at third base, and lost seven in a row, including a double down hand. And I made a couple of decent hands during those seven, yet would be beat by the dealer every time. Disgusted with the seventh consecutive loss, I grabbed my remaining chips and cashed out. Had I not sat down after lunch, I'd have been down $14 for the week, and that includes at least $14 in table chips that had been used as tips.

Instead I lost my final seven hands and left Vegas down $54. Not a bad week by any gambler's standards, but so damn annoying as I'm about to leave town. Such is life in Sin City.