A good night's sleep?

If you ever talk about a Vegas vacation with anyone -- yours or theirs -- there are certain to be two questions.

"Did you win?"

"Where did you stay?"

My first trip in 1997 included three nights at the MGM Grand, and I arrived on the night of a star-studded preview party at the New York New York, which was opening to the public the following morning. 

I have stayed at several properties up and down the strip over the years, and occasionally at downtown casinos. I have stayed on the strip once during the past decade or more, and that was at The Strat, about as far away from the action as you can get and still make a legit argument you're staying on the strip. 

If I'm not staying downtown, I'm usually staying at the Orleans. I have used timeshare-style properties a couple of times during the past decade or so, although I wasn't there because of, or for, a timeshare pitch. 

I rent a car every trip, and staying off strip is more my style. I should really book a room at South Point or Silverton one of these years, although I never play there, so they're not going to entice me with a discounted rate. And I do like being closer to the action. Orleans has been a great destination for me, for the most part, during the past decade. 

I like gambling, but I have little interest in gambling with my hotel accommodations. I don't visit Vegas during the biggest weekends of the year, so I have little reason to look to the smaller independent hotels and chains that are scattered all over Vegas. 

The website photos look nice, but I can't imagine I'll be booking a room at The Shalimar Hotel any time soon. 

But I often wonder, who stays at those odd, unassuming flop houses still in business east of downtown Vegas? 

Want a low roller vacation? Stay at Hotel Galaxy. Right across the freeway from the Luxor! It looks like a slice of paradise, according to the website, and nothing says low roller like a small, independent hotel that nobody will accidentally find their way to. And just minutes from the action! 

Like many other Vegas enthusiasts, I watch YouTube videos about Sin City. I don't watch any channel religiously, but I have sampled plenty of them. One of the more modest channels out there is NeonVacation. 

Del, the content creator, hasn't been hammering away at videos for years, but he has uploads dating back nine years. He has been more active in the last year or so, and has been producing content that I'm not seeing elsewhere. (Admittedly, I'm not looking for it, either.)

One of the things Del does occasionally in Vegas is stay at one of the older independent hotels, and give you a look at them, inside and out. No, these are not the most fascinating videos ever produced, but when you've been to Vegas more than 40 times during the past 24 years, as I have, you start to wonder about these places. Del gives me a glimpse into that world. 

Recently he stayed at the Thunderbird Boutique Hotel. Maybe it's not as old as I assume, but it's just up the road from The Shalimar Hotel, not far from The Strat on Las Vegas Boulevard. That whole stretch between The Strat and Fremont Street is a bit dingy these days, but there are wedding chapels as well as hotels along the way, harkening back to a time when downtown gamblers didn't venture as far as The Tropicana when they visited Vegas. 

I  correspond with Del occasionally, but we haven't discussed what his motivation was for staying at the Thunderbird. I am also curious as to what the room rate was, including taxes. Trivial stuff, I know, but interesting stuff for longtime Vegas enthusiasts, I'd argue. 

I was impressed by how nice his Thunderbird room appeared to be. I was expecting 30-year-old amenities and rather dull, basic furnishings, but that didn't appear to be the case. 

The pool looked rather unspectacular, but that's not a surprise. Old motor lodges weren't known for their elaborate pools. 

Much to my surprise, however, is that there's a wedding chapel and banquet room on the property. Going to Vegas for to get married? Why hassle with going to the top of The Strat for a ceremony when you can get married at the Thunderbird? 

Years ago I was making periodic solo trips to Vegas. I stayed at a timeshare property near the Orleans one year, and as a result I ended up at the Orleans on subsequent trips. I never considered booking a room at one of these quirky, odd, old school properties. 

Even with a rental car, the drawbacks of booking a room at a quirky old Vegas relic are obvious. The Thunderbird has a lounge with some sort of food service, but it's not as if you have easy access to numerous dining options. And there's no gambling and heading up to the hotel room from the casino floor at the end of your night. Those are things Orleans offers, and I value. 

If I lived in southern California and wanted to head to Vegas for short trips on a recurring basis, perhaps that would inspire a weekend stay at Shalimar, which has a Florida-themed bar and grill, as well as a coffee shop, so says the website. And I can get married there, too! 

When you drive east on Fremont Street toward Boulder Highway, you pass old hotels with quirky neon signs. Some still appear to be in business, some clearly are not. Many appear to be rather sad and pathetic. But they remind you of a simpler time, before Holiday Inn, Days Inn, Super 8, Motel 6 and the others took over the Vegas landscape. And there were even a few of those old, independent motels still hanging on along the strip in the late 1990s.

And thanks to Del's videos, I've seen the inside of a few such places still waging war against the casinos and national chains. 

Perhaps I'll get a chance to revisit that era of Vegas one of these years. I might even book a stay at the Hotel Galaxy.  

Pinball players hate the Pinball Hall of Fame

I'm a pinball player, and when I visit Las Vegas, there's one place I make it a priority to visit every single trip, the Pinball Hall of Fame. 

I've written about the Hall of Fame in the past, and I have recommended it countless times.   

I know its story and history, more or less, but let me recount it, as best as I can recall. Don't hold me to having every last detail perfectly accurate. It's late, and I don't feel like trying to research every last tidbit. This is a blog, not the newspaper of record for Clark County.

The Hall of Fame evolved from the massive personal pinball collection of Tim Arnold. Arnold grew up in Minnesota and started making money in the pinball business before he was an adult. He made a lot of money courtesy of the video game industry during the 1980s in Michigan, and purchased a lot of old pinball machines that were gathering dust and taking up space. He was able to retire at a young age and moved to Las Vegas, trucking his massive collection of machines to the desert. 

He started the Hall of Fame by hosting game nights in a pole shed, with local players gathering occasionally. From those game nights came the Hall of Fame, and a dedicated space in a strip mall for more than 100 machines from his massive collection. The first Hall of Fame was a few miles east of the Las Vegas strip on Tropicana Avenue. 

More than 10 years ago the Hall of Fame moved to a standalone building on Tropicana, closer to the strip, but still a couple of miles away. 

The Hall of Fame operates as a nonprofit business, staffed by volunteers. The quarters spent to play pinball pay the bills, and additional revenue is donated to charity. This has been going on for years. 

A few years ago the Hall of Fame announced its most ambitious plan, to set up shop on the Las Vegas strip. Incredibly, profits from the Hall of Fame's operation were set aside for the project, and used to buy a large piece of land on the far south end of the strip, near the "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign. It's not the heart of the strip, but it's a far more accessible site for tourists on the strip. And the new home of the Hall of Fame is going to blow away its current home, which hosts more than 200 pinball machines. 

The Hall of Fame stopped donating its profits to charity so that it could bankroll the project, both the land acquisition and the construction of a building. Unlike its first two locations, the Hall of Fame will have a brand new building to call home, designed for hosting hundreds of pinball machines and other coin-operated machines of years past. It's going to be an amazing display of American history, ingenuity and creativity. 

The Hall of Fame owns its building on Tropicana Avenue, and an adjacent empty lot. The sale of those will help offset costs for the new project on the strip. But the new project is far more expensive than the value of those parcels, without a doubt. It seemed to me, a guy who doesn't know much about financing a commercial construction project or anything about Las Vegas strip real estate, that the Hall of Fame was rather proactive in financing the project. 

I don't recall the details of the plan when it was first announced, but I thought there was some level of debt that would befinanced in conjunction with this project. The organization is a proven success, however, and I suspect that any debt load wouldn't take decades to pay off. Arnold has stressed that his goal is to resume donating profits to charity.

So, all that said, the project commenced last spring, after the pandemic shuttered Vegas. The project had been in the planning for many months, and the financial pieces were in place, so construction proceeded as planned. 

Here's the well-known wrinkle in all the planning: It was anticipated that the Tropicana Avenue Hall of Fame would continue producing revenue during construction. The pandemic put a big dent in that projected revenue, and recently Arnold initiated a fundraising campaign to make up a deficit of $200,000.  

According to his campaign, the new Hall of Fame is a $10 million project, and will be paid off upon completion. If that's correct, meaning there's no debt to pay off after the fact, my mind is blown. Without a final $200,000, the project won't be completed, he claims. 

The campaign has circulated among pinball players and Vegas nerds for a few weeks now, and as of tonight a little more than $100,000 has been donated. 

I saw yet another mention of the campaign earlier today, with the suggestion the new Hall of Fame might not see completion. I was among the doubters. There's too much invested in the project, and too little to finance, for it to suddenly go belly up.

Some pinball players are happy to donate to the project. Others think the late fundraising campaign is despicable. More than a few. I was a bit surprised. 

I get the vitriol, sort of, regarding Arnold and the Hall of Fame. Folks claim he's a curmudgeon and that he or the volunteers are rude toward visitors who don't follow a very strict, unwritten protocol. This is not new, I've heard this before. Is it a fair representation of the Hall of Fame? Hard for me to say yes, I've been there at least 25 times during the past 13-14 years, and I've never seen it. 

A few people bemoaned the fact that of the Hall of Fame's 200+ machines, there are always machines that are in need of a tune up, if not outright repair. I guess it's easier than I would imagine to maintain dozens of machines that are 40-60 years old, as well as dozens more that are only 20-30 years old, all of which are played 365 days a year. Regardless, the machines do not play as if they're showroom new, so the venue isn't worth supporting, evidently. 

More fascinating than the hatred for a guy whose personal collection is available to play 365 days a year is the financial wizardry and knowledge of many pinball players. Several have concluded that Arnold is a clueless dolt who has mismanaged this project spectacularly. He is $200,000 short, after all, so he must he be an idiot. 

Here I thought a guy who has shepherded the Hall of Fame for more than a decade, banking cash and donating to charity, must be doing something right. If it's a $10 million project, he came up $200,000 short due to the financial hardships of a pandemic that nobody projected, or planned for, two years ago. Foolish me, I'm impressed by what has been accomplished so far. The new building on the strip is nearly complete. 

Other financial geniuses suggested that Arnold foolishly started the project last spring after the pandemic shut down Vegas casinos for more than two months. I don't have a clue what the financial ramifications would have been to suspending the project indefinitely and sitting on the vacant land instead of keeping construction workers employed during the pandemic, but pinball's Mensa members know that Arnold is a financial fool. 

Point of reference: I have seen plenty of construction projects continue, or commence, since the pandemic graced Minnesota with its presence last spring. Why didn't all of those grind to a halt? 

A few financial gurus noted that they have or do run a pinball business, and they don't ask pinball players to donate to their business. Fair enough, although none of them mentioned running their business as a nonprofit or noted how many thousands of dollars they have donated to charity.

If there's anything I question, it's the need to raise $200,000 from the pinball community. Some pinheads wondered why there isn't some sort of corporate sponsorship or other fundraising mechanism to help build an oversized arcade dedicated to preserving the history of pinball. Fair question. 

Arnold isn't interested in amassing debt in order to build a Las Vegas strip Hall of Fame, although it can't be that hard to finance the final $200,000 of construction costs for the project. But it appears he just doesn't want to do it. Building a big new Vegas attraction without a huge debt to pay off? How un-American! 

One way or another, we'll have a new Hall of Fame in Vegas, on the strip, and likely before my next visit to Vegas.

It will attract thousands of tourists per week, if we ever get past the pandemic. Most of those tourists will go home with a smile on their face, having relived their youth or experienced something new, something they never imagined. 

And yet half the pinball community, if Facebook discussions are to be believed, absolutely despise the place.

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. 

Freedom of the blog

I'll be wrapping up my recent Vegas vacation trip report in the near future. (The final installment is not that exciting.) But this can't wait. 

As somebody who has worked as a newspaper reporter for far too long, you would think I would have a firm grasp upon what freedom of speech/freedom of the press permits, and what it doesn't. 

But I don't. 

I don't spend a lot of my free time following freedom of speech/information cases related to the media. I'm not exercising my rights to public data often enough, in part because I could work 75 hours a week and not run out of things to do. I do a little of almost everything as a newspaper reporter in 2020, and waging battles for public data is just not something I can afford to do very often. And I'm smart enough not to get my newspaper into legal trouble over anything I report.

Therefore I'm not in a position to comment upon the outcome of the legal battle between the Sahara casino/hotel and Vital Vegas, the most popular blog in Sin City, as best I can tell. But I will anyway.

For the record: I have read the blog for years, I have blogged in response to topics its author, Scott Roeben, has written, I have met Scott more than once and I have been fortunate enough to have him as a guest on my non-Vegas podcast. 

Scott has garnered plenty of followers over the years, and developed an anti-fan club over the years, as well. Some joined the club in 2020, others flash membership cards dating back several years. 

I watch the barbs and insults, the comments and the criticism -- from both sides -- without getting in the middle of it. I don't have enough time to pursue my passions in this world, (thanks to that damn journalism career, which ain't much of a passion at this point in my life,) and therefore I don't have a lot of time to defend or criticize Scott's tweets, be they brilliant or cringeworthy. I'm not above criticizing, but sometimes you need to leave that to others. 

All that said, I have casually followed the legal battle between Scott and the Sahara. If you're reading this, you probably know that not so long ago, around the end of July, Scott shared a rumor that Sahara was looking to shut the place down due to the lack of foot traffic in the casino and hotel. That resulted in the Sahara seeking legal relief from the claim. 

I seem to recall that the rumor claimed Sahara might shut down in September. The original post is no longer available via the blog, and I'm not going to search for a bootleg copy, so I can't review the original claims Scott made. 

Those claims were attributed to a trusted source. Some will refute Scott has any of those, but he knows a lot of people who work in the industry, and his blog is well known as a source of inside information, from sources that he protects. Again, some will refute that. 

At the end of the day, Vital Vegas is a blog. It's not a comprehensive news source. The blog posts run the gamut from industry rumors and inside information to reviews of local restaurants and attractions to features on interesting shows and attractions that aren't always found in the tourist publications. (Look up his blog post on the Wheel of Misfortune if you need an example.) 

His blog's website suggests it's a source of news, tips, deals and WTF, although I don't recall any Vital Vegas deals being floated to his readership. (I'm always looking for a deal when I'm planning a trip to Vegas.)

The internet has spawned plenty of questions, and lawsuits, about what is legal and what's not when it comes to disseminating information. Anyone with a computer and internet access can create a blog, or post a rumor, via many platforms. 

I'm not surprised that the Sahara's claims against Scott were in vain. I'm no legal expert, but I didn't expect Sahara to prevail. Like Scott, I'm of the belief that their defamation claim was an intimidation tactic, a tactic that may well have worked against many bloggers who don't have the willingness, courage or financial wherewithal to stand up to such a claim. The Sahara lawsuit obviously failed, thanks in large part to Nevada's anti-SLAPP law that protects folks like Scott. 

The end result of this moment in legal history leaves me with two thoughts. 

One: How credible are Scott's sources? I have always assumed he has well placed sources that he can trust. His rumor mongering doesn't always pan out, but why should it? 

If you hear a rumor that your employer is thinking about reducing the vacation accrual schedule of its employees, but doesn't, does that make the rumor false? If you're not part of upper management meetings, how would you know if the honchos are or aren't considering it? 

Should your co-worker, who is sleeping with one of the bosses, even be sharing that information with you? No, of course not. And by sharing it, all s/he did was worry you about not earning that fourth week of vacation next year. 

Was there any truth to the Sahara rumor? Unlikely any of us will ever know. And Sahara's lawsuit, or continued business operations, doesn't indicate one way or another that there wasn't strong consideration to pulling the plug at the property. 

I have no reason to dismiss Scott's sources, or his trust in them. Yes, he floats rumors about property sales and other business dealings that don't pan out, but I have to believe Scott's source regarding Sahara was a legitimate source. Scott has pretty much pimped Sahara, and its SLS predecessor, whenever he could, and I don't recall him ripping the joint very often. Perhaps he mocked that goofy statue that once stood outside SLS, but other than that, I only seem to remember him promoting the restaurants he enjoyed, or reporting on the demise of restaurants and businesses that didn't survive during the failed SLS experiment. 

It seems unlikely that he'd open the door to the wrath of Sahara, or people on Twitter, by tweeting and blogging a rumor about Sahara's demise from a lousy source. Perhaps to you that's a play within Scott's range, but it seems unlikely to me. Given the fact all his eggs are in the Vital Vegas basket these days, it seems like being a source of bad information is the obvious play to avoid right now. 

Two: The fault I have with what happened is that he didn't follow one of the golden rules of journalism, even if he's just a blogger. (Remember, he is a source of news, according to his website. Although in fairness, he's a source of WTF, too.)

I remember being told this many times, and following the rule, during my collegiate days of journalism school: Always have two sources. 

At some point, I learned that you could get away with a one-source story, in some circumstances. I recently wrote about a new recreation area that was created within a national wildlife refuge. It's a simple feature story, and not meant to be heavy on details. I spoke to a representative of the wildlife refuge. Only one. And that was all I needed. I didn't need to ask the same questions to another government employee, although I'm sure you can argue that I should have. The reality is that I just don't have the time to do it, and in my judgment, it wasn't necessary for this story. 

You can argue that a blog site and Twitter account sharing news and rumors doesn't need a second source. And Jehovah knows Scott enjoys being the first to titillate the masses with a juicy tidbit, but in this case I think there should have been some sort of attempt at reaching out to Sahara for the standard denial. And I'm not the only one who thinks so. 

Legally Scott was free to share the rumor without the standard, corporate denial, as the lawsuit proved. But given that his blog has a substantial following and his information spreads like wildfire across Facebook and Twitter, the rumor reasonably had the potential to create a sense of panic among those who are connected to Sahara, either by employment or room reservations. Floating the rumor doesn't accomplish a whole hell of a lot, other than rile up the masses, so it would have seemed like something to treat as news, rather than WTF, in my uneducated opinion. 

Many people hate Vital Vegas, (at least 10 that I am aware of,) and will continue to do so. More power to them. I tend to ignore the things that don't interest me, and pause for those that do. Whatever the future holds for Scott's blog, podcast and Twitter handle of the same name, I hope that the end results are better for this recent ordeal. I do wish that for him. 

Neutered Vegas (day 3)

It's Friday morning, Oct. 9, and I'm awake before 8 a.m., time to venture out into the parking lot. 

Twenty years ago I learned about the high tech game of hide-and-seek: Geocaching. I wrote about it for my newspaper chain, and spent a little time the next several years searching for hidden containers of trinkets and crap in public parks and other places. During that era of my life I found a few hidden caches at point along the strip. It's a fun, family-friendly activity that I stopped making time for years ago. 

And then I wound up babysitting my nieces during the past several months. Before long I was introducing them to geocaching. 

Knowing there was a geocache in the parking lot of the Orleans, I ventured out shortly after the sun had risen to find a small, hidden metal tin using GPS coordinates, take a few pictures and ponder all the things I'll never experience in Vegas as a resident of Minnesota. I spent a few minutes in the parking lot that morning watching cars cruising Tropicana Avenue in both directions, regretting I didn't snap a picture of the colorful woman who was walking down the sidewalk, probably not for exercise, and considering how my life might have been different had I made different choices at points in my life. More on that another day. 

My parking lot view of the hotel where I've spent the most nights during the past 10 years.

After my short parking lot excursion, I took coffee up to the room, we relaxed for a while, snacked on breakfast bars we brought with us and decided our lunch would be at In-N-Out. My trips often end with lunch at In-N-Out before heading to the airport, and usually at the Maryland Parkway location near the Pinball Hall of Fame. This trip would have a morning departure, so our In-N-Out visit came early, and we opted for the location down the street since we wouldn't be dining in the restaurant. We used the drive-thru, which took about 20 minutes, then dined at the outdoor table outside the gift shop next door. 

The long wait for a burger and fries.

Then it was back to Orleans and a visit to the pool. We spent a long afternoon at the pool, which again wasn't very busy, although it seemed like a lot of the pool visitors came later that afternoon. Once again there were announcements telling us to wear our mask, and for whatever reason, one of the poolboys made a pass around the pool deck during the late afternoon telling everyone not wearing a mask while lounging to wear their mask. But it's not as if the mask police were pounding the pavement all afternoon. 

We left the pool late in the afternoon and cleaned up before heading north. Our first destination: Broadacres Marketplace. 

Broadacres Marketplace is a huge outdoor flea market. I'm a sucker for flea markets, although I often have a tough time parting with my cash when I visit one. My buddy, who is a master at scooping up old video game cartridges in bulk and selling off his purchase game by game for a nice profit, had been to Broadacres once upon a time, and vouched for it as being a good flea market. 

It's a couple of miles north of downtown, and it's huge. Huge. HUGE. It's a couple of bucks to get in, and they have security doing metal detection when you enter, which didn't exactly comfort my girlfriend. 

The flea market runs Friday evenings and weekends. There are many food vendors scattered about the market grounds, and there are tables and a stage area where they feature live music during less pandemic times. There also appears to be a small variety of simple amusement park rides on the grounds to help entertain the kids, but those were all shut down on this Friday night. 

I wondered if some of the vendors have semi-permanent set ups at this flea market. Plenty didn't, without question. Despite opening at 4 p.m., we were there at 6 p.m. and some vendors were still setting up, including the one vendor I found that had an extensive collection of Halloween merchandise. Their entire space seemed dedicated to Halloween merch, but they weren't ready to begin selling when I walked by. I thought I'd come back later, but forgot about them before we left. 

The layout of booths is organized, but it's hard to keep track of where to go, or where you've been. It's not a basic rectangle of shopping aisles. And as I noted, it's huge. Huge. HUGE. 

As for the merchandise. I was both amazed and disappointed. 

There were booths that had odd collections of random secondhand crap, which is what I like to see at a flea market. And there were plenty of dealers selling new merchandise, as I expected. 

There were plenty of vendors selling household products you'd find at your local grocery store, such as laundry soap and toilet paper. I didn't price compare the bargains to be had. I don't recall seeing Tide laundry detergent, but there was plenty of less prestigious brands. I couldn't help but wonder, who comes to the flea market to buy their plastic sandwich bags or aluminum foil? Can it really be that much cheaper than the generic products at local stores around Vegas? 

Need $5 leggings? I don't, but I saw at least a dozen vendors with big displays of leggings, some noting their product was $5. If you're looking for cheap leggings, I guess you eye them up and assume they'll fit to your liking. The vendors don't have fitting rooms, that I could tell, and I'm guessing they aren't in the business of making exchanges, a la your local Target store.

I saw a few vendors with lingerie prominently on display, as well. I also multiple vendors with socks and tighty-whities, but those weren't displayed as prominently, for some reason. Plenty of new women's and children's shoes to be had, and a few men's sneakers, I believe. I only recall one vendor selling new cowboy boots. But dang, that booth had a ton of them, and I think they were all $50 a pair. I can't imagine they were high quality, and I'm guessing boots in your size are hit and miss.

If you need bright yellow or orange clothing for wearing at a construction site, several vendors at the flea market had you covered. 

Bulk candy and/or nuts, you could find that several times over. A lot of those products seemed to be things you'd more commonly find in a Mexican market. 

Several vendors had toys, although it didn't appear many of the toys were name brand products. There were some, I believe, but I sensed that a lot of the toys were generic versions of known commodities, like Disney princess dolls. I saw a smattering of dealers selling Funko Pops, but I didn't bother looking at what they had or what they were asking for their inventory. I don't collect them, and I have no idea which ones are "valuable." 

The oddest things I found were tires, mattresses and appliances. 

I didn't see many vendors selling tires, maybe only one, but I had to wonder who buys a set of tires from a random vendor at a flea market? 

Several vendors had mattresses. How does a person decide they're going to buy mattresses in bulk and resell them through a flea market? And how much can you make selling them? 

And appliances! There were a few vendors with washers and dryers. So weird!

hI was disappointed that I didn't find many vendors selling collectibles or outdated media. I don't collect comic books any more. I haven't for decades. But I always enjoy checking out books for sale, and buy some cheap old books for reading and passing along, often via a Little Free Library. 

Same with baseball cards or other sports collectibles. I get a kick out of looking at the stuff, but rarely see anything I'm even tempted to buy, unless I think I can easily turn around and sell it on eBay for a healthy product, and most vendors know what the going rate is for such merch. 

I found one vendor with old video games, but I don't play them, I don't collect them and I have no idea what any of them are worth, so I wouldn't know a bargain if I saw it. I was surprised not to see many DVDs, CDs or other media for sale. Many of us don't want that stuff any more, but I'll buy a cheap CD if it interests me, although I don't have the patience to search through an unorganized collection looking for the diamond in the rough.  

More than anything, I'd love to know the stories behind these vendors. Where do they source mattresses, leggings, bulk candy and generic toys? How much do they earn after a weekend at Broadacres? Why is the flea market business appealing to them? 

I know we missed an aisle or two of vendors, but I didn't want to spend two hours looking at merchandise I wasn't going to buy. I had given up hope of finding vendors with merchandise that interested me, so after about an hour it was time to head for the car. 

My picture at the start of our flea market adventure doesn't
give you a good idea of how expansive Broadacres Marketplace is.
And I didn't stop to take pics of all the odd merchandise I found at this flea market. 

I'd love to have a chance to go back some day, by myself, and scrutinize the merchandise for a couple of hours. My girlfriend politely tagged along, but she'd gladly stay at the hotel on a Saturday and allow me to scour the merch all morning. 

From Broadacres we headed downtown for dinner at Chicago Brewing Company inside Four Queens.

Friday night downtown during a pandemic. You wouldn't know it. Like many have reported, plenty of people are rolling in on the weekends. Fremont Street was crowded, and although they're not doing temperature checks outside the casinos, they still have gates funneling you into and out of areas. Not sure why that makes sense when social distancing is preached everywhere we go. 

Dinner at Chicago Brewing was good, but we had to tolerate three jackasses who were drunk, watching NBA basketball and yelling every time they got a little tingly in their pants. I've been emotionally invested in televised sports, but Chicago Brewing ain't a sports bar. The waiter working the room told the dudes, more than once, that they needed to dial it down, and the second time he did, one of the dudes got belligerent. Dudes should have been kicked out. They were done eating, and one of the dudes was practically passed out on the table for a while. And yet, when it appeared they were going to pay their tab and leave, the waiter ends up bringing three more beers. Made no sense to me. 

After dinner we went to the Plaza to play. I finally sat down to play Ultimate Texas Hold 'Em, and had no luck. My girlfriend had no luck on the slots, either. After an hour or so we headed back to the Orleans, where I played cards again, with no luck. It wasn't a late night for me, and it wasn't an exciting night of gambling in Vegas, but it was a great day in Vegas nonetheless.

Neutered Vegas (day 2)

There wasn't much of an itinerary for last week's Vegas vacation, as proven by our first full day in town. 

My first full day is often a Monday, and it's a real treat to spend the morning relaxing in the room and watching The Price is Right. Monday's are not my fun days at the office, to put it mildly. But this Thursday, Oct. 8, was much like my normal Monday. The morning was spent in bed, relaxing and watching Drew Carey in action. Upon the conclusion of the fabulous, 60-minute Price is Right, it was time to get dressed and grab a meal. 

Despite my objection to eating at Steak 'n Shake in Vegas, I buckled. I had a gift card for Steak 'n Shake a couple of years ago, and went to pay for our meal with it at the former Hooters hotel. I was told that the price-hiked casino location would not accept cash that had already been paid to the corporate headquarters, which I find to be bullshit. I guess that's a concession the Steak 'n Shake corporation had to make in order to get its name inside a lackluster casino in Vegas. I don't get the benefit of that, but I'm not a Wahlberg, so what do I know about running a burger joint? 

I had been to the South Point Steak 'n Shake a couple of years prior, and decided that if I was going to pay for a premium for a burger I enjoy, and can't get in Minnesota, I'd at least do it at a casino I like. So we took the rental car and headed south for lunch. 

We returned to the Orleans after lunch and headed to the pool. It wasn't very busy, and we didn't expect it to be. Despite the mandate that you wear a mask outdoors at pools, unless you're in the water or sipping a drink, it didn't appear that anyone was wearing a mask while relaxing in a lounge chair. A pool boy would occasionally provide a "friendly reminder" over the sound system that masks are required, but nobody seemed to care. I wore mine when I got up to get beers, or visit the restroom, but there was nobody near us while we lounged in our chairs, so masks really seemed unnecessary outdoors. But I'm not a public health expert, unlike most people using Facebook. 

Drinking cheap beer from an aluminum bottle while enjoying 90F weather in Vegas.
I'll take that any time I can get it. 

A long afternoon at the pool ended and it was time to clean up for dinner. Thursday night's dinner was prime rib at Ellis Island. Thanks to 2-for-1 coupons, I end up eating dinner at Ellis Island every year. The prime rib dinner is about $17, and you never know exactly what your cut is going to look like when you show up. This year we ended up with the thickest slab I've ever had at Ellis Island. 

My prime rib was not as rare as it looks.
Yes, there's a little fat on my cut, but not a lot, and it's a thick cut. 

Not the fanciest meal, but a good value if you like a basic prime rib meal without all the ambiance. 

I was able to watch my Chicago Bears prior to departing Orleans and at Ellis Island. I contemplated wagering $20 that afternoon on the visiting Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but didn't pull the trigger. The underdog Bears won outright, so it was a win-win for me, despite not wagering. I watched the final few minutes at the bar, running a few bucks through video blackjack while my girlfriend wandered off and played a slot machine she had never played before. 

It took her but a few spins after putting a $50 bill in the machine to turn a profit. 

She cashed out more than $150 ahead after 15 minutes of play.

After Ellis Island we headed back to Orleans, where I dropped off my girlfriend. I was headed to the Sahara. 

Earlier in the day I had received a Twitter message from Chris, who has been hosting his Faces and Aces Las Vegas podcast for years. I've been a fan of his podcast because it focuses on storytelling, not unlike my own, non-Vegas podcast. A few years ago he invited me to discuss Halloween in Vegas, as I had tweeted plenty about my Halloween adventures in Vegas over the years. We discussed Halloween in September, 2017, but that interview didn't turn up until more than a year later. The Mandalay Bay shooting occurred prior to Halloween 2017, and that shifted his podcasting plans for the months that followed. 

Chris was in town, as it turned out, and invited me to join him and a few others that Thursday night. My girlfriend wasn't interested in hanging around a couple of podcasting nerds, so she spent the remainder of the evening at Orleans while I headed to Sahara. In addition to Chris, I met Saul, a real Las Vegas junkie who I had corresponded with occasionally since he oversees the Las Vegas Junkies group on Facebook, and has hosted his own podcast under the same name. I also met two Vegas residents who Chris has known for a while. They are recent transplants in Vegas, and I'm pretty sure I remember both their names, but I'm not positive I can spell both of their names. 

After chatting at Sahara for a short while, where nobody was having luck gambling, Saul departed for the night and the rest of us headed to Westgate. I know all about the SuperBook at Westgate, but I had never set foot in that casino during my 40+ visits to Vegas. SuperBook is impressive, no doubt, but otherwise the rest of the casino is standard Vegas fare. I didn't walk around the property to get a feel for exactly how expansive it is, but driving around it gave me some idea. 

Chris and I chatted a bunch at Westgate, and by midnight it was time to head back to our respective casinos. I did a walk through the Orleans casino on my way up to the room, but didn't stop to play. 

I don't make a habit of tracking people down or meeting up with groups of random Junkies when I'm in Vegas, but the invite from Chris was a nice surprise, and I'm glad it worked out. 

Neutered Vegas (night 1)

Vegas isn't actually neutered, but I wasn't sure what the best adjective should be. 

And no, I didn't intend to let this blog sit dormant for a year. 

Once upon a time, I dreamed of celebrating a milestone birthday in Las Vegas. 

I had never spent a birthday in Vegas, but my 50th birthday seemed like a good one to spend in Vegas, for a variety of reasons. 

Then a pandemic began, and within a few months I had written off spending my 50th birthday in Vegas. There was no doubt that it wouldn't be the same Vegas I have known and loved, and I was certain my life partner wanted nothing to do with a pandemic vacation. 

We had alternate birthday plans in place, and then, out of the blue, my girlfriend asked me if I was still interested in going to Vegas for my birthday. With three weeks to go before the big 5-0, she said she'd be willing to travel. 

The decision was not automatic. A neutered Vegas was not exactly my idea of a dream vacation. We discussed the pros and cons and took the plunge. We booked a four-night trip, departing on my birthday: Oct. 7. 

We booked our trip on budget airline Sun Country. I used to love Sun Country. It's a homegrown airline, and offers direct flights to Vegas. And those flights are more affordable than the steady diet of departures offered by Delta, the local market behemoth. I loved Sun Country because it was well run and offered a pleasant experience from start to finish. A few years ago the company determined it needed to target the penny pinchers and compete with other such airlines. That means cramming a few more rows of seats into the plane and cutting other corners to keep the cost down, and the planes full. 

I'm not a big spender, but I have managed to avoid Sun Country in recent years, mostly because I've flown free via Southwest, albeit indirect, to Vegas. 

So my first Sun Country experience aboard the stripped-down airline turned out to be about what I expected. Nothing fancy, but not too painful. 

During the pandemic, I've heard stories, many stories, about how empty planes are. How airlines are cutting back on flights, struggling to stay afloat and leaving seats open to provide some semblance of social distancing. 

Not Sun Country. My Wednesday afternoon flight was full. I'm not the only person willing to gamble with my health, evidently. 

Yes, we're required to wear masks on the plane, and no snacks or beverages were made available, allegedly in the interest of public health. A few people didn't think masks were mandatory at all times, but for the most part people complied with the rule. 

After a boring, slightly uncomfortable flight, I arrived in Sin City. Sure enough, the airport on a weekday afternoon feels as barren as has been described repeatedly during the past several months. 

After picking up my rental car at Avis, which I had never rented from before and would rather not rent from again, it was off to the Orleans to drop off the bags and change clothes. 

For all the times I've stayed at Orleans, I've never been compelled to dine at their TGI Friday's. But I suggested stopping in there for a drink and appetizer since our dinner reservation was a late one that night. 

From Friday's it was off to the Golden Steer, the old school steakhouse that looks like some sort of cheesy steakhouse chain from the outside. The quirky strip mall location doesn't sell the ambiance, either. I had never been to Golden Steer, but it gets rave reviews, and I figured what better reason to splurge on a steak dinner than a birthday in Vegas. 

VIP seating for me.

My porterhouse steak and baked potato did not disappoint. And the restaurant most certainly has that authentic feel of yesteryear. 

Steak and potato, happy birthday to me!

The staff is what you'd expect from a steakhouse: Prompt, meticulous and professional. 

I won't make Golden Steer a regular destination, I don't often spend that much on a meal, but I will be back, without a doubt. 

Fun fact: Pandemic dining means fewer asses in the seats. In some restaurants, tables are removed. Not sure if any tables were removed at the Steer, but they had a fun way of designating tables as off limits. Here's one example: 

Seated at the table next to us!

I had suggested finishing our night at another new destination, The Golden Tiki. It seemed like the perfect way to wrap up my 50th birthday. But we had a late evening reservation at the Steer, and I was so full from dinner, and my complimentary 50th birthday dessert, that I couldn't rationalize trying to suck down a fancy cocktail at the Tiki. And I was tired. It had been a long day, given I gained two hours by flying west. I was ready for bed. No gambling on my birthday. I hadn't planned on it, anyway. I was tired and ready to relax, happy to have celebrated by birthday with a steak dinner in Vegas.