…Annnd Vegas is currently popping up yet another stadium for the A’s, after the Golden Knights, which are alright, and the Raiders, which nobody asked for or wanted.

Interesting.

So, I wanna stress the emphasis on used to. But it totally did.

Everyone who knows anything about this town claims it was much cooler when the mob ran it. Seriously! They were big on legacy and making cool stuff that wowed people and drew them to all the gambling and stuff. That was the era of free drinks at the slots and comped lobster dinners.

They weren’t dumb hedgies like the current stewards of the realm, they knew crap like, for instance, parking spaces that make more money than 98% of the staff per hour, was simply bad business.

Now, half of it is owned by Amazon and everything is about exponential stockholder returns. Like everything else in this Ayn Randian ultra-capitalist hellscape.

SO, what used to be cool?

There was a ton of really cool exhibits, free shows along the Strip, cheap buffets, and that kinda thing.

One of the oldest casino properties, Circus Circus, still has the Adventure Dome (although it’s sadly a shadow of its former glory days), and New York New York has a pretty fun (if massively overpriced) rollercoaster attached to a large arcade. The casino itself is old with cramped low ceilings and odd smells…

The Flamingo has a gorgeous botanical garden that hosts lots of pretty birds including, yes, flamingos.

The Mirage used to have Siegfried and Roy’s Secret Garden…with dolphins and tigers and stuff. It’s no longer around and it seemed very nice and ethical when we went, but I can’t remember if it closed after some kind of scandal or something…

Luxor used to have a walk-through Star Trek experience that modeled the set and everything, with actors walking visitors through an exciting short adventure aboard the ship. (I think the Borg were involved!)

…And they had a 3D motion ride tied to the TV show “ReBoot”. (Sadly didn’t get to experience either of these)

They still have that “Bodies” anatomy exhibit and one for the Titanic, which is actually pretty amazing.

“T.I” (barf) used to be “Treasure Island”, because it used to have big galleons parked in a lagoon up front, where you could watch pirates popping off flintlocks and swordfighting and swinging to board the rival ship every couple of hours.

Then they changed that to “Sirens of T.I” which was kinda the same thing, but “sexier” and less family oriented. (Think leather and more butt-cheek with whip cracking.) Sadly, the one time I was around for that, it was cancelled due to weather that could cause safety concerns with the pyro. :(

Now, the ships and water and ramparts and net rigging decor is all gone and it’s some cubular nightclub that has famous DJs sometimes and I can only assume hosts highway robbery at the bar, shady dealings, cocaine benders in the bathrooms, and the occasional hush-hushed drink drugging. You know, stuff for the NEW Vegas clientele.

Let’s see…Tropicana used to have a massive “volcano” go off and belch fire occasionally, that was neat! They got rid of that.

There was a massive candy store, “World’s Largest Coke Bottle” (I think it was an elevator). . .that still around? I dunno but it’s just shopping.

Inside Caesar’s Palace there used to be a GIGANTIC Trojan horse as part of the famouse F.A.O Schwartz (spelling?)Toy Store. It was massively overpriced but also just really really cool to check out anyway. It’s a gigantic H&M since I last saw it. Sans Trojan horse, replaced by weird hanging manaquins clad in shiny tight leather. (Sensing a theme…)

Excalibur is actually pretty rad still. Houses a large arcade and Tournament of Kings is a legit great time. It’s VERY cool. I’m glad it’s still there.

The Bellagio has a really cool art conservatory and their famous fountains, and the Wynn has pretty cool floral displays.

Also, Pinball Hall of Fame moved to a more central and much larger location. That place is GREAT fun with a cup of quarters!

But yeah, now almost everything is catering to night clubs, day clubs (which are basically everything wrong with nightclubs but now with pools and solar radiation), people forced to go to conventions for work, and big ticket shows run by the Ticketmaster / Live-Events-or-something cartels.

To see the current attitude that runs this place now, look no further than the fact they host the F1 here now, and hardly anybody who actually lives and works here has a snowball’s chance in, well, here, to go see it.

Also “The Sphere”, which is a slightly neat novelty eyesore that hosts concerts and crap for like $300 a ticket.

Man…sorry for the super long post, I didn’t think I had this much to say on the topic! LOL

I hope it was interesting though!

I remember learning about it a long time ago and thought it made no sense.

Then I went with a married couple who brought two kids and I still believe it even more. These college friends don’t drink, vape, weed, gamble and are basically non-religuous relugious people so it was a weird experience. We stayed in a casino hotel that allowed all of it, and we ended up only going to museums and dining… In the middle of a desert.

It’ll never be a definitive family destination.