What Prompted Your First Visit To LV?

20 years ago- my husband and i went to SEMA convention.... had a blast. been going back ever since- only now i have a girls trip once or twice a year out there too!

 

In 2003 they were holding outrigger canoe races on Lake Las Vegas. My now husband & I went up with about 20 other paddlers. I had no idea how much to budget for my bankroll so I only had $300 for 5 days! We stayed at the California. I learned how to play craps & video poker. But I was broke by the 4th day.
Now we go 3 to 4 times a year and have a much larger bankroll!

 

I decided on my 28th birthday that if the unrelenting arrow of time just absolutely had to drag me to 30 years old, I was going to make sure I saw it in on my terms. I decided that Vegas was the goal, and spent the next year or so getting all my finances in order, and sounding out people who also wanted to make the trip. Last year, four of us went out there, and now all I can do is plan more trips to go back! Already booked a return for this year, and i'm hoping to try and make it a once a year thing from now on.

 

Well it's not like I had a choice, you see I was about 11-12 years of age when my dad started taking us to Vegas, my parents divorced when I was 7, I'm now 52! How time flies! Anyway every year we would do west coast/east, so on our way to Santa Ynez/Santa Barbara to visit my family, my dad would stop in Vegas, park at the RV at Circus Circus, damn right he did! LoL! We had full access to the swimming pool, we had a blast, that place was "da bomb" back in the day! lol! As I got older around age 17-19 There was quite a spell of nearly 10 years I hadn't gone to Vegas, a lot changed in that time, the fire at MGM, the rebuilt MGM, the memory I have is when the MGM was newly rebuilt it had the "follow the yellow brick road theme/emerald city" theme.

My oldest brother was married in Laughlin, married nearly 34 years, next oldest married at the little white wedding chapel in Las Vegas, they've been married almost 31 years, myself married at the Bellagio nearly 7 years ago, next brother married in Vegas almost 8 years, youngest brother married at Catholic Church on Cathedral Way in Las Vegas married 22 years.


Many wonderful/awesome/exciting memories, and one memory that was so sad, on April 9th will be 5 years since my dad's been gone, during my first trip back to Vegas after my dad's passing was horrible for me, as my last memories together in Vegas was nearly a year before I got married, 2nd to the youngest brother married in Vegas we had taken in The Tournament of Kings at Excalibur, my dad actually enjoyed the show he was about 78 years old, next was my wedding less than a year later, all the memories came flooding back, with many tears, finally I pulled myself together, I remember I kept asking my dad to give me good luck everytime I was on a slot machine ugh and lol!

Sorry for such a long chapter!

 

My grandmother wanted to go and decided to draw my mother and I into it in '94 i think. She was a true cheapskate and talked us into a Funjet package for Imperial Palace. I didn't bring enough money and was getting by on their funbook meal offers. The best meal of the trip was the $5.99 Prime Rib dinner at Casino Royale next door. There was an even cheaper meal at New Frontier she wanted to do but I saw the picket lines and it made me scared to eat there.

 

Well, back when I had just moved in with my now husband, we were casually talking about future plans. Marriage came up, and we joked about how it would be fun to just take off to Vegas and get married there when the time was right. And when we got engaged we actually did consider it, but decided not to go for it. By then we had already done some research and it seemed like a fun place overall, so we decided to go a few months after the wedding.

 

1986 for me and a buddy..Saw an ad in the Gambling Times magazine or USA today for one of the famous Bob Stupak deals..($185 or so for 3 nights,comped drinks and $500 free play) I was 28 buddy 33 or so and we were familiar with gambling as AC was an hour away.But thought this would be cool and GF's were cool about it so we did it.had an 8 ball for luck..

Vegas World was a trip in itself..we cashed some free-play $ and just hit every casino in the area we could walk to and one day took a taxi down to Barbary Coast.I remember walking across the Ceasars parking lot where they used to stage the outdoor events..We were stunned by the sportsbook(s) that to this day AC cannot get done...I was on such a low budget about $200 it was fantastic to hit a 3-team NBA parlay that paid about $150..

Such a good time hanging at the bar and meeting people from all over the place and just signing your room # on the slip.Way too many Coors..

Saw a sign for the Golden Steer while looking for food one night and had a great dinner,the only real sustenance over 3 days..

One night construction was going on for The STRAT and security handed out flashlights to all the rooms as the power would be out for a few hours..

Head out to the airport and flight back home to Newark was cancelled for some reason,not weather..So we get a flight to LaGuardia (remember when airlines would put you on the next flight out to the general area you were headed?)No charge?) and any $ we won went to pay a limo driver hanging around in the middle of the night to take us to Newark parking lot..Over $100...But what a trip..did not drink a beer for a week afterwards..
Now same buddy and me try to make Vegas every year for NFL opening week and high-stakes Fantasy Football and that tradition started in 02..

Just wish I kept a chip from all the places we hit but that was needed $ to valuable to pocket as a souvienier..

 

With me it was work believe it or not!. Took a trip out there on buissness and after that decided it would be great to go on vacation as well.

 

My friend and I were looking for somewhere new to go on a girls trip. Decided to give Vegas a try. Now the only thing that bugs us is we didn't discover Vegas sooner. This was about 5 or 6 years ago and now we go at least twice a year.

 

I need to add sex to my initial reply involving alcohol.

I love America!!!! lol

 

A friend talked me into going with him and another friend for his birthday about nine years ago. We knew absolutely nothing about Vegas, so we ended up with the AAA special rate at the Circus Circus, because we didn't know that hotel sucks or that it's in the ass end of nowhere on the Strip. We ended up going to "Star Trek: The Experience" at the Hilton and then spending most of our time at the New York-New York on the other end of the Strip. That was the night that the Stardust was imploded, so we lucked out and got to see it. Pretty cool first experience in Vegas.

 

My first trip was with friends, one arranged for all of us. But that trip was doing more of what the one who arranged the trip wanted to do. None of us were gamblers. I remember I wanted to do a Grand Canyon excursion but no one else was interested.

So the next time I went I of course chose the resort I wanted to stay at and yes got to see the Grand Canyon as well. Nothing better than taking things into your own hands.

 

My boyfriend invited me to join him on his family trip to visit his grandma. She had comped rooms for all of us at the Frontier. I was only 17 and had never been west of Mississippi. I saw mountains for the first time and I loved the larger than life hotel casinos. I was years from legal age, but it didn't stop me from falling hard for the city. I knew, then, Las Vegas would one day be home.

 

1982. I was in the Navy stationed in Long Beach, CA. Payday weekend and my buddy and I wanted to get away from the ship for the weekend. We actually took Greyhound to LV, with about $300 each. We got there in the wee hours of Saturday morning and our first stop was a Denny's down by Circus Circus. We took the bus back home around midnight and I left with a whopping two cents and three cigarettes from the roulette table (gratis) at the LVC. We went through our money pretty quick, I remember playing keno for a few hours at GN waiting for our bus to leave. Not the best indoctrination to LV but I remember having a great time and looking forward to coming back in a few weeks. My next trip was awesome but that's another story........

 

When I first went to Vegas I was already 49 years old. I never was interested and would actually turn down offers from my family who were willing to pay for the plane fare to go there. It wasn't a money issue, it was more of me not being interested in Vegas and gambling.

Anyway in 2005 my boss had 2 vacation pkgs. to Vegas, full accomodations to Downtown Golden Nugget with food coupons, transport to and from hotel, baggage handling, etc. He wanted to give it to me but my wife couldn't take off from work so I declined.

Then a co-worker said he would go with me (he was a Vegas veteran) so I said o.k. When we got there we were walking under the Fremont Canopy in the morning and it was deserted. I told myself: "This place is ugly. WTF is so great about this place?" My co-worker wisely didn't say anything. Later on that night when the Canopy lit up with the light shows and the crowds were up and about, I was blown away!!

The next day we rented a car and visited the Strip.

Dammit from then on I was hooked!! I love Vegas and go at least twice a year now.

 

A concert with friends.

 

1985. I was in the Navy stationed in Long Beach Naval Hospital, CA. Payday weekend. My buddy Donny Rafferty from Lancaster, PA., (I'm from Pittsburgh) had a Datsun B210 pickup. A bunch of us piled into the back of his truck and made the 5 hour drive from Lakewood, CA., to LV. We drank a case of beer on the way over, and one on the way back.

We stayed at the Stardust, and I don't remember much except Blackjack, slots, and Long Island Iced Teas. We went back once again, before we went our separate ways (They went Fleet Marine Force, I went Naval Aviation). It was 30 years before I went back last year...

I like it better now. My girlfriend was a model, and none of those fuckers ever were.

 

I just moved to SoCal from Boston and my GF and i drove to Vegas in 1977. We stayed at the Marina and since then i've been hooked. A stroke and open heart surgery will never deter me from Sin City.

 

1975.....husband and I went to Vegas for our honeymoon. We had no money to speak of and Vegas looked inexpensive. We stayed at the original MGM Grand (now Ballys). Neither of us knew a thing about gambling. I remember sitting at a slot machine and putting in quarters with the waitresses walking around with little four packs of cigarettes. For our fancy evening dinners, new husband wore a seersucker leisure suit and I wore an evening gown. One show we saw was Rich Little and on our final night we splurged and saw Frank Sinatra. I remember we paid $25 per ticket....we truly thought we were living the high life. I know we walked the strip in both directions with no problem. We walked through the Dunes and saw Telly Savalas playing bacarret.

I was intrigued with watching people playing blackjack.....even though I had no clue how to play. On our last afternoon at the MGM, I was eyeing an empty $3.00 table. The dealer told me to sit and he would teach me the game. I bought in for $20 and left $33 up. I was hooked.

Children then came into play in our lives and I didn't make another trip for the next ten years. After that the bug hit bad....non gambling husband though. Ever since the mid 80s I go yearly with my sisters. Once my oldest son turned 21, he joins us yearly and loves Vegas as much as I do.

I feel lucky that I have the memories of Vegas in "the day".