GREGRIO March 11-15 at the RIO

Well this was an excellent trip. I made some money, watched my first implosion,
saw some great Shows, and then...my last night...GOT STOOD UP!

SUNDAY...got to RIO at 8am, checked in with registration, put in my room request,
...got it just after lunch (15th floor, pool/Strip view/Ipanima Tower), settled in and
played a bit, went to "LOVE" that night, and called it an early evening.

MONDAY was multiplier points day at the Flamingo, but couldn't find anything
I liked to play...for that matter, I couldn't find much of anything at the
Flamingo that even appealed to me. Unless theres a Show there, I rarely
go in. I had lunch in Margaritaville...(another disappointing adventure) so I
went back to the RIO for a nap...NOW THAT WAS A WONDERFUL EXPERIENCE.

I had TRENT CARLINI's 'ELVIS' DREAM KING Show at the Sahara...9:00, then
went to Harrah's to kill time/run up some points, before heading down
to WYNN and the STARDUST implosion.
(theres still some video) available on www.klastv.com
'click' on 'Long Clean-Up Begins on Stardust Property'. The implosion videos
seem to have moved on...This one has shots from cameras ON the hotel
as the implosion happened...check it out.

The implosion was very cool...very bittersweet.
I walked down at 1am. They bathed the hotel in colored lights...changing
combinations of colors, mixing colors, and all the while...criss-crossing the
building with several spotlights.
2am...they shot off a firework...perhaps checking the wind direction or just
reminding us...IT'S ALMOST TIME. Then they started spraying down the area
with giant water cannons. Streams of water shot into the air and all over the
area...it looked like a poor mans Bellagio fountain display.
2:30 came, and the crowd was (very) ready.
The fireworks started...a good 5 to 8 minutes of them (very cool!)
There were so many different types of people gathered there to watch...
...you could just feel the memories in the air as each person remembered
what ever it was that had left an impression in their minds from over the
years by the STARDUST............I felt surprisingly sad for a minute.
Each 'burst' was acompanied with a 'boomer'...they choreographed it quite
well, trying to make what was left of the hotel look as proud as they could.
Closer and closer the 'boomers' came together until they sounded like a giant
machinegun going off in rappid fire, then.......everything went quiet and dark.
On the entire side of the building, they projected the countdown numbers.....
10, 9, 8, 7, 6,...the crowd all counting out loud, 5,4,3,2,1
Another molment of silence, then the first rounds of dynamite went off.
Across the first floor...then the second and quickly spread all through the
upper floors to the top and then, with another short pause of silence.......
she fell.

Back in my RIO room on the 15th floor, with the lights off, I watched the
North end of the Strip where the STARDUST had been.
I live in the Bay Area. You've all seen pictures of the tops of the towers of
the Golden Gate Bridge sticking up through the fog......thats what it looked
like. From Treasure Island North...just the tops of the buildings could be
seen above the dust cloud that lay across the lower horizon. It was like a
shroud that had been pulled across the body...Tuesday,3am, I went to sleep.

TUESDAY played RIO all day, saw RONN LUCUS at 3pm, STEVE WYRICK at 7pm, and SPAMALOT at 10pm.
WEDNESDAY played PALMS, dinner and the Conservatory at Bellagio with a
friend, then off to the Colosseum for CELINE....................SHE CANCELED.
It was her first night back from vacation...she was still sick and canceled
Thursday night too......lots of disappointed folks that night. I'm lucky and
get to go to Las Vegas pretty often. I felt sorry for the people who were
on their only trip of the year...many with kids, and had planned on seeing
Celine that night.
We went back to the RIO, sat at the All American Bar and Grill and watch
some college basketball, had their 'hot skillet apple pie alamode' for desert
and called it an evening.

RIO UPDATES:
"LUCK STRIKE"...RIO's new 10 lane bowling alley/nightclub is open and it
looks great! It's open to the public during the day, and over 21 at night
to eat, drink, bowl, and PARR-TAY!

After 'PRINCE' leaves at the end of March...
The CopaCabana, DannyGans, RonnLucus, SCINTAS, ClubRio, 3121 Showroom
will close for an extended period of time.
A new (hush-hush) ?SOMETHING?...in the way of a new Show is being created.

GOOD TRIP!
I played all I wanted/when I wanted, won 10,000 comp points and
twentyfive bucks from Harrah's WINDFINDERS game but my contest
cards never...ever...lit up for one of the BIG prizes!
I took a 3k bankroll down and brought 4,400. back home.
Next trip....April 6,7,8,9.

* I put some thoughts in SHOWS/ENTERTAINMENT

 

Stood up by Celine Nice report.

 

Thanks for the report Greg!

 

Thanks

"they choreographed it quite
well, trying to make what was left of the hotel look as proud as they could."

What a great line! Made me a little teary just reading it!

Thanks for posting your TR. Enjoyed it...

 

That line just leaves me speechless, and with a tear in my eye.

Nicely done.

 

Good Report

Always good to read your reports.

 

Nice TR GR!

(See- you really were able to stay up late!)

 

I always look forward to reading your reports. Fantastic as always.

 

Great TR. It's always good to win money; and, your description of the implosion was quite poignant.

 

Great report. Any inkling of what the new Rio show is? Rumors? Thoughts? Guesses? Hypothesis? Hints? Whispers? Innuendos?

 

Thanks for the report Greg. Coming home a winner and watching the Stardust come down. Very cool.

 

Welcome Back!

Wow, I need to tap into some of your energy!
You always make the best of your time in Vegas, yet seem to do it at what appears to be a leisurely pace.

I agree with Coaster Kikky: "It was like a
shroud that had been pulled across the body..." Amazing statement.

Greg, I posted the day the Stardust came down after I viewed the video. And I mentioned to those on the board about those two moments of silence after the countdown. It must have been absolutely spine-tingling to have been there.

Thanks for the report.

 

Thanks everyone, it was a memorable trip...The little jackpot (it only took
14 years to hit), I'll try for another one next month in between
The PRODUCERS, MAMMA MIA, X BURLESQUE, and SPAMALOT again (from
the balcony this time...) I'm just a show-whore... "me watch your show longtime!"
The Implosion was special (and yeah Gary, I surprised myself...kept it up
all night long!) There was such a contrast of people there that night. I
think every bachelor party in town that showed up...staggering down the Strip, trying to instigate pre-implosion count downs right and left.They
seemed in direct competition with many groups of women on a 'Girls Night Out'
makin' their own noise...(I think the women won). Others just watched, standing quitely exchanging old stories, some with tears in their eyes.
No idea what will go into the RIO's showroom...Marily Wynn wrote me in an
email..."you're really going to like it!" ???, guess we just have to wait and see.
$2,500.00 after taxes = $1,829.00 lol!

*UPDATE: I just read over on LVA, an something called 'CONGO BONGO' is going into
the RIO's showroom. They/it/? operates....sounds like clubs out of Cancun.