smoothgrh's Blog

July 1998: Sixth Vegas Visit

My 1998 visit to Las Vegas was driven by pinball like the previous year. I asked my brother to go with me this time. He was the one who got me hooked on pinball by being in bowling leagues while I was single-digits-old, which meant I was left unattended near all the late 1970s pinball machines that bowling alleys had. He later owned a Captain Fantastic pinball machine (based on Elton John’s role in The Who’s “Tommy” movie), which inspired me to buy my first pinball machine, Eight Ball Deluxe. As luck would have it, the EM tournament machine at the Pinball Fantasy ’98 show at the Riviera was Captain Fantastic!



The pinball show was great as usual. Again, many of the machines were likely from the collection of Tim Arnold, who founded the current Las Vegas Pinball Hall of Fame. At one point, I was 13th on the leaderboard for the Captain Fantastic tournament!

I had some kind of offer to stay at Harrah’s, including free tickets to a magic show. This was the show I described elsewhere in the forum about how my brother and I walked out next to a guy who was chosen to go up on stage for a trick. He and his friend told other audience members they were from Boston. I whispered to my brother “let’s follow them!” And so we saw that they walked from the showroom all the way through the casino to the other end and out to the valet parking area to smoke cigarettes against a wall. Sus!

One of the newest Vegas attractions was Star Trek: The Experience at the Las Vegas Hilton, which opened in January. It featured the “Space Quest” casino, which had a futuristic look, including some slot machines that you spun by waving your hand through a sensor. Even the bathrooms were space themed in brushed aluminum and black tones.



I was always more of a Star Trek fan than my brother, who was interested in only the original series. I watched Star Trek: The Next Generation with my college dormmates in our televison room and dutifully saw all the movies in theaters starting with Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. My brother took me to see Star Trek: The Motion Picture in the theater, but it was so boring, we actually walked out to see a different movie (“Scanners” if I recall correctly.) I still have not watched ST: TMP in its entirety. It put such a damper on me that I didn’t even see Star Trek II or III during their original theatrical runs — only on home video. Of course, I now believe “The Wrath of Khan” is the best Star Trek movie. But I digress.

Anyway, Star Trek: The Experience had a “pre-ride” queue attraction, “History of the Future,” in which you could see all the Star Trek memorabilia up to that time, which included Deep Space Nine and Voyager. Oh how I wished I drank alcohol back then and tried some of the drinks at Quark’s Bar — including a “Warp Core Breach.” Yes, nerd. Anyway, everything about the “ride” was awesome, including the magical, opening transporter effect. You really felt that you were transported to a completely different place! Standing in a turbolift and being on the bridge of the Enterprise 1701-D was an amazing thrill. Also, back then, cast members were carefully selected to have a um, “Starfleet” look. I noticed that in later years, some cast members wore non-Trek-like eyeglasses (and possibly might not pass one of Dr. McCoy’s physicals).



We rented a red Mustang for some reason — probably just for fun.



One of the places we visited was the shooting range on Tropicana Avenue. I noticed their advertisements a lot in the 1990s, but their presence has declined in the past couple decades — perhaps too much advertising competition? My brother was an Eagle Scout, so he was handy with guns. I had gone trap shooting before, but it was the first time for me handling a handgun. It was one of many “attractions other than gambling” I’ve enjoyed in Vegas over the years.

Bellagio buffet 1999

One of the few AP moves I've done: taking my parents and friend to the Bellagio lunch buffet at 3:10 p.m., then sticking around for the 4 p.m. dinner opening!

Only $12.50 for lunch per person — still "only" $22.64 in 2023 dollars!

I remember seeing a newscast about the Bellagio buffet that they serve butter imported from France. I checked when I got there, and indeed it was! I wish I had taken pictures inside the buffet. I can't find any photos from that period. It didn't look anything like it does now.

Free Bird Show circa 2004

I found a souvenir that I likely collected from one of my Las Vegas trips in the 2000s.

I thought the birds were at the Flamingo, not at the Tropicana. But I'm probably misremembering. I remember a long hall that had parrot stands and also kiosks with people selling various items, kind of like at the mall. Anyone remember that?





And I noticed a Twitter post from 2019 that mentioned how someone shared this ad with animal trainer Tiana Carroll and she enjoyed it:

https://twitter.com/classiclasvegas/status/1171967422959456256

July 1997: Fifth Vegas Visit

I visited Vegas only once in 1997. Then, I was deeply interested in pinball, having bought my first machine, Eight Ball Deluxe, for $1,000. I was taking trips to play pinball, including a few arcades in Los Angeles that had games not in my area. I visited an L.A. shop that sold vintage pinball machines and arcade games called Fabulous Fantasies, owned by Herb Silvers. I was excited to learn about his upcoming pinball show in Las Vegas: Pinball Fantasy '97. Though Herb was the organizer, I heard a rumor that most of the machines were owned by Tim Arnold, who is the founder of the current Las Vegas Pinball Hall of Fame — it certainly seemed truthy, especially with all his 1960s-70s machines.

I brought my parents down again, but this time we drove, leaving the S.F. Bay Area at 6 a.m. and arriving in Vegas around 3 p.m. One great thing about the drive was that I brought a tape recorder and asked my dad about his younger days, including his time in the military. He regaled me on how he flew around in Piper Cubs while he was a Berkeley High School student, so when he enlisted, he was assigned to the Army Air Corps. He was based at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, and his best friend was based in Maryland, so one of his great memories was both of them taking the train and meeting in Atlanta for a weekend of leave. He had never told me these stories!

In Vegas, we stayed at the Riviera. Aside from the pinball, I don’t remember much about this trip. I did see the “Crazy Girls” show and I remember thinking, even in my mid-20s, that the show was really cheesy. The singing and dancing by the Crazy Girls were not impressive, and the comedians were only mildly amusing. I was probably jaded from having seen “Folies Bergere” the year before, and being accustomed to Steven Wright-quality humor.

As far as the pinball, I had an amazing moment. On a very old game, called a “wood rail” machine, I pressed the start button, then was confused when the ball didn’t pop out. Was it broken? I looked around at the front of the machine and realized that under the ball plunger, there was a rod to MANUALLY press the eject lever and put the next ball into play. The sensation of this action took me back in time at least 20 years, when I was about 5 years old, to a South Lake Tahoe casino in which I had to be checked in to a childcare center by my parents. That was the last time I had put my hands on this kind of pinball machine.

How weird it was to have a memory emerge that was lost for 20+ years. And shifting back to 2022, how weird is it now that I’m remembering this moment from 25 years ago? Where does the time go??

Anyway, I took a lot of pictures of pinball machines and really nothing else on this trip. To take your own trip back in time, I suggest you visit the Pinball Hall of Fame!

Dealt straight flush!

I'm sure most members of this website think a video poker straight flush is a ho-hum occurrence, but I've never gotten one on a single-hand game — and certainly never a dealt straight flush!

Though I have a video poker machine, I play only about 10 minutes each session when I have the time, usually with morning coffee or a wind-down drink before bedtime. So it was an exciting moment last night when I decided to switch over from Face Up Blackjack to video poker and saw this flash before me. I feel the need to share my excitement with someone, anyone! I'm still waiting for a royal flush — either at home or in the casino — and hope it'll arrive during my Vegas trip next month (probably won't).