I'm now back from four days at Fabulous Las Vegas. The ladies on the Strip say hi to you all!

I've taken a lot of pictures and I'll add them once I get them developed.

"Patricial" and I landed on June 2, 2002, and was totally surprised by the weather. Sunday and Monday were absolutely beautiful, not hot at all.

I had played all the free games at the MGM Mirage sites and was able to redeem all those points so our stay was free. At this point I would like to thank MGM Mirage for giving me the opportunity to earn these points as I wouldn't have been able to go to Vegas without them.

I redeemed some points to get two nights at Treasure Island. I was looking forward to it as I never stayed at this fine lady. The room was beautiful! We chose a room on the 8th floor and the desk clerk warned us that the room was had no view. I was really curious as to what "no view" meant and had to laugh when I looked out the room. It was a great view of the pool. I guess a view would be one looking at the Strip but the pool was fine with me. I was impressed by the machines on our floor where the ice machine is kept (yep, it was actually on the same floor). Not only did they have sodas but the machines had juices, ice tea, Gatorade, water, and Fresca. I didn't even know Fresca was still around. It was a great selection!

I did have a couple of complaints about the room though. The bathroom floor was so slippery that when one got out of the shower/tub, one could skate across the floor and possibly hurt themselves. I know cause that's what happened! I slid right into the counter. The floor is beautiful but I would prefer to have a rougher surface.

The bathroom had its basic bottled items, shampoo, conditioner, and lotion, but it also had mouthwash, duly sealed so we knew the bottle was never used. It also had a hair dryer and hand towels all in a very beautiful basket. The beds were very comfortable and the room had an extra pillow. The closet had a very nice light in it but unfortunately, we couldn't turn the light off. This concerned me as this light is shining on our clothes non-stop and that could fade delicate clothes. Also, the only places to store clothes is in the closet or in two drawers in the TV cabinet. Hardly enough space for two grown women to store their clothes.

I loved the tub as it not only had shower curtains, it gave a lot of privacy where one can relax in the tub while someone else is in there.

I found out that MGM Mirage is planning to combine all the players' club cards but so far they only combined Mirage and Treasure Island. I promptly got the card and it is added to the souvenirs' section of Treasure Island and Mirage. This was great because one doesn't have to feel compelled to go each resort. The points are combined so if you like one resort over another you don't have to keep activating your card at the less liked resort. I'm looking forward to when all the MGM Mirage resorts are combined.

I had redeemed points to get a buffet at MGM Grand. We jumped on the bus and off we went.

We went to the players club and got our comps which gave us the advantage of going to the VIP line. No complaints. Food, service and atmosphere was what one would expect from the MGM Grand.

Since this was Pat's first time at the Strip, we wandered from one lady to the next and I'm happy to say, all the ladies were buzzing with activity. Many people were there and you could tell that September 11th is still in the memories, from American items in the stores, to the flag being displayed on Circus Circus' marquee. I was happy to see that the Coliseum at Caesars has resumed building as well as the timeshare on part of the old El Rancho Las Vegas property, and the convention center at Mandalay Bay.

I've had a lot of obstacles in creating this site and one is lack of cooperation, from the resorts and people in general. Apparently, since I don't live in the town, few people want to help me. I've even had Vegas newspapers contact me to do an article about my site and then they drop the project when they find out I'm not a local. I think its funny in a sad way that Vegas will take our money, allow us to spend our money on subscriptions to their newspapers and magazines but yet because I undertook a project than none of the locals would do, I'm shunned 'cause I live in California. I wish they would look back in history as to who helped the most economically to Vegas, and even when there were no courts in Nevada what state they came to. Yep, it was California. One of their most famous visionaries, Kirk Kerkorian, came from California, but I guess just like the history I'm trying to perserve, this is also forgotten. When someone comes along who lives in Vegas and/or has lived the history, I cherish their help. Of course, who comes to mind is our own beloved Dick Taylor, Howard Klein, Riviera's John Neeland, Michael Christ, Frank Wright, and less us not forget Sam Melchionne, who spent a good four months reliving his life and career to me so I can record it for this site.

MGM Grand, which at one time helped me a great deal, turned around and told me since I wasn't the "Official Media," they would no longer help me and essentially telling me to look up the things I need.

Well, Monday morning I had the pleasure and enjoyment of meeting Cathie Bryant. You see, quite a while ago I had a surprise for you. I was going to do a bio of two people who contributed just as much to the Strip as the visionaries who built it. They never built a casino on the Strip but their contribution was just important. Unfortunately, I couldn't get enough information. Enter Cathie. Cathie met someone who could help and she has been doing the footwork since she lives in Vegas and I'm in California. She has been running errands, conducting research, and doing everything this site needs. She came to Treasure Island to bring me items and other things. Along with her came Greg Crosby, a reporter for Mercury newspaper.

We sat down and talked about these two individuals, going through pictures, memorabilia, etc. I've also asked Greg to do some research from me since 1. He is a reporter. 2. He lives in Vegas and probably can get the answers I can't get.

Cathie, I'm indebted to you for everything you have done for me. Hopefully we can come up with a couple of bios that these two people, if they were alive, would be proud of.

After the meeting, Pat and I went to the Monte Carlo and we purposely took the tram to Bellagio so Pat could see it. I also redeemed points for the buffet at Bellagio and we went there to eat. It is no secret that Bellagio is one of my favorites. She has managed to have her own personality and keep the Dunes' personality as well. This is a beautiful, elegant resort, and at first appears intimidating, but you could feel that if any of her sisters want to go one on one with her, the elegance would be thrown out the window and she can get down and dirty.

I had a bad experience with the buffet last year which had been corrected very quickly, but this year everything went like glass. This buffet is Pat's favorite. She loved the food and servers, and she even bonded with the Keno runner. I myself don't have a favorite buffet but the buffet is a room to see.

For dinner I redeemed points for the Mirage's buffet and as with the others, food and service was great. No complaints here.

Before we left, John Neeland over at the Riviera told us that Ken Block would be performing at the Le Bistro Lounge for free that night preparing his new act. We decided to go down to the Riv and check him out. Ken is a familiar face doing stand-up comedy at the Riv's Comedy Club but he is creating a new show and wanted peoples' reactions.

When I asked the girl at the box office at the Riv if the show was still free, she said there wasn't any 8:30 show. Now I know John, and if said there was a show, there was a show, so Pat and I waited until 8:10 when it was opened and entered. We were followed by the girl in the box office, apologizing profusely saying she just found out there was a free show and she was looking all over for us. I told her not to worry about. Very sweet for her to come talk with us though.

I played the $20 for $40 slots that I usually played and got a camera. My own camera weirded out on me as it wouldn't rewind the film so I figured I needed another camera. I don't know about you, but the plastic that covers the cameras are impossible to open without a knife or scissors. Safes should be made out of that material. Here Pat and I are, sitting in the lounge, trying to get this damn thing opened. We lost the battle big time. Pat said we needed a man to open this, looked around and there was a man standing behind us. Pat holds up this steel enforced plastic case and asks the man to open it for us. As he is cracking this safe, I hear people asking him questions and I whispered to Pat that I think she just asked the star of the show to open the package. We almost died when he gave the opened packaged back to us and said he hoped we would stay to see his show. Yep, sure enough, we asked Ken Block himself to open the package and he did even though he was giving instructions for his show. Well, I figured since we made such asses out of ourselves, I might as well go the limit and asked if I could ignore the usual no photo warnings and take pictures of him and he said sure. Now we all know how well I take pictures so we'll see if they come out. Here is his publicity picture which I received on June 11, 2002. You can read his press release and reviews on the Riviera's page.

Ken Block

Ken Block did a little bit of everything and we enjoyed his show. Afterwards I was able to catch up to him and ask if he would sit a few minutes with us and talk. He took the time out and sat with us. He told us how we were watching bits and pieces of what is going to be his show and the actual show will debut at the Riv on Monday June 10th. I told him about the site and asked if he would contribute his bio, pictures, or anything else to my site and he said he would gather some items up to send to me. I want to take this opportunity to thank Ken for not only opening our camera package, but coming to speak with us afterwards. If you're in Vegas on June 10th, I suggest going to see him at 8:30pm at the Le Bristro Theater. This show is free as well. I haven't seen the show as Ken was still working on it, but I think based on what bits I saw, you will have a good time.

We decided to hang around the Riv for awhile and I played some Keno. The two Keno attendants were a comedy act in their own right and every time I got up to play I witnessed the show. Its nice to see employees who like their job and have fun doing it.

I then decided to check out the Riv's computers. I put $5 in and logged on to Worldnet to check my mail. Everything went find until I decided to delete some of them. The screen froze and I had to start again. I guess Riviera's computers can't relate to Worldnet. They were easy to use though and a little bird talked me through it.

Pat wanted to stay at the Riv but I needed to go to the Sahara to get her 50th birthday chip. As I walked past the Algiers I took a good look at Thunderbird/Silverbird/El Rancho's sibling/legacy and wondered if they were going to demolish her as well. I'll add that latest tidbit of information to the Algiers' page.

I then walked past the fenced up property that was once the 4th lady on the Strip. I looked through the fence and saw absolutely nothing. The "London" casino hasn't even laid down the foundation yet. Its so sad to see that vacant lot where once that proud lady stood. Hell, she had her 50th anniversary in 1998 and couldn't even celebrate it as she was closed. What a shame!

I did look across the street and saw that the Hilton's timeshare is going up as planned which I'm happy about. I wish it was a new lady on the Strip but a timeshare is certainly better than a plot of dirt.

I proceeded to walk to the Sahara where the place was buzzing with activity. I really like what Bennett has done to the birthday girl. I remember going to her before he owned her and she was a sad looking lady. She reminded me of the Dunes in the last stages of her life and I was sure Sahara was going to be the latest casualty. Bennett took over just as he done with Circus Circus years ago when she was not doing too well and made some necessary changes. The birthday girl is now very bright, and people were definitely having fun just as the sixth lady on the Strip was born to do. I bought my chips and did a little gambling looking around and enjoying the sights and sounds.

I never liked walking on this part of the Strip because of the lack of activity and the element that hangs around on that corner. I went over to the bus stop and took the first bus to the Frontier. As I have said previously, I look at amazement at the daughter of the second lady on the Strip. She has been given more death sentences and she is still kicking. Even though by this time it was about 1:00-2:00am, she still had people and enjoying the activity that made this property such a vital step in the evolution of the Strip. I secretly crossed my fingers hoping that Ruffin will have his court battles a long time so this lady can enjoy a long and prosperous life.

Tuesday, Vegas had the heat that made her famous. We started out by getting our 2 for 1 buffet at Treasure Island and like the other MGM Mirage resorts, the food and service was great. No complaints. We then decided to go visit the ladies we hadn't visited on Sunday and Monday.

First we had to move our abode to New York New York, more redemption of my points. I was equally excited as I wanted to see what that resort was like.

I had a bad experience last year with the front desk at New York and I wasn't looking forward to going there but Pat said she would handle this part but I was surprised. We got the sweetest little girl who smiled a lot explained the resort for us in detail and when Pat asked if there were any Monopoly slots the girl not only found out but showed us on the map where they could be located. I wish I could remember her name. I'll ask Pat and get back to you with that information.

We were on the 21st floor of the Century tower. The room was great! Again, little room for clothes with only the two drawers in the TV stand and the closet - maybe no one is expecting to have a lot of clothes in 90+ weather - hmmm. Anyway, the bathroom held the average minus the mouthwash. This room had an iron/ironing board though which Pat used. This room had two extra pillows.

I was happy to see that the bathroom floor was tiled and rough so when I took a bath, I didn't practice skating. The bathroom was smaller than at Treasure Island though.

Pictures of our room and our view can be found on New York New York's page.

I was disappointed with the machines on my floor. I was looking forward to a selection like Treasure Island but it was the basic soda machine - bummer!

When I went outside, I found a very moving tribute. Apparently fire departments from all over the world sent their t-shirts to be draped on the fence surrounding the resort in memory of the September 11th attacks. I took some a few pictures which also can be found on my New York New York page. If you are from a fire department that wants to donate a t-shirt, contact New York New York for information.

I was shocked when I went into one of my favorite places, Casino Royale. What I always loved about this little was all the noise and activity. The place was always full of people cheering each other on. I walked in and even though there were tons of people, the sound of silence was weird. I was walking around wondering what was going on. I decided to play some slots. Now I'm the type of person who will play this machine for a minute, go to the next one, etc. I sat down and the machines weren't making any noise. I decided I couldn't take it anymore, went to cash out and I got a ticket. Now I realized what was going on - all the machines had turned to those damned ticketed machines. I remember years ago the MGM Grand had an entire section of those and nobody wanted to play them. No excitement! MGM took them out a short time later. Now I'm faced with this damn ticket again. I went over to the cashier and she told me all the machines were like this. That was it for me. I wouldn't hesitate to stay there again, but I won't be gambling there. Those tickets took all the fun out of playing slots! If all the resorts turn to tickets, I'll definitely be saving a lot of money because I won't be able to gamble.

I met Pat at the Flamingo and we gambled a little. Its always nice for me to go to the Flamingo. She is my third closest buddy behind the dearly departed Landmark and old Aladdin and I love being in her. Park Entertainment is going to the one players card as well and we got a new card which covers Flamingo, Bally's, Paris, Caesars, and LV Hilton. All the points are combined and I've added the new card to the souvenir section of each of the ladies.

We had to leave to go back to the Riviera. As we all know, I've been dying to see Marlene Ricci. I've typed her name all through this site and she is a Strip veteran. I've hinted to John Neeland since Ricci became part of the Riv's stable and he graciously sent me tickets to see her show. THANK YOU JOHN!!! I was so excited and I really wanted to be able to talk her about the possibility of contributing to this site. This woman must have stories about the ladies and I wanted to tap her mind and see why she lasted so long.

In my excitement about getting the tickets for Ricci I didn't notice until the day I left that John also gave me tickets to see the Neil Diamond impersonator Jay White. THANKS AGAIN JOHN!!! It was a wonderful surprise.

We waited in front of the Flamingo and two buses went by totally full. This is unlike the CAT system as if one bus was full they would get more to cover the people. That's when I found out the bus drivers went on strike. As some of you know, I'm anti-union. I've seen what strikes do, and I work for a union so I feel more than qualified to feel the way I do. Here are these poor elderly visitors standing in this 90+ heat watching each bus go by. This is inhuman in my opinion. Whatever the drivers have against the employers shouldn't involve threatening the lives and/or safety of the people. All of us are no part of this dispute and I think its criminal for the unions to involve us - union dues at work I suppose.

Pat and I ended up walking to the Riv in the heat and needless to say, by the time we got there we were sweating and not a pretty sight - probably not a pretty smell either. I will say we weren't in the greatest of moods for Jay White's performance, me in particular, swearing about the unions abusing our rights.

White had a hell of a job that night - mainly putting me in a good mood. First of all I had the experience of getting to the Riv. Second, I really don't understand impersonators. I can see wanting to see them if the actual celebrity is dead such as the case with Elvis, Rat Pack, John Lennon, etc, but seeing an impersonator when the celebrity is alive is beyond my comprehension. I once saw a celebrity impersonator show at the Flamingo and yeah, they were good but I could buy a ticket to see the real person live. An Evening at La Cage I can see because these are males impersonating females for the most part and its a fun show but to see Neil Diamond who isn't Neil Diamond just sounds crazy to me.

As I have warned John Neeland time and time again, I will shoot down anything at the Riv that I don't like but he stands behind Riv. I've critized the Riv in the past and told John about it, but it has been few and far between.

Well, here I am sweaty, angry and really wanting to go gamble and wait for Ricci's show instead, but Pat wanted to see the show. Jay White/Neil Diamond came out and I had to admit the resemblance was uncanny and he sounded just like Diamond but so what! Now mind you, even though I have all of Diamond's records, I never saw him live so I don't know how much is White impersonating Diamond and how much is White himself, but the guy is good. He interacted well with the audience, joked around with us, did all of Diamond's popular shows, and even though I hated it, I was actually getting into his show. He has a lot of charm and personality and not only did he get a standing ovation, he even made me stand up and clap. His back up band is extremely professional and great. Of particular note was the keyboard player Brian who really got into the show like he was playing for White for the first time. I have to say I give this show an A++++. Now I'm not saying I'm now going to impersonator shows but I would love to go see White again and if you're going to be Vegas, you should go see him. If he could put me in a good mood that night, he can work wonders with anyone!

Pat told me White was out after the show talking with people but I had left to go take pictures of the timeshare while it was still light. I was disappointed that I didn't get a chance to talk to White as I would've liked to ask him some questions but I needed those pictures.

I went back to the lounge to see the person I wanted to see Marlene Ricci. Unfortunately, we got a booth in the back as I wanted to be closer but I got to the lounge too late. But that's ok. Not only have I typed Ricci's name throughout this site including Flamingo, Caesars, Aladdin, Frontier, but she was also the chosen one to be on the cover of the first issue of the Dunes' newsletter.

This little lady came out and I was wondering how such a little girl could sing as I've heard she could. She sang her first song and this lady can sing - boy can she sing. She talked with the audience, and sang while showing a slideshow of her life as Sinatra's protege and what she has done. She truly deserves the name "Cinderella of Las Vegas". Damn she was good. She was everything I expected plus more. The band who backed Jay White was the same band with Brian still acting like this was the first show he has done, having a great time. This time though, Ricci included a violinist who had a wonderful song she performed, and one of the guitarists had a solo as well. It is a very well-rounded show which includes all eras of music. I was very pleased about seeing this Strip pro performing and I strongly suggest seeing her. What a broad as Sinatra would say!

After the show, Ricci went out to talk with the audience and I saw my chance. I've been turned down by so many of the Strip stars to contribute the site - well, not exactly turned down, just ignored, that I come to expect it. So far only Frank Marino helped me so I wasn't expecting much. I introduced myself, told her about my site and asked if she could help with any stories, or anything else she would like to contribute. I was so surprised by the graciousness this lady has and how sweet she is. She said sure and gave me her phone number to call her so we can talk. The minute my daughter gives me back my tape recorder I'll be calling her so stay tuned to see what she has to share with us. In the meantime, while you're at the Riviera seeing Jay White, stay for Marlene Ricci. You will definitely have a well-rounded evening of fun and amazement. These two are definitely worth seeing and I'm so grateful to John for giving me the opportunity to see them.

We then went over to the Circus Circus. Mandalay Bay Resorts Group also has the one in all players card including Mandalay Bay, Luxor, Excalibur, Monte Carlo, Circus Circus, Slots A Fun, Colorado Belle, and Edgewater. I put the card on their pages for your viewing and reference.

When I got back to the room I looked out the window and saw the MGM Grand, Tropicana, and a part of the Excalibur all dolled up in their evening wear of lights. They were all so pretty. I had to sit down for a while and just take in that view. The mature Tropicana, the nation's largest - MGM, and the Disneyland castle all in one. Just beautiful.

Now the whole purpose why I planned the trip when I did was to see the Casino Chips & Gaming Tokens Collectors Club show/convention at the Tropicana. I'm not in any way into chips and I must admit, they confuse me, but most of the time, paper vendors show up and I usually get some rare items for the site.

Chip collectors have been an asset to this site and have helped me in the past with chips. I was also referred to Pete Rizzo who all the collectors who contacted me stated he was the "god" of chips. This is no way against the chip people as I find them one of the most interesting group of individuals I've met, and they are so much fun when you listen to them discussing the chips but I was truly angry.

I talked with Dan Kubota and checked out a few websites and found out the show started on Wednesday. I planned this trip where I can spend all day on Wednesday and a few hours on Thursday to go through everything.

Wednesday we once again had our MGM Grand buffet due to Pat redeeming her points, and I redeemed points to see EFX. I have to admit, the food at the MGM was better on Wednesday but I'm not sure why. I enjoyed it more.

I went over to the Trop and saw they had borrowed Bob Stupak's gimmick of the tic-tac-toe playing chicken. I was so unimpressed. First of all, this bird is in a very small contained area and I just thought it was cruel so I proceeded to the convention.

When I got there I was told I couldn't go in, that Wednesday is just for the dealers and to come back Thursday at 8:00am. I told the lady I planned my whole trip around this and she really could give a damn. No where did I find that Wednesday was just for dealers and I was really pissed. I wanted to see if Dan was there so I could say hi and I couldn't even get in to find him. Two security guards took pity on me and they hunted Dan down and brought him to me. It was great to see Dan again but I told him how angry I was and he said he didn't know Wednesday was for dealers until that morning. Dan took me to lunch and we discussed the properties. Its always great to talk to Dan as he has so many stories. Dan had to get back so I left. Before I left I asked two more people if 8:00am was the admittance time and now I had three people tell me yes.

We then went in to see EFX Alive with Rick Springfield. Now I've seen the show last year and as I said, I'm not a Springfield fan, but I do enjoy seeing him in this show. The songs are great, he also interacts well with the audience, and he is so relaxed in his role that you know he has to be enjoying it. Pat absolutely loved the show and was raving all about it. The program was updated and I have included it on the MGM's page.

I'm not going to take anything from Springfield and the effects as this is a perfect show but as I said last year, the one that impresses me the most is Springfield's sidekick Sal Salangsang. I guess I've come to expect showmanship from Springfield due to his extensive background in live concerts as well as performing on shows such as soap operas, Battlestar Galactica, and the private investigator show he was on. This man's credentials is long and impressive, but Sal, playing Springfield's sidekick and opens the show is one hell of a talent as well. He does comedy, dancing, and is seen throughout the show. His energy is limitless and the audience just falls in love with him. I could see by the audiences' faces that they loved when Springfield and Salangsang are together and they play off of each other well. It is clear that Springfield is the star as he should be, and the songs he wrote are just beautiful, but the show would lack if it lost Salangsang. He gives it just the zip it needs to come together.

I had left after the show and Pat told me afterward Salangsang came out to the casino and was talking with people. I was greatly disappointed I missed that because I would've liked for him to send me publicity pictures and his bio to put up on the MGM's page. I'm going to write to him and ask him for his help. Unfortunately, when I sent a letter to Springfield when he first joined the show, he never responded. Wish me luck that Salangsang will help me out. There is a small picture of him in the new program that I put up but I would like a clearer picture.

Thursday, I left Pat to check out the casinos so I can get to the show. I show up and now I'm told the general audience wasn't allowed until 10:00am. Ask me how mad I was? I planned my whole stay around this show and now I would get to spend exactly 2 hours. I was livid! I doubt I will go to another CCGTCC function. If I do go I will make sure I don't plan anything around it as they apparently don't care about the general public who buys their chips. Once again, this isn't against the individual collectors but I think it is disgusting how I, as well as the other people, was treated! Then they have the nerve asking people to join. Yeah, okay - will do that immediately! NOT!

The wonderful lady security guard that was there once again took pity on me and asked a dealer to go find Dan for me. Dan came right out and he was as confused as I was as to what they were doing to the people who wanted to spend money on the chips. He needed to get back to his table so I killed time until 10:00. This time I walked up and asked if I should come back at 12:00pm. I'm sure my sarcasm wasn't appreciated but I was absolutely miserable.

Once I got in my mood changed being with this group. I especially loved the man who was taking so long looking at the chips, one of the dealers said he spent more time looking at the chips then he did picking out his wife's engagement ring. The man responded he had a hell of a lot less money back then so it didn't take long. You can see this is a close-knit group and just eavesdropping on them is a show in itself.

I had two very pleasurable surprises during this time -

As I mentioned above, when my site opened up and I created a link page I received quite a few e-mails from collectors saying to put Pete Rizzo's site on it. He is the "god" of chips and everyone would benefit from knowing this link. I wrote to Pete and asked him and he said sure. Over the years he has helped many of my readers. I get people writing in asking about chips, ashtrays, etc., and I just don't know the answers. I refer them to Pete and a lot of wrote back saying Pete was so helpful and they bookmarked his site. Believe it or not I always get mail to my e-mail address congratulating Pete on this site thinking he created it. Over the years, I've written to him and we're e-mail buddies.

Now I don't know about you, but when I e-mail a person a couple of times I get a visual on them. What I think they look like. I saw Pete as an elderly man, possibly retired, gray hair and beard, probably smokes a pipe and spends his golden years dealing in chips. Whenever I e-mailed him I made sure the e-mails were professional giving the elderly the respect due by not swearing, cracking jokes and the like. I didn't want to offend him and appear to be a cocky lady

I'm walking around and I see a stand where the name looked familiar. I looked at the business cards and it said Pete Rizzo. I was sooooo excited! I'm actually going to meet the man who has helped my readers, and gave me support. I wipe my hands on my shorts and get ready for a hearty hand-shake that retired men give and walk up. I see this cute girl and I think, oh he has his daughter, possibly granddaughter helping. So I walk up and ask if I can meet Pete Rizzo. She points to a young man, possibly 25-30 years old. I figured this was his son, maybe grandson. I said no, Pete Rizzo who owns the site, the "god" of chips. She smiles and says he is the one. I was blown away. When I walked up to him all I could manage to say was "Hi, I'm lvstriphistory.com." Not my name, not even my site's name, just the URL. He stopped, a big smile came to his face and he hugged me. Out of all the things I wanted to ask him, Miss Brilliant announces "how could someone so young have so much knowledge." Yep folks, all class I am. He laughs and told me how. He also told me about the people who contacted him saying I sent them and he has the same problem, people writing to him commenting about this site being his. We both laughed and I pointed Dan Kubota out to him as my own personal cheerleader and sole motivator. I then found out that this pretty little girl is actually his wife. I was putting her age at 14-18. I liked that Pete put his main page in different languages. I couldn't do that with my site because of the size of it but I like what he did.

I admire him for being so knowledgeable at his age. It takes a lot of focus and a natural love of something to do that. Pete, I'm so happy to have met you and that you are so willing to help my readers. Many, many thanks for everything you've done for my readers and the site!

Then I had my second big surprise. A few years back I went to one of these shows and I met a man who had the Frontier's newsletter that the resort used to put out. I had no money so I had to buy just a couple which you see on the Frontier's page. The minute I got home I regretted it seeing that none ever shows up on Ebay or any of the other sites. For the past three years every paper/chip show I go to I look for that man, and could never find him. I kicked myself in the butt every time I thought about it. I always said, if I found him again I would spend all the money I have and suffered the consequences later.

I'm looking at all the chips, walking around, eavesdropping on all these wonderful comments, and I see a rack with just a glimpse of a newsletter. I look at the man behind the table and ITS HIM. I ran over to the table and started pulling the newsletters out before anyone else could. He looked at me with curiosity. He didn't remember me but I sure as hell remembered him. I then went on to tell him about my meeting with him years earlier and now I wasn't going to lose him again. His name is Robert Ensley and saw in amusement as I took every one of those magazines. Now that I had him I was going to make sure he wasn't hiding anything on me. I told him I needed everything he has on the Strip, things with information. He began his search through the racks and found a Desert Inn gaming and few other things. I was so happy. He not only had all kinds of great things in addition to chips, he is a very nice man and put up with me going through his racks like a bull in a china cabinet. I'm going to be adding these things to the site shortly. Many thanks to Robert for being so kind to this crazy lady, and remember, if you get anything else remember me.

I was pretty angry walking in but after meeting Pete Rizzo and finding Robert Ensley I was in a pretty damn good mood.

I went back to Dan's table to show him my treasures all excited. After all the times he kept me motivated I think he was just as happy as I was. You know, after the years of Dan being my cheerleader, source of information and pictures, and all around confident, I forget that I met Dan because he is a Seller on Ebay - taradena for those who want to see his auctions. I sit down and I see he has things. I started to go through them and sure enough, he had gaming guides my site needs, and a postcard of the El Rancho I don't have. I pulled them out right away. Dan, I need to look through your things more often!

Dan also did me a big favor. Since he was able to go through other dealer's items before the general audience he could find things that I couldn't because they wouldn't let me in. He found a magazine with the opening of the Dunes, and other valuable information. He grabbed that magazine for me immediately. I will be adding the pictures and information to the site but I'm giving this back to Dan. Dan told him he is planning to sell it so I'm going to add the information and let everyone know if you want to buy it to contact Dan at [email protected] with a possible offer. This will stay throughout the site until it is sold. Depending upon when Dan sells it, I maybe the one mailing it as I actually have it. This is a must have for any casino collector, especially any Dunes collector.

I also finally convinced Dan to relate all his experiences to me for this site. When I get my recorder back from my kid, Dan and I are going to meet and I'm going to pick his mind for all his experiences. Dan not only lived and gambled on the Strip, he also was a dealer and I'm hoping to get all his stories on this site.

Thank you Dan for your company while I was on vacation, pick up that 1955 magazine for me, and everything else you have done for me and this site. I will be forever indebted to you!

Overall, I enjoyed my vacation. I need to develop pictures for additional information and I'll let you know what happens. I will add links to the various comments below to make it easier to you. I will also add the links to the pages where Dan's magazine is mentioned for the year 1955 so check back with this page.

Pat, loving inflicting pain on herself, put up with my crazy schedule, meetings, looking for information, taking pictures, etc. She said she would volunteer to go back with me again. Pat, you are truly nuts but I appreciate it.

The resorts that have parts of the June, 1955 magazine on this site that Dan has for sale is as follows: Dunes, Desert Inn, Frontier, Moulin Rouge, Royal Nevada, Sands, and Silver Slipper.

MGM Grand Hotel
Mirage
Mirage
New York New York
Riviera
Pete Rizzo's Old Vegas Chips
Rick Springfield
Treasure Island

1999-2002, Deanna DeMatteo - All rights reserved.