Somehow I managed to get a great room! It was in the Augusta tower on the 12th floor, facing the golf course, second room from the elevators. What a fantastic view! I got lots of great shots of the room, and the view. Then I went down to the Crystal Room. It was about two in the afternoon, and there was a lady there taking reservations for Friday and Saturdays shows. I asked her if it would be all right if I went in and got some pictures of the room. She said sure. So I went in. None of the tables had cloths on them, and all the pictures that used to hang around the room had been taken down, but I got some good pics.

The stage was set up with the band's equipment, and the back curtain was up, revealing the back stage area. I went back stage and spoke to the stage manager. He was a nice guy. I took his picture by the drum kit. He gave me his card, and told me he was giving it to everyone now because he was looking for a job. I told him if I ever got my band back together---just kidding. Anyway, he said the "boys" were going to be there in about twenty minutes, and if I wanted to hang out there for awhile, maybe I could talk to their manager and get some shots of them, and watch them rehearse. Well I did not think the chances of that were very good, but I hung out anyway, and took some more pics.

When the manager showed up, he told me I could not stay and take pictures because of copyright laws and the rules and all, just as I had expected.

I went out into the casino. There was only one Blackjack table with a dealer, and a few people playing. The roulette dealer was standing there at an empty table, looking bored out of his head. The craps table was half closed, it was being manned by one dealer, stickman, and of course the boxman. So you could only bet on one end of the table. I love to shoot craps, it is a bad weakness of mine, and an empty table even half closed is an temptation to me. So I played--- bad decision--- I lost a bunch of money I shouldn't have-- famous last words--- oh well, so much for gambling, I came here to take pictures, right?

I put on my swimsuit, and went out to the pool. The weather was great, the water was warm, just what I needed to relax after the beating I took at the craps table. Got some more great shots. Then out of nowhere a storm blew in and it started to pour! It was really coming down. So I went back to the room.

Gloria got there after work. It had pretty much stopped raining, and after promising her I would not play anymore craps, we walked around a bit.

We had dinner at Portofino's, a great restaurant but expensive.

The waiters were all professional and nice, but there was an underlying sadness. Some talked to me about what they were going to do. Some said they would retire, some said they were going to take a much needed vacation, some said they were going to go into another line of work, some said they had no idea what they were going to do. There were a lot of regular patrons there, one could tell, because when they got up to leave, there was a lot of hugging, handshaking, and farewells, with the waiters and management. Anyway the food was excellent, and we enjoyed ourselves.

We awoke early. I got some great shots of the sunrise over the golf course. Then we spent most of the day at the pool. From the pool we could see the golf course, so we decided to leave our stuff on the chairs, grabbed the camera and went for a walk on the golf course, we stayed pretty much on the golf cart path, as to not interfere with anyone's game, and as Gloria said "We don't want to get bonked on the head with a golf ball!!" We got some fantastic shots!

There was this wooden archway bridge that had a sign that said: The Wilbur Clark Bridge--Erected 1954-- A Desert Inn Historical Landmark-- Pretty cool huh.

There was a lot of little streams and little waterfalls, it is a beautiful course. We were walking past this little waterfall, and I stopped to take a picture of the DI from where we were at, and Gloria looked down in the water and said "Jeff doesn't that look like money" I didn't have any shoes on, so I stepped into the water, pulled it out, and sure enough, it was a Fifty Dollar Bill!! We couldn't believe it. It probably had not been in there to long because it was one of those new fifties, and other than being all wet, it was in great shape! It was completely dry in a few minutes. What a find!

Shortly after that we were walking along taking pictures, and this golf cart comes driving up to us, with this country club guy, who tells us that we can't be on the golf course unless we are playing golf. He was not mean about it, but we could tell that he was a little perturbed we were out there enjoying the beauty of his golf course without playing the game. Not to mention that, we were in our swimsuits, and had not paid the course fees! Anyway, he said we could either ride with him, or walk back to the pool, so we walked back to the pool.

Later that night, about three in the morning, we were walking around the casino. We walked upstairs because I was going to try to get some more shots of the floor from up there, but before I could get any, a guard came up, and said "This is not a public area, you folks are going to have to go back downstairs" So we did. I struck up a conversation with the guard about the closing, and he was really quite upset with Steve Wynn. He said " The only reason Steve Wynn bought the place was so that he could write it off his taxes as a $300 million loss" Then he said "There will never be another hotel like the DI, this hotel has true class, a type of class that is dying in Las Vegas, but you know, I am glad he is blowing it up, because he does not deserve it." I then asked him if I could take his picture with the other guard that had come up while we were talking, and they said sure. Then I asked if I could take some shots of the High Roller area because the was no-one in there, and they said as long as I didn't go in, but I could if I stood at the ropes. So I got some more great shots.

About that time, I heard a commotion behind me, I turned around to see Frankie Avalon and friends come up and start talking to the pit boss, a few feet away from me. There were three older ladies that had followed him there, and they asked if it would be OK if they got a picture with him, he said sure, then they turned to me and asked if I would take the picture with their camera. Well what am I going to say- No? So I take the picture, and as they are leaving, I asked if I can get a picture of him and Gloria. He said sure, and then Gloria took one of him and I. He was a really nice guy, and did not seem to mind taking the pictures. I think he has real class.

We will always remember fondly, our time at the Desert Inn.

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