LAS VEGAS 1993 - Jim Colyer

I returned to Las Vegas for 3 months, March 7 to June 8, 1993, with the intention of adding to the experience I had in 1979. I dug in at The Tropicana Club at the south end of Las Vegas Boulevard, close to the Excalibur. I relied on the strip trolly for transportation up and down The Strip. I just wanted to hang out. Bill Clinton was America's new President, and we seemed to be going through a 70s revival. It was an opportune moment for escaping my parents' basement, where I had held up for more than 7 years, and a chance to fend for my self again, to procure my own food and to handle my own clothes. The basics. I flew into McCarran Airport from Minnesota, my first flight in 15 years. Las Vegas was the same in many way, and in some ways it had changed. The Ali Baba Apartments were torn down to make room for the new MGM theme park. The Granada Inn was for sale, and the Treasury was now the San Remo. The Dunes was coming down, and the old MGM Grand was now Bally's. Las Vegas, or The Meadows, is still the entertainment capital of the world. The Strip itself is a work of art . Unfortunately, the wind, heat, crowds, traffic and noise ensure that it is partially heaven, partially hell. You learn to pump up the things you like, to economize and to get the best deals. I finally saw rain. The Castle Excalibur is the big attraction now. It exploits a medieval motif, King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table from the early dark ages, Robin Hood from later on. I patronized the restaurants of the Medieval Village on the second level. A belly dancer was doing her thing. The Excalibur, Luxor pyramid, Tropicana and the new MGM Grand are forming a kind of second hot corner. Circus Circus owns The Excalibur and The Luxor. The trend is toward a family orientation. Downtown, The Golden Goose Casino is just a topless joint but the sign is still there, an historic fixture on the Glitter Gulch landscape. The sign faces both directions. Above it, revolves the goose figure on its nest of golden eggs. Cowboy Vegas Vic and cowgirl Sassy Sally patrol adjacent sides of the street. On down, Union Plaza sits next to the Greyhound Bus station. Caesar's Palace is still hard to top. The Forum Shops at Caesar's price themselves into the luxury class. The 18 foot replica of Michelangelo's David (of David and Goliath) presides over Appian Way as the Italian Renasiiance imposes itself on the Roman Empire. I ventured into the pool area behind Caesar's for the first time, beautiful under a moonlit sky. Next door, The Mirage shows off its erupting volcano and its white tigers. I have to say that the casinos are awful. Men at the tables. Women on the machines. Expressionless. Like zombies. One must refrain from drinking and gambling if he is to enjoy Las Vegas. I did. The Fashion Show Mall offers the best shopping on The Strip. I began to realize it was the production shows that interested me and most specifically the leggy, statuesque dancers and showgirls. Bally's Jubilee! was the hot ticket. It was the biggest show on The Strip and had the best showgirls. I took Jubilee's backstage tour but was disappointed to have a male dancer as a guide instead of a sexy showgirl. Still, I gained insight. One thing that impressed me was the size of the stage. From the stage, the seating area appeared small. Jubilee! is a dinsaur, a glamorous throwback to the musicals of yesterday. It is a composite of Vaudeville, Broadway and classic Hollywood. It boasts of its nightly sinking of The Titanic, but the thrill is in seeing all those long, shapely legs assembled in one place at one time. 100 people make up the cast, and 100 more are behind the scenes. The show is so lavish it leaves you dazed. I got my revenge for the backstage tour when that same male dancer took a picture of me with one of the girls. Free photo sessions are between shows. Some of those girls are 6'2" and 6'3" The Stardust had Enter The Night. I saw Folies Bergere (Ber-share) at The Tropicana even though I did not plan to. Karen and I had seen the show in 1979. This time I took the backstage tour and was led through by a former showgirl of 20 years. She must have been part of the show we saw 14 years before. It was interesting to get behind the scenes, especially into the dressing rooms to see and handle the costumes. Some of them are heavy, so the girls have to be pretty sturdy. I lingered a few moments to talk to my showgirl. I asked if there were a pension plan for those who stayed 20 years. She said no, but they were nice and had given her a job. Folies Bergere was the oldest show in Las Vegas, going back to 1959. Bare Essence at The Sands was comparable in longevity. Bare Essence was unemcumbered by European tradition and lived up to its billing as a "sexy, sizzling revue." Melinda, First Lady of Magic, is a native Las Vegan. Using animals, she performd feats of illusion between spicy dance numbers. Her show was at The Lady Luck, downtown. All the shows give a feeling of euphoria. For Crazy Girls, the showroom at The Riviera provided an intimacy some of the others did not. I suppose my feeling of being hustled in and out derived from wanting to take those splendid calves and thighs home with me. I made it to Arizona Charlie's for the Naughty Ladies review. It was good, old timey fun, high button shoes. For the finale, we paraded to "When The Saints Go Marching In." Seduction and Viva Las Vegas were afternoon shows. Seduction was in Sahara's Casbar Lounge. It was back to The Sands for Viva Las Vegas. The Elvis impersonator at Vegas World put on a complimentary show. He called himself E.P.King. I looked down on the city from the top of Vegas World. Beatle tribute bands were at The Rio and The Four Queens. A promo ticket gave me access to Imperial Palace's antique cars. I was a bit scared of Death Valley in 1979 but this time took the Silver Star Line tour. I rode shotgun in the van as we made stops at Dante's View and the Devil's Golf Course. The "golf course" is a dried lake where the salt is from 3 to 5 feet deep. I tasted it. Death Valley sits on the Nevada-California line but is mostly in California. The borax mined from Death Valley is a mineral used in soap. I recalled that the 105 elements of chemistry make up the 3000 minerals of geology. Minerals form 3 kinds of rocks: igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary. Fossils are found in sedimentary rocks, those laid down by water. I took a taxi ride on the Colorado River in Laughlin, 90 miles southeast of Vegas. Returning to Louisville in order to rendevous with Michael, I came east on I-40, the old Route 66. Kingman, Flagstaff, Albuquerque, Amarillo, Oklahoma City, Little Rock, Memphis and Nashville. I realized the Strip is a short-lived thing, like the Mall in D.C. The only reason to see it again will be to show it to Michael as part of a western trip.
Contact: jim@jimcolyer.com