Day 7 - Moving Day #2

After my 6am session in the gym, I packed up at a leisurely pace and checked out of the Palazzo. Although I got a reasonable room rate for Tue-Fri at the Palazzo, it becomes very expensive at the weekend, so I am headed to the Flamingo today for my last 3 nights.

I drove south again to South Point, and then ate breakfast at the buffet, which was absurdly good value for less than $7. I have paid 5x this amount for worse hotel breakfasts in Europe.

At 10am I wandered upstairs to the Chip and Memorabilia Convention and this time successfully gained access with my passport.

This is was a classic example of American leisure culture, where regardless of how obscure or marginal an activity might appear to be, there is sufficient critical mass in the US for their to be a large community surrounding it. This convention was attended by several thousand people, attending lectures and social events over 4 days.

Earlier in the week, I had called into the Gamblers General Store in Vegas to look into buying some vintage chips from defunct casinos. The very helpful guy at the store told me I would be best to attend the show at South Point.

I spent a couple of hours browsing through endless catalogues and folders of chips, and I bought about a dozen nice chips and a couple of presentation frames.

I then drove back into the city and headed over to the Atomic Testing Museum. Between 1951 and 1990 the US conducted almost 1,000 test explosions in the Nevada desert, 100 of which were above ground within both sight and sound of Las Vegas, 65 miles away. The museum tells the story of the test programme, the people involved and the tourist industry that grew alongside it. The National Cancer Institute later determined that the above-ground tests caused between 10,000 and 75,000 cases of thyroid cancer in the USA, which were then compensated.

After lunch at Jack in the Box (Bacon Ultimate Cheeseburger with fries) I drove to the Flamingo to check in. The front desk line took about 45 mins to negotiate, but I managed to blag another upgrade with a $20 tip, this time to a Go room on the 27th floor, with an awesome view across the Strip to Ceasars Palace and the Bellagio.

The Flamingo is steeped in history, as it was the first luxury resort built in Vegas in 1946, by mafia legend Bugsy Segal. Nothing of the original resort remains, but it is cool to stay where it all began. These days, the Flamingo is outclassed by its neighbours for the most part, but it does have a great pool and a brilliant location at the centre of the greatest street in the World!

I dumped my bags and then hit the pool. The main pool at the Flamingo has been given a makeover since I stayed here two years ago, and it is now party-central, with extremely loud music playing, and thousands of people drinking heavily in the pool. I  topped up my tan for 45 mins in the extreme desert sunshine.

After a siesta I sat in a 1/2 game at the Flamingo, but couldn't get much going. I left as a small loser at 8pm to walk to the Imperial Palace for dinner at Hash House a Gogo.

HHAG is an extraordinary restaurant who serve mammoth portions of interesting food. Their tag line is "twisted farm food" and I ordered BBQ pork ribs with mustard mash and vegetables. It was awesome, but as expected, I couldn't finish it.

I walked back to the Flamingo and got back in the 1/2 game. This time I was totally card-dead and barely played a hand for 90 mins, recording another small loss.

Below are some of today's photos. The first three were shot from my room window in the 27th floor, and the last two were taken at street level.