I leave to go back to Dallas today. Everyone else is staying a couple more days, but I knew I would have to be home on Monday for work. I have a flight booked in the afternoon, but I still have all morning to do things. I decided to do a Segway tour. I wanted to do one that goes through a canyon but I knew I wouldn’t have enough time. So I booked one that would take me to different spots around Vegas. When I showed up in my uber, I found out I was the only person on the tour. I had already done several tours in Australia so I knew how to work the Segway, and after breezing through the obstacle course we were able to set off.
After we ate we took the metro back to the hotel so I could grab my things before heading to the airport. It was a nice trip and I was glad I got to explore some of Vegas while I was there. I doubt I’ll make very many trips here, since the main attraction is the casinos and I’m not very good at gambling. When I was at the airport they were offering people credit if they would give up their seats. I was going to do it, but then I found out the next flight would be over 2 hours later, and that wasn’t worth it for me. That would have me getting home after midnight, and I have to work tomorrow. I feel bad for the people that didn’t catch the flight, but at least I got a seat.
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Mom and I got up the next morning at 3 am. I somehow convinced Mom to sign up for a sunrise hot air balloon ride. I have no idea how. Joe also signed up and was excited to go, but he was really sick in the morning. I don’t know what happened last night, but it made Joe sick so he decided to skip the ride. We got ready and went downstairs to get an uber to the location. We were the last group to arrive but we had only been sitting there a couple of minutes when they came to say that unfortunately they would have to cancel the ride due to the wind conditions. I was so bummed! I mean, saftely is important, but I was looking forward to my first hot air balloon ride. We rescheduled the ride for tomorrow so hopefully the weather cooperates. We caught an uber back to the hotel and went back to bed until it was time to get up for breakfast. I used the time to book a Cirque du Soleil show. I have always been amazed anytime I saw them on TV so I was excited to finally see them in person. Mom, Joe, Kendall, and Kyle were going to be at the rodeo during that time so I asked Dad and Lori if they wanted to join me. I bought tickets for all of us online. I researched the different shows, and decided on Ka. It looked cool and as a bonus it was in the hotel I was staying at so I wouldn’t have far to go after it ended. When it was finally time for breakfast, I coordinated for Dad and Lori to join us and we all went down to breakfast together. Kendall and Kyle met us while we were standing in line. The breakfast is a buffet and was pretty good! We of course started talking about the wedding, and Dad tried to get Kendall to do one of the drive in weddings while we are here. She was not going for it. She wants a big wedding.
We met at a hotel. I was a little early so I played on the slots while I waited. I didn’t do to bad and I was up $40 when I cashed out to meet the group. Our guide was dressed in a suit and when he talked he had a thick New York accent. He had actually grown up in the same neighborhoods that the Italian mob controlled so he knew stories or had met a couple of the guys he was going to talk about. After he checked to make sure everyone was there, we got in a van with a TV screen. He then played clips on the screen as he told us about the different people that were big in the mob scene in the 1950s to the 1980s.
Bugsy wasn’t at the top for long because he died in a hail of gunfire at his girlfriend’s home. It is believed that Bugsy was killed for stealing money from the casinos. Meyer Lanksy, aka “The Mob’s Accountant” brought in other people to run the Flamingo after Bugsy death and financed a string of mob backed businesses in the area. One of the people that ran the casino for a while was Virgina Hill, who was known as the “Mistress to the Mob.” She was also Bugsy girlfriend when he was killed. She also stole money and fled into hiding in Australia. She later died of “suicide,” but the people who new her said she never would have willingly left her children. In the 1970s, the Chicago mob sent Anthony Spilotro to take over the loansharking and other street rackets. He had one of his friends, Frank Cullotta, form a gang called the “Hole in the Wall Gang.” They were called that because they frequently broke into places to steal valuables and left huge holes in the wall.
The lead agent in charge got Frank Cullotta to flip on the mob. He had a recording of Spilotro ordering a hit on Cullotta. When Cullotta heard it, he turned into an informant and told the feds all he knew in exchange for immunity and Witness Protection. With this information, they were able to convict several of the mob bosses and caused the mob to lose its grip on the Strip.
We stopped at a couple of different places on our tour but didn’t leave the van. One of the places we stopped at was a parking lot where the mob attempted to assassinate one of its members by using a car bomb. They didn’t know that the model of car the guy drove had a steal plate under the driver’s seat. He was horribly burned, but he got out of the car alive. He also pointed out mob previously owned restaurants and businesses. After our tour we returned to the hotel/casino we started at. We got to eat Italian style pizza in the restaurant they have. The tour was designed by Frank Cullotta. He was in Witness Protection for a while, but decided to return to Chicago for his mother’s funeral. While he was there, he met up with guys in the mob he turned against and none of him blamed him. They thought that Spilotro did him dirty, and accepted that he flipped. After that, he decided to live openly in Las Vegas. The mob knows where he lives, but they haven’t ordered a hit on him. We had the chance to buy one of his books, but I decided not to. After we were done I caught an uber back to the hotel to meet up with Dad and Lori. They had been gambling the entire time I was gone touring Vegas. We went over to a restaurant to eat. I just got a dessert since I had just finished eating pizza. Then we gambled a little while we waited for them to start allowing people to enter the theatre for Ka.
We weren’t allowed to take pictures of the show, which was sad because it was amazing! I have never seen the acrobatics that were performed. From beginning to end there was no slow down. I kept thinking that it couldn’t get better, and then it did. During the show we followed the journey of a man and his sister who became orphans and had to learn to fight for their birthright. If I was staying another night I would return to watch this show again because it was amazing! After the show, I joined Dad and Lori in gambling, but I didn’t stay too long. I lost $200 is less than an hour and I decided I was done with gambling. So I went back up to my room to go to bed, but Dad and Lori stayed to continue gambling. How can they not be tired of it? They had just gambled for 8 hours straight!
I’m going to Las Vegas today. Kyle is going to propose to Kendall tonight and he wants the family to be there. Kendall has no idea, though she should have known something was up when Dad and I both unexpectedly decided to go to Vegas.
I was also worried about flight delays, but we left on time and landed on time. Then I had to hurry to the pickup point so my uber could pick me up. The lady that picked me up was really nice and I explained to her why I needed to hurry so I wouldn’t miss the proposal. She made a couple of illegal turns to make sure that I got there in time.
There is a zipline that goes over the strip. I booked a tour for Joe & me. It is supposed to be really amazing at night. We got there and there was a huge line outside, so we joined it. Mom stayed with us until we got to the front of the line. And then she went to the other side of the strip so she could take pictures when we came down. We only thought we were at the front of the line. We went up the stairs in the building, expecting to only have a couple of people in front of us, but there was another long line of people waiting to be harnessed. After an hour of waiting in the last line and this one, we finally got to the front again to be harnessed in. We were next in line and there were a lot of people harnessed up in front of us. Joe asked the guy how long the wait would be, and he said it would be at least another hour. Apparently people were getting on the line, but then they didn’t weigh enough to go pass the locking mechanism. The hit the mechanism and bounced back, so an employee has to get in a harness and go retrieve them. All of which was taking a lot of time. Joe and I decided that it wasn’t worth waiting another hour for, since we had already been waiting an hour. We went back down the stairs and got a refund instead.
When we got back to the hotel, we went to meet one of Mom’s cousins that also happened to be in Vegas. They were at the bar partying because one of their friends had won $20k. With the amount they were putting on his tab, he will definitely not be leaving Vegas with $20k. He will be lucky to leave with any money. I left after saying “hi” to everyone since I have an early morning excursion planned. Mom and Joe decided to stay a little while to visit and drink.
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June 2022
AuthorThese are details from my adventures around the world. |