2econd Friday was downtown, for the second month in a row, this month (please see last month’s blog for details as to why we ended up downtown at all). And what an utterly fantastic time we had. Perhaps El Cortez will be awarded a Worst Room award; perhaps El Cortez will be awarded a Worst Bathroom award; but perhaps our time at El Cortez shows that none of that really matters.
Wife Camper had prepared a great activity. We started at the Parlour Bar, for a wee sharpener, and a rundown of the evening from Wife Camper. She showed a money-bag of quarters, which would be used to play some coin-operated slots. Aha, nice activitising; El Cortez is one of the few places in Las Vegas which still has coin-operated slots. Wow, is it possible we hadn’t played slots with coins since our first trip to Las Vegas, back in 2002.
We didn’t win big with our bag of quarters. We did get a white plastic tub to hold them in.
We went and got dinner, at Siegel’s 1941. We think this place is great. We’ve been several times. The cocktails are great, the staff are great, décor’s great, and Wife Camper loves the prime rib. After dinner, we played a bit of non-coin slots.
We did win big with out purse of notes. Yeeha, look at that ripper of a win on Buffalo Grand. I’m not sure if 2econd Friday will ever see a win are rippery as that, ever again.
We played some Blackjack. We went outside to admire the neon.
We recreated a scene from Vegas Vacation (playing Keno was part of the activity, I think, but a flash of inspiration brought about this fun recreation). Have a look, below, for our pair of photos, and a pair of stills from the film. Hmm, I really should’ve studied the scene a bit better. I obviously just guessed the pose for the old guy. Also note the swanky dress Ellen is wearing in that scene. That’s the dress Wayne Newton had bought for her. Wayne Newton did not buy Wife Camper a swanky dress, even though Wife Camper had found herself in Mr Newton’s bed-chamber, one afternoon.
I know I said this in the opening paragraph, but hey, I’ll just say it again. We had an utterly fantastic time, at El Cortez. Perhaps this means I should include a bonus tune. And, hey, not a bonus one from the year of opening – 1941. Oh, perhaps one from the year of El Cortez’s 50th anniversary. Ooh, yes, that would do very nicely, indeed.
Opening Date: 7th Novermber, 1941
Tune: “London Pride” by Noel Coward
Bonus Tune: "3am Eternal" by The KLF
Dress Code: Resort Casual