Implosion Shmotion

I remember when my family first moved here. It was quite exciting to drive down the strip and see all the lights and the big things where the volcanoes and pirate fights. Then on the weekend while in high school my friends and I would cruise the strip. That was when you could actually drive down the strip in a few minutes, now there is so much traffic I think it would be infuriating. We would park at Treasure Island and walk down to the MGM making stops along the way. We had a whole routine, first our goal was to make the elevators talk to us. The Treasure Island elevators people used to talk to you if you where persistent enough. Then we would stop and visit the homeless man who was always in-between the Mirage and Caesar's Palace with his three dogs and a rabbit, we always brought dog food in a baggy and a carrot. We then went in the Forum Shops and visited friends that were working and had a shake a Boogie’s Dinner (no longer there). Then we made the long haul to MGM to visit friends working at the Midway. We also brought a flag with us that the tour groups used to use. The tour group leader would hold it up so everyone would know where to go. We had fun trying to get tour groups to follow us. I don’t think we ever got anyone lost, but we did get yelled at in Chinese once or twice.

That was back in the days when I thought Vegas was cool. My mom and I actually attended the implosion for the Dunes in '93. We were down on the strip, why I don’t know I guess we thought it was fun. Afterward we went home and both took showers, we were a bit dusty. Then on New Years of ’97, I was living in Cincinnati, OH and I watched the implosion of the Hacienda on TV. That was still somewhat exciting. Oh how the excitement has faded. Last night I was awoken at 2:30am to big booming sounds, which I have to imagine where fireworks to start the implosion of the Frontier. I have been sleeping with the sliding glass door open a little, but not last night and yet the sounds still woke me from my slumber. I just lay in bed waiting for the booms to get closer together which would mean that they were having the grand finally. It seemed to go on forever and the whole time not once did I think it would be neat to get up and go outside and watch the fireworks or turn on the TV and see them. I was just lying there waiting for it to be over with already. Then finally it was and the implosion started, which too seemed to last forever. Then as I was trying to go to sleep the dogs in the neighborhood started barking. It takes me a while to actually go to sleep, so I had just got to sleep when Ronnie’s alarm goes off at 4:30. Needless to say, I think the excitement about living in Vegas has worn off.