Countdown To Vegas Has Begun

I leave on Friday for Las Vegas.  Four of us will be leaving for the trip from Dallas and Houston and will be spending until Monday in Sin City.  This will be about my sixth or seventh trip to Las Vegas and it never gets old for me.  I think the thing I am looking forward to most is eating at a breakfast diner called Blueberry Hill.

We will be staying at the El Cortez Casino and Hotel, which is the oldest standing casino the city has.  A lot of history and smoke is in that downtown building as it was first opened in 1941.  The casino has marketed itself as where locals come to play, as many residents who tire of the tourist-traps along the Strip frequent the El Cortez.

The following is some history about the El Cortez from Wikipedia:

Marion Hicks and J.C. Grayson built the El Cortez, downtown Las Vegas' first major resort, in 1941 for $245,000.  The location at 6th Street and Fremont was originally considered too far from downtown, but it became quickly so profitable, Bugsy Siegel, Meyer Lansky, Gus Greenbaum, and Moe Sedway bought the property in 1945.  J.K. Houssels had originally opened the 59-room hotel and casino before the sale to the major organized crime figures.  In 1963, the Pavilion Rooms were added by new owner Jackie Gaughan.  Another 15-story tower addition was completed in 1980.  The 64-room Cabana Suites were completed in the former Ogden House in 2009, bringing the total room count to its current 364.  Gaughan, a casino owner and operator since the early 1950s, lives in the El Cortez tower penthouse and is known to be on the casino floor almost daily.  The property is one of the few casinos to have never changed its exterior facade in Las Vegas, retaining the same signage and ranch themed architecture for more than 60 years.