Closing Time...

Earlier this month the Sahara (a famous hotel and casino on the Las Vegas Strip) closed forever.  The closure was announced back in March, when K and I were still living in Las Vegas.  When I heard the news on the radio I told K that we had to go visit it one last time before they closed.

If you don't know much about this hotel, it's one of the last old-school casinos left on the Strip.  (Not including Fremont Street, which is the "Old Strip" where everything is really old... and little rundown.)  Anyway, this casino was like the beginning of Vegas.  I mean, the Beatles played there.

(It's a photo of a photo, so forgive the bad quality.)

These days it's certainly more run-down and has pretty much lost it's appeal among the flashy, new hotels just down the road.  When we stepped inside it felt like we were going back in time:

It was a little bit grimy and dark, but it was kind of amazing to think that this was a place that the Rat Pack hung out at.  Elvis and Ann-Margaret filmed "Viva Las Vegas" here.  Elizabeth Taylor hung out by the pool...

Then...

...and now.

And apparently this guy has been guarding the place since it opened:

And as run-down as it might have become, they had some beautiful chandeliers.

Even though it's glory days were long gone, it was still pretty cool to walk around the hotel and casino one last time before it closed forever.  It's kind of sad that a piece of history will be gone, but I'm sure the space will be re-invented into something amazing, which is kind of the point of Las Vegas, right?

RIP Sahara.  1952-2011

Fun fact: K took me to the Sahara to see a comedy show the first time I visited him in Las Vegas.  It was my 19th birthday!