We spent Labor Day weekend in Las Vegas, primarily for the Anime Vegas convention. The con was held at the Renaissance Hotel, which had three distinctive features: (1) a renowned steakhouse restaurant (at which we had a couple of wonderful meals, none of which consisted of steak); (2) a location across the street from the Las Vegas Convention Center, and thus mere yards from a monorail station (the Vegas monorail is a terrific way to navigate the Strip; I was surprised to find it so underused during the holiday weekend); and (3) it is bereft of both gambling machines and smoking -- in a town where every convenience store and port-a-pottie has a slot machine.
Although there were some fun events at the convention -- and it's always great to see our friends there -- I found the crowds loud, young, and on frequent occasions obnoxious. That is part of the culture of the convention, I believe; it skews young and out of control.
It being Vegas, we did not spend all of our time at the con. We hit the MGM Grand (renowned for its pool party scene -- which we could see because of the folks who padded through the opulent corridors of the hotel clad only in swimsuits), New York New York (Amy and our friends went on the roller coaster -- twice -- whilst I held everyone's belongings), Toby Keith's restaurant (which featured not only deep-fried Snickers bars and Twinkies, but also a "miracle meatloaf" sandwich of meatloaf and Miracle Whip between two slices of white bread -- if I had ordered it, I probably would have lost my entire ethnic identity in two bites), and, in particular, the Hilton.
This was a sadly historical weekend for the Hilton, because a part of it was going away on Labor Day. Specifically, Star Trek: The Experience -- which had occupied a chunk of the Hilton for ten years -- failed to come to a deal on its lease, and so was closing down.
STTE's disappearance will leave an Enterprise-sized hole in the Vegas scene. Not only was the attraction an Erewhon for both casual and die-hard Trek fans, with its gift shops, motion rides, and Quark's Bar, but it became part of the Hilton's identity. Tourist maps of the Strip feature a big Federation insignia over the Hilton; the hotel has an entire space-themed bar built around the entrance; and even the corny canned jokes played over the monorail PA when the train hits the Hilton station revolve around Star Trek.
We didn't pay to go on the rides (we did that two years ago); but we did stop into Quark's Bar one night and had two of the outrageous cocktails on the menu (Amy had Deanna Troi's Chocolate Obsession; I had the Tamarian Frost). That gave us a chance to gaze upward at the huge starship models hanging from the ceiling, green laser beams occasionally shooting from them.
An air of melancholy rememberance filled the air at the attraction, as if it were already gone and the visitors were attending a wake. Fans from all over the country came in Star Trek costumes and posed with visitors. (A Worf from Texas hammed it up; when someone wanted a picture with him, he yelled at those in the way, "Move, or die where you stand!") Saddest of all was a wall plastered with letters and drawings pleading with the attraction owners not to close the place down. Eight year olds scrawled letters telling the owners how sad their dads would be about losing The Experience; and a kid drew a sketch of a Klingon, dagger clutched like a cigar, saying "Today is a good day to die!"
Was September 1st a good day for The Experience to die? At least the fans who visited can attest that, for ten years, it truly lived.
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