Last dance at the Sahara

In October 2003, on my last night in Las Vegas, we were in search of $1 Blackjack, and we found it at the Sahara hotel and casino. Little did I know that night, that I would meet one of my best friends.

As the story goes, our table was having so much fun, that a really nice guy was watching from across the pit. As soon as a seat was available at our table, I called him over to sit down...and the rest they say...is history!

That is the very abbreviated version of our intial meeting. Who really knew on that night, that almost eight years later, we would be sitting playing blackjack at the Saraha on the last night that the hotel was going to be open.

Several months ago Brad emailed me that the hotel was going to be closing their doors due to the hard economic times hitting Las Vegas. At the time we had our west coast road trip planned, and Vegas wasn't on the list of stops....but things changed, and there we were.

It was rumoured that the doors were already closed, but I said that we should drive by and see what was going on. We were happy to see that the lights were on, and they were open. So, we parked and went inside. It was quiet and the people that were there playing, were just like us, taking in the last night of a historical hotel.

We played some blackjack, and shared a shot - a sour apple shooter - the first one we had together back in 2003, so we had to have one for old times sake!

 Somewhere late in the evening we walked around and just took pictures of everything that said Sahara on it. I even went behind a table in the pit, and was 'scolded' by security. That even though it was the last night, itwas still against Nevada Gambling Laws. What would they do - ban me from the Casino? Bring it!

Everything happens for a reason - and that holds true for this story. We were not supposed to be in Las Vegas on that specific day, but our travel plans changed, and there we were. Couldn't have asked for better!