Post Convention Withdrawals

I've been home from the Casino Chip & Gaming Token Collectors Club convention for almost a month and I'm still going through withdrawals.

My wife Cindy and I arrived in Las Vegas on Tuesday of convention week. The convention wasn't set to officially open until Thursday morning, so we had scheduled a Tuesday night stay at The Palms. We had never stayed there before, and our only previous visit had been preceded by a mid-July 2003 morning walk from the Strip. We were hot and tired and the casino in The Palms was pretty empty at that time of day. That July morning we gathered a few matchbooks and swizzle sticks and left. My wife wasn't very impressed at the time, although I really like the decor and the layout. But, while we were planning our 2004 convention trip, we looked at the Palms' website, and knowing that the CCGTCC poker tournament would be held there on Wednesday, went ahead and booked a room for Tuesday night. The Palms was also to be the site of the annual Chip Board get-together, which we were eager to attend.

We arrived in Las Vegas just after noon on Tuesday, picked up a rental car after switching rental car companies in mid-stream, and arrived at The Palms in the early afternoon. The front drive was filled with exotic cars, some there for the Cinevegas Film Festival which took place the same week as the convention. We checked out our room and the gift shops where I picked up some Palms dice and matchbooks. We checked out Gene Trimble's Poker Room at The Palms and stopped in to pay our respects. And, we spent the rest of the afternoon playing the wide range of slots available at The Palms. Our favorite slots were a pair of Spam-themed penny slot machines. If you ever get the chance to try them, please do. They were a lot of fun, and paid off pretty well too.

Tuesday night we met a bunch of the Chip Board regulars at Gardunos restaurant there at The Palms for the 4th Annual Chip Board Get-Together. Gene Trimble handed out free Palms logo'd fanny packs and Greg Susong made his way around the room handing out free chips specially made to commemorate the event. We had some great Mexican food, margaritas and conversation with some folks whom we normally only get to see by the images of chips they post.

Wednesday, Cindy's sister Jeannie Riedl and her husband, Jack, who are also members of the CCGTCC, flew in at noon. We drove to the airport and picked them up and then checked in at the Riviera, the site of the convention. Jack and Jeannie had not been to Las Vegas in a few years, preferring the ambiance of Laughlin, which they visit a couple of times a year with their friends from Arizona.

It was our first stay at the Riviera, and we were pleasantly surprised at the accomodations. We stayed in the Monaco tower in an upgraded room that was much nicer than some of the online descriptions we had read on various websites. (TO BE CONTINUED)