In the mid 90’s, I was writing a similar column to what is now called a blog in the Vidette. The paper was sold to the Times corporation and the guys from the Vidette were now going to be Times employees. A bunch of us were sitting around talking one day and decided we should celebrate the sale of the paper by going to Las Vegas. I was the only one in the group that had been to Las Vegas; the other guys were virgins. As it turned out, our group was comprised of Richard Esposito, Leo Joint, Don Ragsdale, Mark Leuthardt and myself. 
We did not realize how afraid Leo was of flying until we were on the way to the airport and he broke out in a cold sweat. Now, I’m not making fun because I have my own fears, like driving over bridges or in mountains or even small hills. Anyway, the trip was pretty uneventful until the descent in to Vegas. Having made this trip close to 200 times, sometimes it gets kind of rocky. This one swayed back and forth quite a bit. I don’t know why I can’t get on a 2nd floor roof but bouncing around and up and down doesn’t bother me. When we touched down and rolled to the gate, I think Leo started to breathe again. As we are walking out, the two pilots are standing there and Leo is beside himself because the Captain is a woman. As we are walking past them we hear the co-pilot say we were supposed to land on the left runway. When you come into Vegas from east to west, they have 2 side by side runways. Leo was about to go into convulsions when he heard that. We finally calmed him down by telling him we had set that up with the flight attendant just to get his goat. I’m not sure we really convinced him.
We retrieved the rental car and I was driving since I knew where I was going. I took them down the strip because the first thing that blows a rookies mind in Las Vegas is the lights. It is mind boggling. I have been going to Vegas since 1974. My first wife’s grandparents lived there, then my former in laws lived there, then my parents bought a condo there. It’s almost like a second home.
We then headed to my favorite stop, the In-N-Out Burger. I first experienced this awesome treat in the early seventies visiting my cousin in San Diego. It wasn’t until it came to Vegas years later that I fell in love with the concoction. You have to go to Google and type in In-N-Out Burger secret menu to really find out about some of the secret combinations. I will usually get fries light and animal style. It is exquisite. After that we headed to old Vegas and Fremont Street. One of the oldest casinos is the Golden Gate. It is a dinky little place but they have great sandwiches. The real treat is the Shrimp cocktail. The first 18 years that we went to Vegas it sold for 50 cents: an old fashioned Sunday glass filled with mini shrimp and a great cocktail sauce. We all had a minimum of 2 each. While we were there, I took them to the Horseshoe (now Binion’s) to meet Frank, the roulette dealer. Frank makes the best Cannoli you have ever tasted. He is originally from New Jersey where his dad owned a bakery. His dad was always busy working for the local wise guys so Frank had to work in the bakery. He imports his cheese from out east and has his wife baking shells all day. He sells a lot of these little gems every week. I sit at his roulette table and after pleasantries are exchanged I asked if he had any Cannoli available. He said to meet him on his break. He would have his wife bring some more down for some of his pick up orders later. By now after In-N-Out, shrimp cocktail and Cannoli we were pretty full. We still had not been to the condo yet. As we headed out to go get cleaned up, we were all feeling pretty full. I would advise you folks against trying this type of eating. We are professional eaters.
When we arrived at the condo, we were all so full that we all sat down and started watching TV. Pretty soon you heard a few snores. Since we were going to play golf in the morning, we all decided it was better to rest up and be ready to play our best golf. In part two, I will cover the golf and the rest of our trip.
Until later……………………………………ciao.
Fred Cicco is part owner of John Cicco’s menswear and ID Plus Marketing Solutions in Merrillville. Feel free to contact him at info@jcm8250.com