My Trip to Al's Wedding |
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Thursday night: The Bachelor Party
First we rented a very nice limosine with wet bar. Of course here we are in a classy limosine with a cheap styrofoam cooler of beers. (Hey, we all forgot to pack a nice cooler with our luggage.) Yes we were drinnking, no we were not driving. I have a picture taken of me standing up in the limo with my head out the sun roof. I think it was taken from Mike's camera. Where's that picture, Mike? We drove to Harrah's Casino at South Lake Tahoe. Paul taught Mike how to play craps; i.e. lose money. They won when I was watching but lost when I walked away. Maybe if I hung around Paul gambling he could have won enough to pay for the limo. I went to play video poker on the slot machines. It, at least, takes awhile to lose your money. I actual won many hands so ended up only losing 3 bucks and I had enough of slot machines to last me the rest of the year.
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Here I am standing in front of our hotel, the legendary Cal-Neva Resort. Signs are pretty tacky but the hotel is nice. The original Lodge was built in 1926 by wealthy San Francisco businessman, Robert P. Sherman, who used the Lodge as a guest house for his friends and real estate clients. The Lodge was patterned after Frank Bacon's log cabin in the hit Broadway play "LIGHTNIN," starring Will Rogers. The Cal Neva quickly became the playground for celebrities and socialites who wanted to escape form the public eye.
The Cal Neva Lodge earned the nickname "Lady of the Lake", weathering heavy snowfalls and the remodeling of a succession of owners, including serious gamblers with names like "Pretty Boy," "Bones," and "Baby Face" during the 1940's and 1950's.
During the Sinatra ownership years of 1960 to 1963, along with his associates "Wingy" and "Skinny," Sinatra built the now famous Celebrity Showroom and installed a helicopter pad on the roof in an attempt to make access easier for his colleagues and guests appearing at the Cal Neva during summer months.
Marilyn Monroe was a frequent guest of the Cal Neva Lodge, and scandal generally surrounded her because of the "alleged" secret rendezvous with John F. Kennedy. Then, when the presence of one particular guest, Sam Giancana of Chicago, was noticed by authorities, it finally cost Sinatra his gaming license in a losing battle with the Nevada Gaming Control Board.