ON TRAVEL
If you live on the foggy, soggy Central Coast, there's a nearby place called Las Vegas where the sun shines pretty much all the time.
( I have no Purely Political column this week; I’m still digesting the news that Donald Trump is once again under indictment and will have thoughts on that development next week. In the meantime, what follows is a slightly edited version of a piece I wrote for Montecito Journal’s semi-annual glossy edition, which has just been published.)
A Sunny Weekend Getaway With the Mob
Well, of course, the reason Montecito (and its nearby neighbor, Santa Barbara) is so popular with folks who can afford to live here is because of… wait for it… its “year-round” climate. Who’d a thought? However, along with that twelve-months-per-year weather bonanza is the reality of some gloomy months, particularly this year (though, truth is, one can still play golf, tennis, baseball, soccer, whatever, under the heavy clouds and misty air).
But, okay, you do know where the sun shines and it’s not far away. No, I don’t mean Solvang and its 75 (and counting) wine-tasting rooms, or Santa Ynez with its Michelin-starred chefs.
We’re talkin’ Vegas, Baby.
One antidote to the “May Gray” and “June Gloom” (and sometimes Fogust) that arrive almost on schedule nearly every spring in Montecito, is a three-day holiday in America’s original Sin City, Las Vegas, where the sun shines throughout the months of April, May, June, and frankly, pretty much all year. And the weather in June in Nevada’s high desert can be quite glorious, unlike our foggy, soggy springtime climate.
You can drive, but why bother? If you’re feeling flush, for example, you could call Santa Barbara-based Silver Air, whose handsome fleet ranges from an 8-passenger Pilatus Turbo Prop and 7-passenger Citation jet to 14-passenger Gulfstreams and more. The company offers chartered one-way and round-trip fares to Las Vegas, and if you’re splitting the cost among seven or eight individuals (or 14!), while not exactly economical, it wouldn’t be a legacy-breaker either. You’ll still have plenty of money left behind for someone else to spend. There’s also Southwest Airlines, which currently runs three 1-1/4-hour scheduled flights from Santa Barbara Airport to Harry Reid International Airport every day, two on Saturday, and again, two on Sunday. Fares are anywhere from $94 to $224, depending upon when you go. If you think you need a car (you don’t), rent one there.
Hotels are plentiful (though the so-called “resort fee” charged by most is an abomination, but hey, you’re here for a weekend so you’ll just have to suck it up). Check in to your favorite. And, keeping with MJ’s “local” theme, make a reservation to see Montecito’s own megastar Katy Perry in her ongoing stage act called “Play” at Resorts World. Don’t worry about where you’ll leave your kids: it’s a family show and children under three years old are free.
You can swim, gamble, play golf or tennis (pickle-ball anyone?), dine at some of the best restaurants in the world, maybe even make whoopie (on occasion), whatever. Knock yourself out. In addition, one of the most interesting (and fun) things you can do too is spend some time at The Mob Museum in downtown Vegas.
If you love outlaws (and who doesn’t?), you’ll love this place.
Honoring the Gangland Experience
A generation or two is usually enough time for a family whose fortune may have been built upon a crime to find respect and bury its heritage.
Not Las Vegas.
It’s proud of its inglorious past.
Housed in a four-story former Federal Courthouse and U.S. Post Office in downtown Las Vegas, The Mob Museum revels in Sin City’s storied, unconventional, and very criminal past.
The building’s basement, for example, has been converted into an immersive exhibit redolent of the Prohibition Era, complete with a fully operational “Speak Easy” featuring a menu of 1920’s style cocktails. Gin-based Bee’s Knees and other drinks are served and a traditional whiskey Old-Fashioned will be delivered hidden in a book.
You’ll be invited to tour an onsite distillery where 100-proof corn moonshine is made. You’ll taste some of its product and learn how this process differs from what bootleggers often turned out.
Upstairs, you’ll want to take photos of yourself sitting in an exact replica of Sing Sing’s Electric Chair; the same model upon which Murder, Inc. founder and hit man Louis (“Louie”) Lepke Buchalter ended his days on March 4, 1944.
Nearby is the original brick wall against which seven mobsters affiliated with “Bugsy” Moran’s North Side Gang were executed by four men (two with shotguns and two, dressed as Chicago policemen, with Thompson machine guns) in what has become known as the Valentine’s Day Massacre. The event took place on February 14, 1929, in a garage at 2122 North Clark Street, hence its headline-inspired moniker. The suspicion is that Al Capone, head of the rival Chicago Outfit, had something to do with the murders, but no one has ever been charged.
On another floor is the original courtroom where U.S. Senator Estes Kefauver held hearings on the influence of organized crime. It has been thoughtfully restored to its original use in the 1950s, and older readers will recognize the early black & white TV coverage of the hearings, which play on two screens behind the senators’ platform.
Claire White, the museum’s Director of Education, who led me through the various floors and exhibits, points out that as far as this courtroom is concerned, “It was important to maintain its integrity for historical reasons. We want guests,” she says, “to feel they are part of that history, and this building is on the register of Historic Spaces.”
There are several interactive exhibits that require a separate ticket but are well worth the nominal additional fee.
For example, the firearms trainer simulator contains actual training videos used by law enforcement. One situation you may encounter is a convenience-store armed robbery in progress that will require you to make the same kind of split-second decision a police officer must make. Your goal, however, is not to shoot but to de-escalate the situation.
Good luck with that.
The Forensic Room features a very hands-on experience. Your thumbprint will be matched against an array of various mobsters’ prints and will identify which gangster your print most resembles. You’ll inspect a DNA sample in a simulated version of gel electrophoresis (a lab method used to separate mixtures of DNA, RNA, or proteins according to molecular size).
The Death Investigation room features a digital autopsy table like one used in medical schools. You’ll see victims of three different mob hits on a giant computer screen and, as the coroner, you will be tasked with figuring out how they died.
In the Crime Scene Investigation (CSI) room, you’ll find a row of potential evidence: two checks to examine, one of which is forged, a knife, some hair, and a shoe tread with particles of an unknown substance (you’ll need a magnifying glass).
On the bullet comparison microscope will be one bullet (recovered at the scene) along with four others. You’ll have to match the evidentiary bullet with one of the samples to figure out which gun was used.
Give yourself at least two hours to go through the museum (it took me four) and if you’re going to pay to experience the immersive exhibits (I encourage you to do so), each will take up to half an hour.
After describing the various exhibits, Claire expressed enthusiasm about a new acquisition: “We’ve just received,” she said, “a phone booth from the Four Deuces Saloon & Brothel, owned by Al Capone and his mentor, Johnny Torrio.” The club’s address: 2222 Wabash Avenue.
On the second floor are yet more items: a pair of Bugsy Seigel’s sunglasses, a down-payment check of $9,500 used to purchase the land for the Flamingo, a briefcase owned by Moe Dalitz financier of Desert Inn, handcuffs worn by “Tony the Ant” Spilotro upon his arrest and… well, take it from Ms. White: “I love our Las Vegas exhibits,” she says.
The museum is also expanding its collection of movie memorabilia.
On display currently are artifacts from the fictional Tangiers Hotel & Casino featured in the movie “Casino,” including chips, script material, and mock newspaper used in the film. Other items include material from TV’s “Sopranos” and “Breaking Bad.” The museum is about to acquire a costume that Samuel L. Jackson wore in “Pulp Fiction, “but,” Ms. White says, “it isn’t in yet.” She goes on to explain that most of the museum’s most recent high-level items have been purchased but they do accept donations. “We are a non-profit,” she explains, “and do have an acquisition budget.”
The Wall of Infamy
Be sure to pay your respects at Made Men Wall – dedicated to “men and occasionally women, lured by money, respect and power [who’ve] joined forces to fleece America – and eliminate anyone standing in their way” – as you leave.
•••
The Mob Museum is open every day from 9 am to 9 pm; the Underground speakeasy and distillery operates Monday to Wednesday from noon to 10 pm and Thursday to Sunday from noon to midnight. It’s located at 300 Stewart Avenue (just off Fremont Street) in the heart of downtown Las Vegas.
Some of the exhibits have age requirements, such as the Crime Lab (11 and up), Distillery Tour and Tasting (21), and Firearm Training Simulator (13–16-year-olds must be accompanied by an adult; parental consent is required for all minors).
You should check before you buy your tickets and it’s a good idea to purchase them in advance.
Special thanks to Mikayla Jones, Communications Manager, The Mob Museum
When picking a place to be, always Montecito. I’ll always rather “laid back” vs “laid out”!
Dana