Last week, I took some vacation time from my job at Enterprise Rent-A-Car. I was home last Tuesday (17 August), where I spent time packing up and trying to finish a model aircraft--an F4U Corsair--to bring on my trip. However, I ran into difficulties on the Corsair's canopy and decided not to try to finish it at this time. I did have a 1:72 F6F Hellcat I finished some months back that I decided to bring along.
At approximately 1:00 am the next morning (18 August), I woke up, got dressed, and packed my bags into my car. Then, I drove to The Parking Spot 3, a long-term parking facility located west of St. Louis Lambert International Airport. After parking my car in a slot, a shuttle bus came to pick me up with my luggage. It then took me into Terminal 2 at Lambert. I admired a Monocoupe aircraft hanging from the ceiling.
I arrived well in advance of my flight on Southwest Airlines. After checking one of my bags to go into the cargo hold, I went through the Transportation Security Administration security checkpoint. Then, I walked to my gate. With time to spare, I walked to a nearby store and bought a charging cable for my phone, which I plugged into a jack at the gate.
Then, the time came around 5:25 am to start boarding the Boeing 737-800 aircraft for the flight to Las Vegas. After getting aboard, stowing my carry-on luggage (including a plastic box with the model), and getting into my seat, our flight departed Lambert around 6:00 am for the approximately 3.5-hour flight west.
I was able to access the Internet on my phone, which I used to track our flight and to listen to some podcasts. These helped me pass the time. The flight attendants served us refreshments: Mini pretzels and a choice of drinks. I selected Community Coffee.
Around 7:30 am Pacific Time (9:30 am Central Time), our flight landed at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas. After getting off the aircraft and getting my bag from the baggage claim carousel, I got on a shuttle bus to the Rental Car Facility just southwest of the airport. I walked in and went to the Enterprise counter. I checked in and paid for my rental, which I had reserved a few weeks ago, and went to the Enterprise section of the garage to pick up my rental. The employee gave me a choice of three cars, and I went with a Toyota Corolla, which I liked most since I have an older Corolla as my personal car.
After driving off the facility in the Corolla, I realized that I had left the box with my contest model at the Enterprise area. From my car, I called Enterprise to report this, and they said they did not know if they saw the box. All they could do was look for it and let me know. I was feeling a bit low at that point, like a chump for leaving the contest entry behind.
Gathering myself, I drove on to my first stop of the day, The Mob Museum in downtown Las Vegas. Located in a former courthouse, the musem traces the history of organized crime in the US and the authorities that fought the mobsters. I had bought my ticket online, so I just showed it to the ticket taker and then began my tour of the three-story facility. Starting at the top floor, I began to look at the exhibits relating to the history of organized crime from its roots in poor immigrant neighborhoods in the late 19th century.
There are many interesting exhibits and audio-visual displays. One was the brick wall in front of which the St. Valentine's Day Massacre of Chicago mobsters occurred in 1929. There are weapons and personal effects of mobsters and crimefighters, along with pictures, posters, and archival film. A courtroom in the building was used for hearings held by Senator Estes Kefauver's committee in 1951, which investigated organized crime and which were nationally televised.
After touring The Mob Museum, I brought a t-shirt and some postcards in the gift shop. The t-shirt featured several fames mobsters of movies and TV--Tony Soprano of "The Sopranos," Tony Montana of 1983's "Scarface," Vito Corleone of "The Godfather," Frank Sheeran from "The Irishman," and Tommy DeVito from "Goodfellas" in a card game. The four postcards were all mobster-related, with one saying KEEP CALM AND TAKE THE CANNOLIS, another saying KEEP CALM AND FUGGEDABOUTIT, a third in eye-chart form saying I SAW NOTHING AT THE MOB MUSEUM LAS VEGAS, and a fourth with a quote by "The Teflon Don" John Gotti: "Don't ever say anything you don't want played back to you someday." It's a terrific museum and I highly recommend it.
I then drove back to the Rental Car Facility to see if someone had picked up the box with my model. Sure enough, the box was where I left it, on a counter in the center of the facility facing the Enterprise counter. Apparently, it had not been touched since I left it there. Amazing! I got the box--with the Hellcat model intact--and drove on to the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino. That was the venue of the 2021 International Plastic Modelers' Society/USA (IPMS/USA) National Convention.
I checked in, having registered online some months back, and picked up my packet. This included information on the show and some of its vendors, Las Vegas tourism info, and a decal sheet exclusive to this convention on several aircraft based at nearby Nellis Air Force Base. I also got my t-shirt, which featured the US Air Force Thunderbirds on the back with the Convention emblem.
Then, I found my way to the contest registration, where I checked in (I filled in my contest forms at home the day before). After that, I took my Hellcat into the contest room, found the category it belongs to, and placed my model on the table.
I will pick up the story from late that first day at the IPMS/USA National Convention in my next post.
Later.
Websites of entities mention in this post:
Enterprise Rent-A-Car: http://www.enterprise.com
The Parking Spot: https://www.theparkingspot.com
St. Louis Lambert International Airport: https://www.flystl.com
Southwest Airlines: https://www.southwest.com
McCarran International Airport: https://www.mccarran.com
Las Vegas: https://www.vegas.com
The Mob Museum: https://themobmuseum.org
Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino: https://www.caesars.com/rio-las-vegas/hotel
