Am I the only one watching YouTube videos of people walking through casinos with a selfie stick? Anyway, recently enjoyed some YouTube tours of the older properties in Vegas, particularly downtown, with a few on the strip (actually, just one, Casino Royal, as they tore down O'Sheas recently and replaced it with a gentrified version and also turned the Barbary Coast into a bro/beta destination).

They don't make 'em like these anymore. Low ceilings, jam-packed with slot machines, none of those wide aisles. Celebrity chef restaurants? No thank you, we'll do with Pizza Hut and Hot Dog on a Stick.

Anyway, the casinos downtown are particularly interesting to me. Their exteriors have that flashing neon-bulb look that's entirely disappeared from Vegas since themed hotels like the Mirage became the norm (don't get me started on the soulless, boring contemporary aesthetic that's popular today).

The interiors have that low-ceiling, slot-stuffed feel, but with a touch of the old west. You know, wood paneling, chandeliers that look like gas lamps in a saloon. This aesthetic combination (flashy vegas neon exterior and Old West interior) is f*ckign awesome and I hope it never goes away. Of course, it probably will, as all good things come to an end.

Queue comment thread reminiscing about the good old days of Binions, Four Queens, and stuff like the $1 shrimp cocktail (long since gone from Gold Gate, relocated to Circa).