I know we are getting off topic, but one thing I used to love at Harrah's Lake Tahoe as a kid was their arcade. They had this weird underground arcade (it's still there, by the way), and they had a big sign at the staircase down to it, proclaiming that you had to be 15 in order to be there without an adult. I felt very proud of myself as a 12-year-old, strolling in there without my parents and nobody saying anything. (In reality, nobody gave a shit, and this rule was never enforced.)

But the best part was discovering that I was a lot better at '80s video games than I thought. Around where I lived, I was just okay compared to the other kids, and would rarely get my initials in the high score list. Then I'd go to Harrah's Tahoe and all kids would gather around my machine, saying to each other, "Wow... I've never seen someone get this far before!" Felt great to have such adulation as a 12-year-old, especially since I was just an average player in my neighborhood arcade.

I have mostly good memories from those '80s Tahoe trips. The only downsides were the super long drive from southern LA county (about 475 miles, the last 150 being fairly slow), and the long wait for the bus back from Heavenly Ski Resort.