The Stardust Hotel & Casino long ago bit the dust, and I do mean that literally as well as figuratively — it was imploded on March 13, 2007.  The implosion was accompanied by a big extravaganza, complete with fireworks, prior to the building crumbling down. The casino-hotel complex was nearly completely rebuilt in 1991, meaning that it was a fairly new building at the time of its demise.
The Stardust opened in 1958, and had a rather checkered existence.  There were numerous rumors that it was a front for mob activities, and several managers and associates has criminal histories that …read more

Serving up steaks to Portland (Oregon) residents since 1944, the RingSide has been continuously owned by the Peterson family for over 60 years.  The restaurants has received award from local and national wine, fine dining, and steakhouse organizations.  Portland residents frequently list it as one of their top special occasion restaurants.
While smoking at the restaurants is a thing of the past, enjoying their great steaks is not.  With two locations, downtown at  2165 West Burnside and Glendoveer at 14021 NE Glisan, RingSide is not far from wherever you are in the Portland area.
Do you have a matchbook that you’ve …read more

I picked up this matchbook earlier this summer when I was visiting Croatia.  There is still a fair amount of smoking is this country, and it is not looked down on as much as it is elsewhere.  Since many of the restaurants where we ate were outdoors, it didn’t seem too overwhelming, however it was still an adjustment.
These matchbooks were picked up at a little corner store in Cavtat, a town on a bay just south of Dubrovnik.  Matchbooks weren’t available for FREE restaurants or bars, they were sold in local shops.  They cost about 10 kuna, which is …read more

Here’s another matchbook that’s a blast from the past, as so many seem to be.  This one is from the old Tacoma Sheraton Hotel, in Tacoma, Washington.
I remember when this hotel opened.  It was the most luxurious hotel in Tacoma, had a great fine dining restaurant (I believe it was Italian), and since it was adjacent to the Bicentennial Pavilion, it catered to a lot of business and convention travelers.  I stayed there frequently after special events, planning to stay rather than drive, after a night of indulgence.
The Tacoma Sheraton was also happened to be a prime meeting spot for …read more

I was in Las Vegas last week, and if you haven’t been recently, well. . . you haven’t been at all.  The landscaped has changed so much over the last several years.  With the demise of many Las Vegas institutions, and the building of new ones, the skyline along the strip doesn’t bear many of the original founding names.
Today’s Matchbook Monday is a little trip down Las Vegas memory lane, back to the glory years of the desert, and the once infamous Desert Inn.  The Desert Inn was once the home to reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes, who rented a …read more

Today’s matchbook comes from reader Jeff Williams.  Jeff runs the website Matchbook Traveler, and attempts to keep travelers up to date about places where you can still pick up matchbooks.  With our ever increasing No Smoking world, those locations are getting fewer and fewer, but Jeff manages to list a pretty good selection of spots.
Like me, Jeff enjoys using matchbooks as a bit of a souvenir of a special place and occasion.  He’s provides this matchbook from the Twin Oaks Restaurant in Cranston, Rhode Island.  Back in the 70’s this was considered one of the top restaurants in the state, …read more

Today’s Matchbook Monday comes from a local golf course, Kenwanda, located in Snohomish, Washington.  A golf course may be one of the few remaining places that smoking is allowed, but I’m not sure if they still have matchbooks available at the course.
Kenwanda Golf Course is an 18-hole, 5,336 yard long golf course, that offers a challenging course with a beautiful view of the Snohomish River Valley, and Cascade and Olympic Mountain Ranges.  There is also a putting green and a cafe.
The name of the course comes from Ken and Wanda Harris, the developers and owners of the course, who …read more

While I was traveling, I wasn’t able to keep up with Matchbook Monday, but now that I’m back I’ll just pick up right where I left off!  I also picked up a few matchbooks on my travels, Europe still allows smoking in many places, so look for them in the coming months.
Today, though, I step back to a popular destination, Las Vegas, and the Imperial Palace Hotel & Casino.
Located right on the Las Vegas strip at 3535 Las Vegas Boulevard South, the Imperial Palace is an Asian-themed hotel owned by the Harrah’s corporation.
It’s two primary attractions are the Auto …read more

Today’s Matchbook Monday comes from a local Seattle burger chain, Red Robin.
Known for its extensive menu of burgers, and serving bottomless steak fries, Red Robin was first opened on Eastlake beneath the southern end of the University Bridge. It was first a tavern named Sam’s.  The owner was a fan of the lyrics, “When the red, red robin goes bob, bob, bobbin’ along” and he eventually incorporated the lyrics into the name of tavern with Sam’s Red Robin.
The tavern eventually became more of a restaurant, and Sam’s was dropped from the name.  A local Seattle restaurant developer purchased the …read more

I’ve been doing a bunch of cleaning around the house, and found a bunch of old matchbooks tucked away in the back of a drawer.  As I’ve sorted through them, memories of past vacations came flooding back, and there were a lot of chuckles as I remembered some of the things that had happened.
There were also some matchbooks, much like the one today, that I didn’t have a strong memory about.
This matchbook is from Andiamo’s, which I’m guessing is either an Italian restaurant (the obvious choice based on the name), or a steakhouse (a niggling memory is trying to …read more