[MaxBigfoot]

The old Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York. Demolished in 1929 to build the Empire State Building in its place

Yeah, that was a sad trade.  The Empire State is awesome, but so is the Waldorf-Astoria.  I wish we could have both of them.  Maybe have found a different place to build the Empire State.   

[MaxBigfoot]

Hawa Mahal, also known as the “Palace of Winds,” is a beautiful structure located in Jaipur, Rajasthan, India. It was constructed in 1799 by Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh, a ruler of the Kachwaha Rajput dynasty, and the architect behind the structure was Lal Chand Ustad. Situated at the edge of the City Palace, Hawa Mahal was built to extend the zenana, or women’s chambers.

The palace has a five-story exterior resembling a honeycomb of a beehive, comprising 953 small windows, known as jharokhas, decorated with intricate latticework. This design facilitates the passage of cool air, an architectural feature that helps alleviate the oppressive summer heat. Built from red and pink sandstone.

[gOOber]

Hawa Mahal, also known as the “Palace of Winds,” is a beautiful structure located in Jaipur, Rajasthan, India. It was constructed in 1799 by Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh, a ruler of the Kachwaha Rajput dynasty, and the architect behind the structure was Lal Chand Ustad. Situated at the edge of the City Palace, Hawa Mahal was built to extend the zenana, or women’s chambers.

The palace has a five-story exterior resembling a honeycomb of a beehive, comprising 953 small windows, known as jharokhas, decorated with intricate latticework. This design facilitates the passage of cool air, an architectural feature that helps alleviate the oppressive summer heat. Built from red and pink sandstone.

Amazing, unique and beautiful. 

[solvegas]

Opened on June 19, 1990, at 3981 rooms/suites, it was the world's largest until the MGM Grand across the boulevard opened in 1993 with 4995 rooms. The Excalibur is a tier 3 casino nowadays and there is constant talk that it might be demolished. I worked at the Luxor, which is directly south of it and it is bigger at 4400 rooms and suites. They still have the original show, The Tournament of Kings, which is a medieval style dueling show. 

[solvegas]

From 1986, this is Las Vegas then on northbound Las Vegas Boulevard, aka The Strip, and all the properties you see here are either gone or remodeled. The Alladin is now the Planet Hollywood, The MGM, the original one, became Bally's in 1993 and now it is the Horseshoe. The Flamingo is still there but it has been remodeled but it is still recognizable, on the other side you see the Dunes which became the Bellagio in 1996 and it had a large golf course but now you have other properties there like New York New York, The Park, originally the Monte Carlo, The Cosmopolitan, The Aria.

[solvegas]

Construction began in 1904 and was finally finished in 1934. The first problem was that it was a heavy building, and the soft subsoil of Mexico City made it sink so it wasn't finished in 1910. Then the Mexican revolution of 1910-1921 occurred and it was mostly stopped. After the revolution, the construction was resumed, and it is on the outside a Neoclassical and Art Nouveau style and Art Deco in the inside. It remains one of the most beautiful buildings in Mexico City. In Spanish it is called El Palacio de las Bellas Artes and in English it is The Palace of the Fine Arts. 

[gOOber]

The Fairbanks House in Dedham, Massachusetts is a historic house built ca. 1641,

[solvegas]

The Fairbanks House in Dedham, Massachusetts is a historic house built ca. 1641,

I'm surprised it is still standing since New England can have bad weathers every so often like harsh winters and it is 383 years old. 

[solvegas]

Opened on April 18, 2006, this is the largest "Locals" casino in Las Vegas located in the west side of Las Vegas in Summerlin, which was land bought by Howard Hughes back in the 1950's and named after his grandmother, and it has been compared to the casinos in luxury on The Strip, but it has 128 lanes bowling alley, a 16 screens movie house, Bingo room and it has better odds than the Tourist Strip casinos since this one is mostly for the local population of Las Vegas. It is only two miles from where I live. 

[solvegas]

Back in 2015, I and my father visited Mount Rushmore, who was 90 years old then and it was part of his Bucket List, and we then went to Mitchell, South Dakota and visited the Corn Palace, which is the only structure of its kind in the world and visited by 500,000 people a year. It is used as a convention center, concerts, sports and in the outside, it is covered with natural variety of corn grown nearby of different colors. It was started in 1891-1892 and fully finished in 1921. The outside is changed yearly and the joke nearby is that it is the world's largest bird feeder. 

[gOOber]

 

[solvegas]

The inside of the building is beautiful, which surprised me because it is in Detroit, Michigan, a city that is mostly one big shithole. 

[solvegas]

Opened on July 1, 1976, as the Mini Price motel, it was the first property in Las Vegas which specialized on targeting the local population living in Las Vegas. Many people that visit Las Vegas think that most Las Vegas residents live on or very near The Strip but that has never been the case. In 1979, it expanded, and it became the Bingo Palace. As time went by, in 1984 after another expansion, it became the Palace Station. It had/has a railroad theme since the company is called Station Casinos. In 1991, a 21 story tower opened, and since it is only a 1/2 mile from the strip, it did/does attract some tourist due to its much lower room rates. In 2016-2019, it went through a remodeling/expansion and while not on The Strip, it is now considered an offshoot of it. Station casinos company has several more properties throughout the Las Vegas valley and has expanded outside Nevada and has properties throughout the USA. It has been successful since it treats the local populations well. In Vegas we call it/classify it a Locals casino. 

[solvegas]

A present photo of the town my mother was born in 1928, Merkel, Texas, settled by Germans. It is now less than 500 people in it and it is 10 miles West of Abilene, Texas.  My mother was of Scot Irish on her mother's side and German in her father's side. When she married my dad in 1948, who was born in Orizaba, Veracruz, Mexico, that was kinda scandalous at the time since white Texans in those days still remembered the Alamo at the time.   

[solvegas]

Taos, New Mexico, has been settled for about 1000 years and I did visit it in 1997.