Ghosts of the Cayman Islands

aTim Writes: "Were you here (in the Cayman Islands) when the late Ralph Engelstad (Imperial Palace Casino, Vegas) used to come down with his matching 727's (I think they were 727s, it was a while back...)?  He took me out to see one when he was here one time - very cool...  Reconfigured to seat (only) 16, complete with full size master bedroom, shower (!) and the works.  The main lounge had all the mod-cons - pop up TV's, etc.  (Bear in mind, this was before plasmas and LCD's were mainstream - who knows what he would do with it these days!!!)  Sadly, I saw it for sale in USA Today a short time after he passed away - he loved to point out that his dog actually owned the jet - it was right there on the plaque outside the cockpit...

Yes, I was here when Ralph came down. We were new to the island at the time, but I would see his plane when picking up mail at the Airport. Ralph Engelstad was famous for running the Imperial Palace Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, he was infamous for celebrating Hitler's birthday. As a younger man he bought the worst piece of land on the Las Vegas Strip.  A drainage ditch ran through it, and he built a casino straddling that ditch.  He ran the casino as an unincorporated business (if you can believe it), the largest proprietorship in the State of Nevada. Ralph Engelstad also liked the Cayman Islands..  He built a really big mysterious mansion called "the White House" in Bodden Town. 

After he got cancer the house went for sale and my wife and I seriously talked about buying it in March of 2004.  The White House was an odd place..  it was a private home out of town, but laid out inside like a casino with television cameras in every room. Steps led up to an elevated mega-king bed. The office had an old-school money counter on the desk, and the ubiquitous bank of little TV's, otherwise it was sparsely furnished. The White House was located directly across from the police/fire station in Bodden Town so my wife and I came to the conclusion that Ralph had built himself a mini turn-key casino for the eventual day when laws in Cayman permitted gambling.

In May of 2004 I took the guys I work with on a team-building exercise to fabulous Las Vegas. We had a helicopter pick us up across from the Four Seasons, took-off for a tour of Lake Mead and then landed inside the oval of the Las Vegas Motor Speedway where we did the Richard Petty Driving Experience.  This was one of the coolest experiences of my life.  The speedway is right next to Nellis AFB .  There we are -- helicopter landing in the oval, racing 200mph in Nascar cars and I can only see my hood and the bumper of the next car in front of me, no road between.  We are doing all this as a dozen F-16's take turns hard banking for final approach into Nellis and I swear to God,  I can see the goggles and helmets of the pilots in those planes they are so loud and low..  "Damn, this is what America is all about!", I thought...  Let me back up a sec tho.  It's a slow (non-race) day when Richard Petty holds his driving experiences. After the helicopter landed the track manager picked us up in a white minivan..  She knew we were from the Cayman Islands. As she drove us to the Petty racing tent we had a chat about Ralph Engelstad who was instrumental in getting the LasVegas Motor Speedway built. It turns out this woman used to be his personal assistant (she was now manager of his track) and she knew all about the White House and what went into building it (so far as tacitly acknowledging it's mini casino conversion potential).  I'm really glad we never got around to buying that place. Hurricane Ivan hit Grand Cayman 4 months later and positively decimated Ralph's White House.  They put it back together and it's for sale now,  but it is not the same.

Chalk this vignette up to Cayman Islands legend.. I drive by the White House every Sunday on my way to lunch in East-end..  and each time I see its ivory roof tiles, I picture the ghost of Ralph Engelstad, smoking a Cubano, in a white linen shirt; running crisp bricks of hundred dollar bills (fresh from his casino's count-room) through a money counter that no longer exists, in an office that isn't there anymore.

Comments

[Omar]

Hey Frank,

Thanks for sharing your experience with the Richard Petty Driving Experience. I'm a sports car nut and plan to sign up for the event.

Last year I went to this event:

http://www2.wcdriving.com/

The most fun car to drive, by far, was the Lamborghini Gallardo. The sound of the engine was the most beautiful sound I have ever heard. It's the closest thing I know to a jet on wheels.

Unfortunately the Ferrari F430 and Ford GT were not available. The Ferrari was leaking oil (the last time that happened the car caught on fire). The Ford GT was totaled by one of the drivers (apparently he could not handle the torque).