In the summer of 2013, between graduating high school and coming to OU for college, my family went on a road trip. We traveled for hundreds of miles from our home in northeast Kansas to Las Vegas, Nevada. There were several points of interest, including a tour of Arches National Park in Utah and a hike among the gargantuan Rocky Mountains, but the true destination was the Evolution 2013 fighting game tournament (EVO 2013 for short) held in the Paris Las Vegas hotel and casino. I entered in the 709-person competition for Super Smash Brothers Melee… and quickly got knocked out of the bracket. But I had fun! I got to play friendly matches with tons of people.

Moving on to the building itself: like most Las Vegas structures, the best description is “opulent.” The building is one of several that rises high into the sky, organizing its columns of windows in similar fashion to city skyscrapers. I remember going under the arch in the right part of the above picture and being a tad overwhelmed at it all. Growing up in suburban area, I wasn’t used to being so close to buildings of this magnitude. Oh, and there’s also a “mini” Eiffel Tower right next door. That’s pretty awesome.

Here’s a bonus picture of me playing some games inside the venue. I wish I had a picture that game a better sense of scale, but I can’t say I anticipated writing this blog when my mom took the picture.