The answer is a resounding “Yes.” A room bright and busy enough for the nation’s capital MGM National Harbor delivers Capitol (occupants of said building notwithstanding)? Could there be a casino and poker room that deserved to be in the shadow of the U.S. So when MGM launched the first D.C.-area casino in late 2016, at National Harbor, across the Anacostia River, in Maryland, I had both high hopes, and high expectations. And I still get a little shiver, coming up the George Washington Parkway from Reagan National Airport, enjoying the view of the Washington Monument, the Jefferson Memorial along the Tidal Basin, and Georgetown University rising on the hill further up the Potomac. I grew up in what George Clinton backhandedly called, “ the Vanilla Suburbs,” but I knew D.C. Wander neighborhoods such as Georgetown and Adams-Morgan (with its legendary speakeasy, Madam’s Organ). The C&O Canal, Arlington Cemetery – the list is endless. Do not – do not – miss the Smithsonian (it’s free, thanks to the American taxpayer), and schedule a full day for the Air and Space Museum. Walk down Constitution Avenue, and see the buildings that comprise the original heart of the federal government.

And while you’re at it, go check out the MLK Memorial. Go look at the Lincoln Memorial – heck, go stand right where Martin Luther King, Jr.

If you’ve never been to Washington, D.C., you owe yourself a trip – the nation’s capital has a natural, organic buzz that puts Las Vegas to shame.