As the second tower disappeared from view and the large cloud of debris began to slowly billow and drift toward her direction, Viki Lowell dropped her plastic cup, let out an enthusiastic and encouraging obscenity and clapped loudly. Lowell, like thousands of others along the Las Vegas Strip on Wednesday morning, had just witnessed history.

“Worth it,” she said, referring to the now completed fireworks and drone display that preceded a dual-tower implosion of what once was the Tropicana casino-hotel. “I don’t know what they’re going to do there, and I don’t really care right now. That was intense.”

Daniel Roth did not plan on having a picture-perfect unobstructed view of the implosion. But sometimes things can just go your way in Las Vegas.