MGM National Harbor, Las Vegas to Maryland

The clock was just minutes away from midnight on Thursday when Shanelle Rainey strolled into the brand-new MGM National Harbor with wide eyes and a beaming smile. She worked her way through the main entrance that was bottle-necked with thousands of other excited guests and held her iPhone up high as she videoed her maiden voyage to the stunning $1.4 billion resort that sits on the banks of the Potomac River.

It didn't matter that Rainey lives nearly an hour away in Woodbridge, Virginia, and was due at her job as a postal worker is less than eight hours. There was no way she was not going to be here on opening night.

"Oh, I may not even get to sleep tonight, but I don't care," Rainey said with a hearty laugh. "It's been a long time coming, so I had to be here. This is amazing. Look around. It's beautiful. I go to Vegas and Atlantic City all the time, but now we have this right in our backyard. I'm going to be here every week. This is incredible."