Viva Las Vegas

Fabulous Las Vegas! Ching, ching, ching everywhere. As soon as you get off the plane, you’re greeted by slot machines. Jim and I arrived Saturday, September 5, 2009 in the morning. We were so excited to be in Vegas. Jim had been there before but only on a 6 hour layover 8 years ago—I had never been. We gathered our bags and bordered a bus for the world famous strip. We were dropped off at the Bellagio, settled in a little, and then headed across the street for some sandwiches and football. (UGA vs. OSU) UGA lost; our trip was going well already!
We were exhausted from traveling so we took a nap. Did I mention that Mom and Dad were arriving in Vegas the same day? Yep, they arrived that afternoon. We met up and went to dinner and a show at the Mirage. We saw Jay Leno who was in town for the weekend. It was a funny show, but quite long—and I think I’ve seen a lot of his material on the Tonight Show.
Sunday morning was probably the best experience we could’ve done the whole trip. Jim and I took a helicopter ride to the Grand Canyon. It was breathtaking. The ride took us straight east to the west rim of the Canyon. We passed Lake Mead, Hoover Dam, mountains, and the Colorado River. Jim and I got the best seats in the helicopter right next to the pilot. The lunch in the Canyon was a little rushed. They had to keep a schedule. We really enjoyed seeing the Grand Canyon from 4000 ft down. Most people look down into the Canyon, but we were able to look up out of the Canyon and see the Colorado River better.
Sunday evening Jim and I went to the Graceland Wedding Chapel to renew our vows for our 3rd wedding anniversary (although our anniversary is in May). Yes, Elvis himself presided over the ceremony and walked me down the aisle singing Only Fools Fall in Love. There was singing, dancing, and a lot of laughing. We have the DVD to prove it!
We were feeling lucky so we went to the Sahara to play some craps and won some money!
Monday was our Hoover Dam tour with Mom and Dad. I was feeling pretty rough that day (too much fun from the night before). We boarded a bus and rode out to the dam. The traffic was bad on Labor Day weekend and it took awhile to get to the visitors center. But we finally did, and I was finally feeling a little better. But I needed a dam pretzel! Dam jokes never ever get old on the dam tour. J Jim found out he was dam claustrophobic, but did the tour anyway, and he liked it. It was a dam engineering feat for sure. And the largest concrete arch in the US is being constructed a stone’s throw away from the dam. Lots of dam site-seeing. We walked over the dam crossing into Arizona and back. By that time it was time to get that dam pretzel and some cold water. It was dam hot! (I told you dam jokes don’t get old.)
We got back to the Bellagio and Jim and I needed some pool time. We spent a couple of hours at the pool. That desert sun is so intense! We wore SPF 50. While Orlando might be more southern; we get clouds to block the sun. Vegas has no clouds and no moisture for any relief. (I felt parched the whole trip.) Monday night Jim and I got dressed up and went to the Wynn to see La Reve. What a production! It was similar to Cirque de Soleil but had dancing and more craziness. Performers dangled 100 ft above the stage (which was sometimes a dry stage and sometimes a deep pool). The stunts were incredible and beautiful. People diving into the water, emerging from the water and everywhere in between.
Tuesday, our last day L. We slept in and met up with Mom and Dad after brunch. We walked around the Paris and Bally’s, and the boys went to Bill’s for craps and Mom and I went for more shopping. I was determined to find some really great shoes or a new dress for tonight, but no luck. So we went back to Bellagio and got ready for Tuesday’s show—Terry Fator at the Mirage. Terry Fator is the ventriloquist that won “America’s Got Talent” a couple of years ago. It was a strange night that night. We walked through Caesar’s (which is absolutely amazing) to get to the Mirage to get the tickets for the show. We had 1 ½ hours to showtime, but no one could really agree on a place to eat. So believe it or not we ate at Chipotle across from the Mirage. The energy was off for the evening. A strange vibe was in the air. Jim was confronted by a man in Chipotle that seemed to want to get a rise out of Jim. I could get into the whole story, but it was really weird sitting with my parents and a guy comes up to Jim asking for him to apologize to his girlfriend. More weirdness. It was a misunderstanding, of course, and Jim had them laughing and apologizing to him by the end of it. So, we went to the show. Terry Fator is quite a talent. He can impersonate anyone—Elvis, Aaron Neville, Etta James, Paul McCartney, Kermit the Frog, Louis Armstrong, and on and on. It was so funny. I highly recommend this show if you are going to Vegas. He’ll be at the Mirage for 10 years! I think we’ll go again by that time.
Mom and Dad called it a night that night, and Jim and I went to downtown Fremont St. Old Vegas! It was really cool and a lot more walkable than the strip. We listened to some music, saw the laser light show, and went to the Golden Nugget to play craps. I think Jim would’ve liked to play longer, but I was such a party pooper that night. Shame on me. We went back to the Bellagio and called it a night. Because bright and early on Wednesday we left by bus to the airport. Sigh, back to reality. Jim went back to work Thursday, but I took sometime off to recuperate and get things back in order.
We had an amazing time and always look forward to our next vacation. We plan to go to Costa Rica next year.
Many blessings!!!!