Las Vegas

We flew into Vegas on Wednesday afternoon, and hit the ground running, as we usually do whenever we go away on a trip. Not ones to waste a moment, we checked into the hotel (Las Vegas Hilton) and then went out for a look-see around the town.

There's a monorail running above the town which stops at the major hotels, so you don't have to rent a car or rely on taxi-cabs. We saw the MGM Grand Hotel, with its massive gold lion in the lobby. The lobby of the Venetian looks like Rome's Sistine Chapel, with its beautifully painted ceilings. All the hotels have the most intricate marble flooring, all of which are fabulous, but hard to walk on after a few hours.

The New York-New York has a replica of the Statue of Liberty outside of the hotel, and the Paris Las Vegas has a half-scale replica of the Eiffel Tower. We took the elevator up to the top of the tower--- great view of the city from up there. The Bellagio has dancing water fountains in front of the hotel, which was breath-taking to watch.... all that water swaying to popular show tunes. The ceiling of the Bellagio's lobby is filled with mouth-blown glass flowers, an unbelievable sight... and there's also a large mirrored-glass horse at the center of their lobby.

One of the hotels had an exhibit of memorabilia from The Titanic, and we took the time to see that.... very nicely displayed. We also saw an Impressionist Art exhibit, on loan from the Boston Museum of Art. Each of the hotels has something interesting to see and do, besides the gambling in the casinos. The Hilton had an exhibit on "Star Trek," which my husband saw by himself while I was dressing for Thursday's Manilow show.

On Wednesday night, we saw "The Blue Man Group" at the Venetian. I had no idea what to expect from that show, since I'd only seen that group on television. Three men wearing blue head-masks and blue gloves, faces so covered in blue that you can't tell one from the other. They never speak a word, but they keep your attention from the second they take the stage. They play musical instruments made of PVC pipes... and drums so loud that ear-plugs are offered as you walk into the theatre. And the paints.... the colors.... they poured colored liquid onto the top of their drums, and the "paints" splatter as they play. You don't know what to watch first-- the splattering or the playing or the Blue Men themselves because the expressions on their faces are just priceless, and so much a part of the show.

At the end of The Blue Man Group's performance, they come out into the lobby and you can take their photos or get their autographs. They never speak, not even after the show, and the only "autograph" they give out is a kiss on whatever paper product you give them to "sign," which leaves a blue imprint of their lips. Such fun, and a lot of audience participation in the show, so you never know what to expect.

The highlight of the trip was Barry Manilow's "Music and Passion" performance at the Las Vegas Hilton, which we saw on Thursday night. We spent most of Thursday morning and afternoon walking around as many of the hotels as we could, looking at the casinos and the shops. You can shop till you drop in Vegas, since all of the hotels have stores surrounding their lobbies. Prices as high as you can imagine, so all I did was look. We got back to the Hilton in time to have dinner with our young friend C's dad, who is already in Vegas at his new job there.

Dinner that night was at the Italian restaurant right in the Las Vegas Hilton... wonderfully delicious food, more pricey than we're used to, but the service was excellent, and the food was beyond compare. Then at 9:00 that night, we were seated two feet away from Manilow's piano on the "Music and Passion" stage. Just a black velvet rope separated us from Barry's stage. The stage seats were set around tiny bistro tables, and we were given filled champagne glasses with Manilow's Music and Passion trademark on them... the glasses were ours to keep after the show.

As always, Barry's show was outstanding. Our seats just couldn't have been better, unless Barry wanted to make room on his piano bench for me. Twice during the show, Manilow grabbed my hand and we "danced" a few steps together-- with that velvet rope between us, of course. I took my sister's advice and I didn't do anything to embarrass either Manilow, my husband or myself. (Unlike the girl sitting next to us, who walked around the ropes towards Manilow, which sent him walking quickly to the center of the stage while three security men got that girl back where she was supposed to be.)

We didn't gamble at the slot machines or the game tables... the only money we left there was either at the restaurants for meals, or at the "Music and Passion" gift shop where I bought some mementos of Manilow's performance. My biggest splurge was a pair of $50 earrings from Manilow's shop. I don't know how that performance of Barry's could be topped.... our seats were just so perfect, and the fact that Manilow grabbed onto my hand twice during the night was just incredible.

No autograph from Barry in my book, however. Once the show was over, Barry and his backup singers and the band were all at center stage, and the curtain came down and that was that. I have carried that copy of "Sweet Life" around with me to so many of his shows now.... maybe I should just resign myself to the fact that I'm not going to be able to get him to sign his book for me.

Vegas was fun.... the hotels were beautiful and each of them had its own unique design. The shows were amazing to see, and I wouldn't have missed Manilow for the world. I would go there again to see Manilow, but I wouldn't ever want to move there, no matter how much like "paradise" the surrounding subdivisions are supposed to be. C's mom is still trying to convince us that we need to fly out there and have a look around because she thinks that we might move there after they move out there. Not a chance. We'll miss C so much when they move, but we already know that Vegas isn't the place for us. We knew that before we flew out there.

So today is back to business as usual here... our pet-sitter took great care of our house and Gracie and our cats while we were gone, as he usually does, but now it's my turn. There's laundry to be done, hungry cats to feed, litter boxes to be cleaned. And to think that on Thursday night, I was dancing with Barry Manilow....