What happens in Vegas....

A few weeks ago, my husband and I were talking about taking a trip, or not taking a trip. I wanted to stay home... he wanted to go somewhere.  He suggested Scotland, being that we had been to England twice in the last three years. I told him that I didn't want to be flying over the Atlantic again unless we were having tea in Nottingham and browsing bookstores on Charing Cross Road.

Then my husband suggested the west coast... Oregon, California, Seattle.... we have been to California a bunch of times, Oregon and its waterfalls don't interest me because we have been to Niagara Falls, and Seattle is too rainy and drippy most of the time.  Then he mentioned fishing in Alaska... I told him that he needed to do that sort of vacation with another guy who likes fishing on big boats in the middle of an ocean because nothing in Alaska is calling my name.

A week later, after much Internet searching by my husband, he walked into the TV room and told me he could get great seats for Barry Manilow's show at the Westgate in Las Vegas.... and I asked him when we were leaving and immediately took the suitcases out of the storage closet and called the boarding kennel to make a reservation for Savannah.

Well, that's one way to get me on a plane willingly without too much fuss.... tickets to see Manilow.

And so we did.... and for two people who do not gamble, not even pennies at the penny slot machines, we were in Vegas for three nights and four days, the highlight of the trip being Manilow's show at the Westgate (formerly the Hilton, where we saw Barry about eight years ago).  Never mind that we just saw Barry in February in Houston.... he has a new show in Vegas and true to Manilow's form, he never disappoints. The show was fabulous... just fabulous.

We also saw comedian/ventriloquist Jeff Dunham (hilarious, love his characters and his sense of humor) and Carrot Top (some current material, lots of well-worn gags... funny, but I wouldn't see him again because he gets too raunchy for my taste... silly works, raunchy doesn't).  My husband found The Pinball Hall of Fame, and the Museum of Hollywood Cars... vehicles featured in movies and driven by celebrities... and we went to two bookstores (another highlight for me). We stayed at The Luxor, and walked around some of the other hotels... mega-glitz, mega-priced merchandise, but fun to walk around in air-conditioned comfort because it was 115 degrees out there.

Vegas is fun....surreal but fun... people-watching is an art there... honestly, the outfits on 90% of the people there would not pass muster by the Fashion Police. And the people so willing to put money into slot machines that are pre-set so the house always wins, with your odds of winning probably being a zillion to one.

Nice to be home... Manilow was magnificent, as always... I never get tired of his shows, and I thought that having gone to about 15 of Barry's shows over the years was significant. However, I sat next to a woman at the Vegas show who had been to 75 Manilow concerts since 1989. Well. I have been following Barry since the early 1970s. I have a lot of catching-up to do.... so... where are we going next? Should I leave the suitcases out of the closet.... should I send Manilow a postcard and tell him we'll be back?