Las Vegas Christmas 2005 - Our Last Night

At the very end of our wonderful Las Vegas Christmas vacation. We had such a great time!!! I don't think we ever felt rushed or bored, hungry or thirsty, and we enjoyed every single moment of this once-in-a-lifetime treat. This last day we tried to squeeze in every little bit of fun that we could. Dinner was at Savannah's Steakhouse at the Tropicana. Dad had his usual filet (at a steakhouse - of course!!!) Mom had salmon tartare and I had fried shrimp. Dinner was great and we lingered until the last possible second. We still ended up with a few minutes to kill before the show, so we donated to the Tropicana's coffers. And now, ladies and gentlemen... We were guided to our seat, which was actually a half-moon shaped booth. We were on the first tier and the closest booths to the stage. The show was everything we expected and more. We had chosen to go to the "adult" show, which was actually topless. We all agreed later that the numbers where the dancers/acrobats/showgirls were clothed were actually more provocative than the topless ones. The girls have to be in peak physical shape and now that the emphasis is on THIN - many of them had no breasts at all! Well, almost. Here's rundown on the show. It was a "celebration of the female", and started with "Romance: 1850". A royal ball. Not at all what you would expect from a Las Vegas show. The next acts were: "The New Woman: 1920", which featured "Flappers, Vamps and a Tango". "Hollywood Glamour - 1930". The showgirls were on a round stage that revolved with a giantic mirror. It was just like the shows you've seen in the old musicals. "The Big Band Era - 1940" was really cool with swing dancing, "the pin-up" and "The Strip" segments. Then came "Sophistication - 1950" This was your "typical" Las Vegas show show. Big headdresses, lavish costumes, etc. After that came: "Rock & Roll - 1960" - they drove up in a '59 Chevy (I think - correct me if I'm wrong, Dad) and did a rock and roll show called "The Prom Queen". Then "Love & Peace 1970's". Nothing special but still fun to watch. INTERMISSION Wally Eastwood...this guy comes on stage and starts juggling with silver bowling pins - he was really, really good at it. After a while, he stops and introduces himself. (PS - there is absolutely NO WAY that I am going to make this sound funny. After the show we all agreed that he was one of the top ten comedians we had ever seen) He says "Hi folks, my name is Wally Eastwood. My dad was an Alabama redneck and my mom was from Mexico. That makes me a Mexican redneck, I think." Then he goes into a routine whereby he blows ping-pong balls up into the air and juggles them with his mouth. Abruptly he stops "you know, you guys think this is good. Do you know that I do this six days a week, two shows a day? You try going into a bank to get a loan and tell them this is what you do for a living." He interrupted his performance several times to talk very nonchalantly about his life. He was so funny, we were holding our sides. I sure wish I could relay the hilarity - but I can't. After a while, he brings out this box, which turns out to be a piano that he plays by bouncing rubber balls onto the keys. It was incredible. He played "The Star Spangled Banner" but ended up bringing down the house with "I'm Proud to Be an American" - WITH RUBBER BALLS ON THIS PIANO IN A BOX. It was absolutely fabulous. We would have been happy to see the show end after his performance, but there was about another hour of showgirls and song anad dance numbers. It was really great! But we were tired and had to fly home the next day. Fortunately, we weren't leaving at the crack of dawn. We went back to our hotel. Of course, you can't just climb into bed and fall asleep. So...I stopped at the roulette table one last time and won enough to be able to go home with the same amount of gambling money that I left with. (Which wasn't much to begin with - only as much as I could afford to throw away) So, that's our story. It was wonderful - fun, energizing and tiring. And we enjoyed every single second!

Las Vegas Christmas 2005 - Sightseeing

We think we spent Monday the 26th just doing some sightseeing, hotel hopping and window shopping. Here are a few pictures for your viewing enjoyment...

This was the "House of Blues" at some hotel. I think it was something from a movie. "The Blues Brothers" maybe???

Here is the happy couple in front of the House of Blues.

Here is what Las Vegas was starting to look like to me...

Las Vegas Christmas 2005 - Christmas Night

Aren't we beautiful??? We FELT beautiful. Mom had on a new dress, top and sweater that she had just bought and I wore a royal blue halter top cocktail dress.

There are no pictures from our dinner this evening because the restaurant was so POSH that we were embarrassed to ask the waiter to take a picture. None of us remembers what we had for dinner that night. All that we remember is that it was sophisticated and luxurious.

We had fabulous seats for "O". The stage was a huge water tank and water nymphs would appear and disappear. At times, the water would appear to become a solid stage for dancers and acrobats. It was the most spectacular show that any of us had ever seen. To try and describe what we saw would do a great injustice to the show. If you want to know more, go to the Cirque du Soleil website: www.cirquedusoleil.com

Las Vegas Christmas 2005 - Christmas Day

We tried to sleep as late as we could, as our dinner reservations aren't until 7:30 and the show starts at 10:30. Memories are starting to get hazier and blurrier as time passes. I sure wish I had started writing this in Las Vegas. Wait a minute - I DID!!! Problem is that I only did it for a couple of days. Then I was having so much fun, it didn't seem to matter. Oh well, I'm just doing this as a kind of "scrapbook" for the three of us and a fun way to share our experience with whomever is interested! The one thing that the three of us can agree upon is that we pretty much did nothing today. We had reservations for Michael Mina's, a 5 star restaurant at the Bellagio hotel. Here are some pictures that we took while walking around the hotel before dinner. These bears were in an area of the hotel where it was actually SNOWING!!! I don't know how they did it, but there are just so many amazing things to see in Las Vegas that make you say "how'd they do that???".

This is a Christmas tree that is made up entirely of hand blown glass flowers in every color imaginable...

This was the main Christmas tree in the lobby of the Bellagio. It was absolutely HUGE. I can't even guess how high it actually was, but I will bet that it rivaled the tree at Rockefeller Center.

This display of evening purses was in one of the shops somewhere in the Bellagio. We were in such total AWE at the sheer opulence of everything. Even the casino floor could only be described as opulent. It was not noise like the casino at our hotel. I actually considered getting us rooms here in stead of the Rio - American Express gave me the most incredible price you can imagine. BUT... you remember that $36 bar bill??? It would have been double here.

Las Vegas Christmas 2005 - Day Three

Christmas Eve at the Rio

It's now Saturday, I think. Went to the champagne brunch at the hotel. OMG - you simply would NOT believe the food. Not just the quantity, but the variety. Of course, we met at the ibar. (No drinks, just a central place to meet) There wasn't much of a line to get in to the buffet. After being seated, we ordered (what else???) MIMOSAS. Then - off to the chow line. It was just incredible. I swear the whole buffet was about 100 yards long. Every type of cuisine was represented - Mexican, Italian, Oriental - even good old American barbeque, prime rib, chicken, turkey - you name it!!! I had breakfast (Eggs Benedict, fruit, sausage) and don't know what anybody else had. I worked hard to finish what I had put on my plate. I didn't mean to go for dessert, but I couldn't help myself. I'm going to only list those things that interested me. Believe me, there was plenty more!!! Crepes Suzette Bananas Foster Cheesecake Creme Brulee Chocolate Eclairs "Make Your Own" Sundae Bar Pies - of every description Cakes - of every description Tortes Honestly and truly, I got a small portion of Crepes Suzette, a couple of mini eclairs, a fruit tart, a teeny little piece of carrot cake, a mini service of ice cream. COME ON FOLKS - I HAVE A SMALL APPETITE!!! And a small stomach. HONESTLY!!! I put away as much as I possibly could. At least I have painted a picture for you of the bountiful buffet. The rest of the day was spent walking around, groaning and complaining how stuffed we were. A little window shopping, a little gambling, a little napping. I still stuck with the slots. There were TV screens all over the place with advertisements playing almost constantly and seductively. Sensory overload!

The "Masquerade Show in the Sky" was just great. Huge floats hanging from the sky on tracks over the casino. There was a stage show 7 times a day, followed by the float parade. Here are a couple of pictures of the parade in the sky...

It was pretty spectacular. Loud music, beautiful guys and gals. The parade was preceded with clowns, guys on stilts, throwing of beads and general merriment.

This was my favorite float:

After every parade in the sky, there was an area where you could have your picture taken with a Chippendale or a real Las Vegas showgirl. I guess you could say I got a little out of control...

Dinner on Christmas Eve was at the steakhouse at the hotel. It was a quiet affair and the details will remain in Vegas. This evening is best left in the memories of the participants. More soon.