I mentioned Karen’s birthday surprise. The girl’s arranged a weekend trip to Las Vegas as we missed celebrating her 70th due to Covid. So many things to do in the city that never sleeps, or is that NY? Turns out it is both. Unfortunately, Karen and I are in need of sleep each night, so we have no clue what goes on after 10 ish. Here is a travel log that may be of interest to more than just us.
The city is an excellent place to get in steps in your pursuit of longevity. One day we got close to 20,000 as we did the site seeing and shopping thing. It was fun to see that stores still carry merchandise and people seem to be buying lots of stuff. It is not just trinkets and trash, the Wynn hotel, which I considered boycotting, is a beautiful facility with nothing but high end stores. They have guards at the doors of some of the exclusive shops. The Parasol bar is as memorable as the Chihuly glass ceiling in the expansive Bellagio Resort. You likely have to see the Grand Canal Shoppes at the Venetian. You are inside but the lighting and scenery looks like you are outside, amazing sky scenes, oh yea and they have gondola’s and a water canal. We were not tempted to experience the crooning while cruising for $39 per person (a bit more than $3 a minute).
You gotta see the Sphere. It stands 367 feet tall on an 18 acre site and cost $2.3 billion to construct. It dominates a portion of the skyline and the exterior is continually changing colors and themes. It is a sight to behold in the evening. In practice it is a 18,600 seat music and entertainment arena. We missed the Eagle’s concert but it is one thing that might lure me back to Las Vegas.
There are so many shows to see. A few weeks ahead of our journey the girl’s got good tickets to Michael Jackson ONE by Cirque du Soleil. The show is a “fusion of acrobatics, dance and visuals inspired by the music and showmanship of Michael…”. The show is non stop action excitement, I did not need my hearing aids, it is loud. The song Black or White is poignant today, as the song asks you to consider how race and color are not important..everyone is the same. The acrobats are amazing and the gentlemen doing the moon walk would have turned Michael’s head.
The food in Vegas is world class. We enjoyed Mediterranean and Italian in very unique and delicious styles. This is not inexpensive, but it was a celebration. We did not order the $4600 bottle of wine that was offered.
The picture is from the ARTE MUSEUM. Located in the heart of the Strip this 30,000 square foot space is an immersive art experience that engages all of your senses. You find yourself standing in a continual water fall with the appearance of water washing over your feet, a forest that is inhabited by creatures that appear like holograms. The holograms made their own unique sounds, a white tiger roared in the forest pursuing a beautiful flower covered stag, a Pheonix flew through the trees and posed, and finally a frightening dragon comes on the scene.
The dragon reminded me of the perils we face as a country from a vindictive, evil elected official who threatens our democracy and individual freedom. Keep your faith. Mike
Sin City
