Vegas Summary

We are back from Vegas - and NO, Hazel and I are not Mr. & Mrs. despite what most of you have been thinking.

Thursday we arrived bright and early to the Vegas Strip.... so early that the Hooters Hotel wouldn't let us check in yet. So we ditched the luggage and started walking.... and walking.... and walking.... and walking.... Per Hazel, it is 5.26 miles from Mandalay Bay to the Stratosphere. Granted we never hit the Stratosphere, but even walking from Hooters (behind MGM) to the Venetian was still close to 3 miles. And we hit that walk multiple times. Plus by the time you walk through all the casinos looking for games to play.... next trip to Vegas I'll have to remember to take my pedometer to get a total distance covered in the 4 days. I did place my "winning" bet on the Cyclones at Mandalay Bay that morning. I won $20 on my Cyclones beating the spread!

We went to Phantom of the Opera at the Venetian on Thursday night. I've seen Phantom 3 prior times and this was definitely "Vegas Style" compared to the other three performances. I was not impressed with the vocals of most of the main performers, but what the show lacked musically, it more than made up for in special effects. The show was also modeled around the movie version where things are changed and altered. Not sure if this is the "new" version that is being performed everywhere, but for those of us that are probably over familiar with the CD/Original version - it's very different. Still worth seeing and the things they do with the chandelier were awesome.

Friday we walked.... and walked.... to the Hard Rock Casino which is nowhere close to the main strip. Hazel had a huge urge to eat at the Pink Taco, so we had lunch there. We continued to walk up to the new casino, The Wynn. Talk about no expense spared.... that thing is gynormous and has the nicest public bathrooms I've ever used in my life. Friday night, Paul and Sara arrived so the surprise could come out. We had gathered to celebrate a surprise for Paul's 30th Birthday (actually next week) and what better surprise is there than a trip to Vegas? He was definitely shocked and elated to see us all. So they arrived at 9:30pm to the Hooters Hotel. We had some drinks and food... then started walking again:) We hit New York, New York for some slots, then up to the Bellagio for some slots. In the words of a local lady we met: "you won't win at the Bellagio, they have things to pay for in there". She's right.... nobody came out ahead there. We returned to Hooters around 4am which is the way it's supposed to be in Vegas.

Saturday started out as a "let's go grab some breakfast and come back to the hotel to rest" but that never happened. We hit a ton more casinos, some for winning, some for losing. Took the bus down to Fremont Street for the action down there, then came back to enjoy the shows at the Mirage and Treasure Island. A full day that ended with Paul winning big and breaking even for the trip (including meals, etc).

Paul and Sara left Sunday morning - but Hazel and I had one more day to ourselves. We visited some more spots that we hadn't hit yet, but then I had randomly stumbled upon the fact that Jamie Cullum was performing at the Hilton Sunday night... for only $38 a ticket!! So not only did Hazel get to see where her Barry Manilow performs, but I was able to check out one of my favorite jazz artists right now! Cullum is a mixture of jazz, pop, and funk... and all at the age of 26! He's huge in England, but this is his first US tour. Very enjoyable evening of good music.

We headed back Monday, through Vegas airport that was running 1/2 without electricity. I was impressed that our plane was only an hour late considering there was no electricity in our Concourse. We had to walk up the stairs to board the plane and everything. Tuesday was a huge catch up day for me with work and everything - I am sorry for the lack of a blog to read. I think I made up for it though today. Pictures tomorrow, once I find my memory card reader at home.

Vegas is a blast... I can't wait to go back! And I even had a water next to Elvis!!! How cool was that?!?!?!