October 23, 2008
Dear Everyone:
“Jeannie” and I had a great time in
Friday
We got our hair cut a day earlier than we usually
would, then headed for the airport.
When we got there, we only had to wait a few minutes for
“Passenger Assistance” (PA) to produce a wheelchair to take me to the
gate. The flight to
Unfortunately, we got a very cranky cab driver.
Taking us to the
Once in the
We moved in, then went in search of dinner.
We found it about a half-block away.
(Note: In
Saturday
The
Once we got back out of the resort, we decided to
take a cab to the Bellagio.
Even though we could see it, we knew it would take all day to walk
there. This cab driver was
in a much better mood than the one the night before.
As usual, it took a lot of time to wend our way through the
casino, etc. to find the Theater where the Cirque du Soleil would
perform that night. I
produced the documents proving that I did order the tickets and that I
was, in fact, myself.
Tickets in hand, we decided to try taking “The
Deuce”, a double-decker shuttle bus that would take a passenger up and
down The Strip as many times as they liked (for the right price, of
course.) It wasn’t the
shuttle bus’s fault that some emergency virtually shut traffic down.
We finally got off and walked back to the
When it was time to go back to the Bellagio, we
opted for a cab. “O” is a
sumptuous combination of synchronized swimming, gymnastics, ballet,
acrobatics, incredible diving and some contortionists.
“Jeannie’s” feeling was that it could have been about a half-hour
shorter. I enjoyed most of
it. We hung out at the
entrance to the resort long enough to see the big fountain display that
runs every quarter-hour, then took yet another cab home.
Sunday
We checked out the swimming pool (and hot tub), but
mostly just sat in the shade and read until it was time to meet
“Jeannie’s” friend, and former knitting instructor, and her mother for
lunch. They took us to “old
When we got back to the
We had planned on riding
the roller coaster at
By the time we got off the Monorail and through the
inevitable casino, we decided to take yet another cab, even though the
Venetian was “right across the street.”
This driver was unhappy because he had to wait through four
cycles of the traffic light before he could make an illegal U-turn, then
take us through a circuitous route to get “across the street.”
Inside the Venetian, a helpful desk clerk produced
a map with the most direct route to get to the theater for Blue Man
Group. Once we had the
tickets, we realized we had time for dinner.
So we rode to the second level on an escalator…and found
ourselves in St. Mark’s Square.
Of course, it was a replica of St. Mark’s Square in
We had dinner in an “open air” restaurant and even
had time to walk through the Square along the Canal before returning to
the Theater for Blue Man Group.
I’m not sure how to describe Blue Man Group.
Three guys wearing blue makeup and gloves, along with black/brown
pants and shirts. They play
percussion instruments and experiment with colored liquids.
Their facial expressions don’t change much, but they can convey
hilarity in body language.
Because we were in the fourth row, we got plastic
ponchos to wear over our clothes.
Sometimes the materials make their way off the stage and into the
audience. It’s very
interactive. Loads of fun.
Monday
“Jeannie” went out for coffee and doughnuts while I
packed. Checkout wasn’t
until 10:00 am, but the maids wanted us out sooner so they could clean
the rooms. So we checked
out, but kept our key cards so we could go up to the pool area on the
roof where we hung out until it was time to go to the airport.
In the lobby, we asked the Concierge to call us a
cab to the airport. Instead,
a man grabbed our bags and put them into a shuttle bus which turned out
to belong to the resort. So
our return trip only cost the usual $5 per bag tip.
“Passenger Assistance” again whisked us through
security in
Neither of us did any gambling, unless you count
cranky cab drivers and traffic problems.
I have no idea how much money we spent, but I’ll figure that out
next weekend. In the
meantime, “There’s no place like home!!!”
Everybody pray for rain and lots of snow in the mountains.
Love, as always,
Pete
| Previous | Next |