Bright Light City

May 13, 2012

Elton John

Bright Light City

“Jesus freaks out in the street
Handing tickets out for God
Turning back she just laughs
The boulevard is not that bad”

-Elton John – “Tiny Dancer”

Kathy & Dakota

The quote from the Elton John’s song that regained prominence when featured in a key scene of the film “Almost Famous” could easily apply to the Strip in Vegas. It seems each time we visit, the Strip becomes slightly more of a freak show with all manner of people hawking everything imaginable. There are any number of costumed people who charge money for photos, performers of various levels of talent busking, the ever present clusters of people handing out cards advertising escorts, free passes to nightclubs or discounted tickets to shows and even helicopter trips over the Grand Canyon. It is some of the best people watching on the planet and is just part of the quirky charm that is Las Vegas.

Kathy & Dakota

Kathy

We spent a lot of time wondering up and down the strip, on the way to shows, dinners, bars, or just exploring and soaking in the crazy atmosphere. Not being big gamblers, our attraction to Vegas is found in the shows, food, shopping and over the top experiences that can really not be found anywhere else.

There are all sorts of fun things to keep you busy and to explore. We always enjoy checking out the garden atrium at the Bellagio, which is always beautiful, full of fresh flowers and plants and decorated in a rotating, seasonal splendor that is constantly changing. The current display celebrates Holland and the Spring blooming season and is once again a creation of beauty and a breath of fresh air in the seemingly endless maze of casinos found in Vegas.

Dakota

The Bellagio is also home to our favorite buffet in Las Vegas. While there are countless wonderful upscale dining options, many of which we took advantage of, the buffet dining experience in Vegas is a tradition and the Bellagio successful merges high end dining with the buffet concept. Sure it is more expensive, but the value for what you actually receive is totally worth it. We make it a stop every time we are in town.

The last show that we saw while there was yet another winner, even though we had just seen Elton John just over a month ago in Ft. Lauderdale, we decided to go see his new semi-permanent show, “The Million Dollar Piano” at Celine Dion’s Coliseum theatre in Caesar’s Palace. 

One of the reasons we choose to see him again so soon is that the show in Lauderdale was stellar, the other reason is that unlike that show, this one has a complete light and sound show that is all Vegas- over the top and unlike any concert I have seen in ages. The show was shorter and he played mostly hit songs, but the size and scope and overwhelming presentation made it a pretty awesome experience.

Elton John “Rocket Man”

The remainder of our Vegas vacation involved more amazing meals, hanging out in beautiful and relaxing Spa Mandalay, shopping in the myriad of shopping malls and stores that are found throughout the Strip and in most all of the casinos, riding the fun and somewhat long rollercoaster at New York, New York and lounging poolside or in the Lazy River at Mandalay Beach. It was a great getaway and a lot of fun. 

Vegas….again

May 11. 2012

Vegas….again

“Las Vegas looks the way you'd imagine heaven must look at night.”

-Chuck Palahniuk

Not being able to go on the rafting adventure due to work commitments, yet not wanting to miss out on all the fun, I arranged to fly out and meet Kathy, Aunt Kathy & Dakota in Las Vegas at the conclusion of their trip and booked a nice suite at Mandalay Bay for 6 nights that they could use to recover, relax and assimilate back in to the unreal culture that is Las Vegas. Talk about going from one extreme to the other.

I flew out the day before they finished and was able to have a solo night in Vegas to begin the process of getting myself into trouble. With all of Vegas to choose from, I opted to head over to the infamous dive bar, the Double Down. I had had positive recommendations as a must see Vegas experience from some trusted friends and wanted to check it out.

The bar, which has as its slogan, “Shut Up And Drink”, and is known for their famous “Ass Juice” cocktail, (which is basically just a mix of whatever booze the bartender wants to mix in a crazy concoction), is one of the world’s great dive bars. Before the Vegas trip was over, I would find myself there for three very late nights including one interesting evening that found me playing Punk Rock Bingo with a Drag Queen, three strippers, a couple of midgets (their terminology) and a fetish model. It certainly seems a  far cry from the glittering lights and towers on the strip a few blocks away, but the people there also were much more real, nice and interesting than the typical fake plastic crowd that populates much of the strip.

The ladies arrived the following morning tired, but full of tale from their exotic adventures. The accommodations seemed to agree with them and if you throw in the spectacular spa Mandalay and the incredible beach pool area, I think they were pleased to be back in civilization.

Aunt Kathy, Kathy & Dakota

We had a full slate of activities planned that included plenty of delicious dining and a number of the shows which Vegas is so well known for. Kathy & I are not big gamblers, but Aunt Kathy did pretty well playing the slots. She only stayed a few extra days but was able to catch a couple of shows with us.

First up was the Broadway production of “Jersey Boys” at the theatre at Paris. The entertaining musical follows the story of the formation and career of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons and is full of their wonderful music, most of which is readily recognizable as a part of the American rock canon. 

Jersey Boys

Jersey Boys- “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You”

As good as Jersey Boys was, it could not compete with the show that we saw the next night, Cirque du Soleil’s “Love” featuring the music of the Beatles. Kathy and I had seen the show during our last trip to Vegas last October and thought it was one of the most enjoyable and entertaining things we had ever seen. We really wanted to let Aunt Kathy and Dakota share the experience and we were pretty excited to go see it again ourselves.

Kathy

The show is impossible to describe, but the opening portion of it is probably the best pure entertainment of any kind that I have ever witnessed and the entire show gets a super five star rating as far as I am concerned. Any concern that it might lose a little something on second viewing was lost immediately, there is so much going on that you can’t possibly focus on everything, so each viewing uncovers something new and no doubt special.

Dakota & Michael

Beatles Cirque du Soleil LOVE- “Get Back/ Glass Onion”

The show is so good, it is worth a trip to Las Vegas simply to witness it in person. Once again the video posted above does not do the slightest bit of justice to just how spectacular and impressive the show actually is. Once again it was one of the highlights of a Las Vegas adventure.

http://doubledownsaloon.com/

http://www.jerseyboysinfo.com/