Playing Tourist

Today I took the day off and hung out with Karl's Aunt Shannon. I always get a kick out of calling her "Aunt" Shannon, because she's five years younger than we are. Whenever she comes into town, she and I take a day and play tourist. Although I live here, I enjoy getting down to the Strip and taking it in once in awhile... so I always look forward to Shannon's visits!

We started the day out at Caesar's Palace... this is us outside the Forum Shops:

We stopped at Serendipity 3 for drinks and lunch... the food was awesome, BTW (and the drinks... yeah, gooooooood). In fact we were so full from lunch that we went back later in the day for dessert. I can't eat a single carbohydrate for like 3 weeks now, I now have plenty in storage, LOL. The service could have been a bit better, they were not on their game either time we visited today, but overall, it was still a good experience.

From there we hit the Bellagio to visit the Conservatory, check out the shops and watch the fountain show:

From the Bellagio we headed over to the Paris and had more drinks... we played a little video poker at Gustav's bar while chatting it up with the bartender. I had a couple of free martinis and lost only one dollar at the poker machine - I'd say I was ahead! :) From the Paris we hit the Mirage to buy tickets for the Beatles' Love show. I'm not going with the family, but decided it's a show I really want to see. I've never considered myself a Beatles fan, but whenever I hear them, I remember how much I do actually like their music. We were discussing their music catalog in the show's gift shop, when the nice lady working there let us know that there's going to be a new Cirque show at the CityCenter opening this Fall, and it's going to have an Elvis theme. I'm thinking I'm gonna have to see that, as well! The picture below is me in front of the showroom area... pretty psychadelic. :)

I had a day off work, drank some martinis, enjoyed the beautiful Vegas weather, all with good company. I'd say it was a pretty kick-ass day!

For more photos from the day, visit my Flickr page.

My Two Cents - Obama's Visit to Las Vegas

So President Obama spent the better part of two days in our fair city. As you know, I'm not political, but yeah... I have an opinion on this one.

Do I think it was irresponsible for our President to damn Las Vegas as a frivolous place for businesses to spend their money? Absolutely. This city is full of reasons to have your conventions, business meetings, etc. (and I'm not talking about the topless bars or roulette tables, but hey... if conventioneers want to spend their own time and money here before and after hours - where's the problem?). Do I believe that the over 400 conventions canceled per the Las Vegas Convention Authority were in part to his statement? I'd say that's a fair assumption. But we can't blame it all on him, let's be realistic. Our city is hurting for more reasons than the President's speech. However, I do believe, that in his own way, President Obama delivered the proverbial olive branch today. His short stay was even on the Strip, at Caesar's Palace if I'm correct. In a speech at Nellis Air Force Base, he had this to say:

"You know, it’s always a pleasure to get out of Washington a little bit. Washington is OK, but it’s nice taking some time to talk to Americans of every walk of life outside of the nation’s capital. And there’s nothing like a quick trip to Vegas in the middle of the week. [This got applause.] Like millions of other Americans, we come to this beautiful city for the sights and for the sounds -- and today we come for the sun." (Quote is from the Los Angeles Times, and it's entirety can be found here.)

Our Mayor, Oscar Goodman, was there to receive the olive branch. I have been reading rumors that he may be throwing his hat into the next gubernatorial race, and WOW, would I vote for him in a second. The current Joker, errr... Governor, Jim Gibbons, snubbed the President's visit. He felt this was not enough to make up for Obama's statements about Las Vegas. Maybe he should do less pouting and more planning for what he's going to do when he's replaced as Governor - because no matter how much game he's playing right now, we'd be crazy to re-elect him (nor do I think he has a chance in Hell). Can't we all just get along?

Weekend Update

Saturday I cleaned house - and as usual, I'm all smiles when the house is clean. Somehow this time I managed to have the whole house done in record time, and I kept thinking I was forgetting something major. I hadn't forgotten anything - so I just kick that much ass.

This morning Maddy and I made our usual visit to a local park. Today it was the expansion part of Centennial Hills Park, they just opened it last week and it's really pretty awesome. There's a covered play structure so huge, it's like they took four park play structures and stuck them all together. Here's a picture of Madison playing on part of it:

We took a walk all around the new part, and there's even an amphitheater type area there, I'm going to have to check the city calendar for events. One thing about Las Vegas is that yes, it is an adult Disneyland. A huge complaint I hear all the time is that there's nothing for young people to do, such as other cities like San Diego or Austin or wherever. I know I'm biased because I grew up here - but I still disagree. It's harder to find things to do, we don't have Sea World and we don't have a climate that's comfortable to be outside in year-round. BUT, if you learn how to look for things to do, and get creative in your own circle of family and friends? There's a wealth of ways to keep kids of any age busy.

This afternoon we went to Amy and Ken's house for some swimming and dinner. Madison had a blast in the pool, she pretty much swam around all by herself for over an hour with one of those floatie sticks (What are those called?). Afterward family and friends all arrived for dinner and we had one fabulous feast with twelve of us all sitting around enjoying the food and good conversation. I think we may be making progress in convincing Madison to take swimming lessons, we are really struggling with getting her outside her comfort level to try new things. Thanks again to Amy and Ken for having us over, we really enjoyed ourselves!!