The rest of Vegas: reflections from 30,000 feet

Saturday was a good day. We both woke around 3:30 in the morning and both managed (A with a little more difficulty, being on that pesky EST) to go back to sleep until a reasonable time.

Our day:

• Breakfast again at the hotel. Smoked salmon two days in a row! I feel so spoiled!
• Lay bundled in our layers by the pool, getting some cloud-filtered sunlight, talking, people watching (a favorite game of ours was pointing out cute lesbian couples to each other)
• Walk the strip again. This time we made it almost to the end of the strip – the Stratosphere looming just a block or two away.
• On the way we found our caramel apples (they were at The Venetian, not the Bellagio), got a massage at Brookstone from these massive chairs that, after the ministrations of the sales people, held us captive, reclined and listening to the in-store Motown medley. A highlight from this part was pulling the leg of one of out chair jailers – we claimed dryly that Motown music history and basic mechanical car knowledge is part of the State of Michigan education exams, a requirement for all Michigan students.
• I drooled over the cutest over-priced hoodie in Paul Frank, spend a little bit at David and Goliath, and put blinders up as we walked by the numerous designer show stores.
• Then we booked back up the strip, returning to Todai to make it just 30 minutes before their lunch buffet closed, gorging ourselves on sushi stuffs, their little mini-desserts rounding off the meal quite nicely.
• Then I forked over the money and bought one of the amazing dresses we tried on at the Betty Page store the day before.
  
• We found ourselves being followed by a group of cheerleaders who insisted on one-handed death-defying lifts all over the city.
  
• By then we were spent, rested in the room, I even got a good nap in.
• After the sun went down, we went out again. We dolled up in dresses, me in my new one and A in a hot little black number and we caught some free shows. Treasure Island (TI) Sirens – the cheesiest of cheesy show girls lip syncing to really bad music and pretending to have a little pirate fun. The tall gentleman and his wife watching from behind us were almost just as entertaining as he shouted his Arrr’s and his wife drank a big yellow margarita out of a plastic skull larger than some human heads. (Avast me mateys! See "sinking" ship at right).
  
• On this trek I did catch an Elvis – carrying a studded leather cape and whisking conspicuously through the crowd.
• We caught the Volcano erupting at the Mirage on the way back from TI and then meandered back to the Flamingo, still dolled, A nursing her cold and me a bit dismayed that there really aren’t any slot machines with actual slots for coins (I had put aside a coin of every face to try for Luck but it turns out they were better suited for tip jars).
• We each had a slice of pizza, watched a movie while we packed, and hit the proverbial hay, A missing her boys immensely and me missing A already.
• A left early in the AM while I fell back asleep and woke two hours later.
• The airport was crowded. The driver of my shuttle was from Sierra Leone and we talked about the war while navigating the way there. The Texan with the Mohawk and the reluctant New Yorker (“Where am I from? For now, New York”) joined in the conversation as well.
• Beside me on the plane was a Marine reading about Java programming and, as I type this, we land in just under an hour. I finished Fahrenheit 451 (finally) and realize that it makes me want to read and write like I used to – every day.
  

Funny how a trip to Vegas ended up with inspiration to read more. And maybe grow some kick ass sideburns. That would be Elvis-y-cool for sure.