The Vegas Rundown

Ok Lou - here's the lowdown on the hoe-down.....

Vegas was a hoot. We left on Thursday afternoon; got there just before supper and immediately hit up the MGM buffet where I thoroughly enjoyed seafood (my first mistake...) and tried a new fish, swahi (2nd mistake....).

Then my sister arrived around 9pm so I met her in the MGM lobby, took her to our room to unpack etc. and we joined Sherry and her friend for some fun at Studio 54. It was fun to go dancing; I only ever do that in Victoria if it's a wedding reception or my own living room. But Anna and I both love to dance and....good cardio workout!

Friday we basically walked the strip, visited M & M world, the Coke shop (so cute, everything Coke) and had a delicious lunch at the Paris hotel. It was inside but Paris is designed to make you think you're outside. Delicious salad. Late that afternoon I wasn't feeling super-fantastic but put it down to a late night and all of the excitement. Anna and I then split off from the girls and went to do some of our own shopping - there are amazing shops in Vegas and I bought a really cool top from the BEBE store. We went back to the hotel to shower and change and the others were still busy so we decided to do our own dinner. I was dying to try the Wolfgang Puck restaurant in our hotel so Anna and I got dressed up and hit Wolf's for some yummy eats. We had a hoot; we always laugh our heads off when we're together and since she was sans children it was a relaxing time for both of us. I had a delicious clam linguine (3rd mistake....) and she had this incredible steak skewer thing. After that we hit the piano place at New York New York and bumped into some Victorians (didn't know them but they recognized us form the plane) which was hilarious because the pianos were having a Canada vs. US music dual. One would play our anthem, then the other guys tip jar would be topped up and he would overtake with the US anthem. Then they played America the Beautiful vs the Good Ole Hockey Game! Very funny.

Saturday morning - I woke up feeling ROTTEN ! Darrell said I should not have chosen seafood when out of town.... he might be right. Anyhoo - Anna was an EXCELLENT nursemaid and got me water, told me when and when not to eat and took me outside to sit by the pool and get real air. The MGM is really smoky because the ceilings are shorter than other hotels and we forgot they can smoke there. Anyway, this was to be the big shopping day but I felt so rotten that we let the other 2 go on ahead and we caught a cab down there when I felt a slight improvement. Darrell would be glad that we got there 3 hours than originally planned as I only spent $127 !! But, did get some cute little bargains.

Well when we got back to the hotel I felt brutal and this was the night of the concert. I actually cried for a bit in my hotel room because the concert was the sole reason I booked this trip to begin with. Sherry's friend suggested some Pepto Bismal which I hadn't tried yet and Sherry said they could text us after the opening act which at this point now I didn't care if I missed one bit. Well PRAISE THE LORD for Pepto Bismal because within 20 minutes I felt SO MUCH BETTER! Down Anna and I headed to the arena (fortunately it was in our hotel.... which we couldn't believe because it was huge!) and BON JOVI DID NOT DISAPPOINT! They played straight for 2 1/2 hours and I was so impressed with the musicianship and the show itself. An uneventful flight home the next morning (although I was nervous about my stomach) ended a super fun trip.

And an unexpected bonus, as I didn't eat from Friday night to Tuesday morning, I also lost 4 pounds !!!! (don't get too excited....they're all back now ;)