OLA: Leaving Las Vegas

the Fremont Experience in downtown Las Vegas

with Ate Tesing and Kuya Ute at the famous Welcome Sign

This is not about Nicolas Cage, it is about me! On a plane headed for ‘home’ in Ciincinnati, I am already nostalgic about my several days of escape to the Sin City! On Friday Sept. 2, Bill got a clean bill of knee health. After cooking some food and putting them in the fridge, I was off to Vegas on Sept. 5, worried the supply was not going to be enough, earning the title of a negligent wife. As it turned out, Bill was hungry for 

pizza, chili dogs, chips and salsa, anyway! He had his own escape!

Ann , Jingjing and me in front of VDara Hotel

My first day was a shopping spree with my cousin Ate Tesing and husband Kuya Ute. I bought my first pair of skinny jeans!!! They also took me to the small Welcome plaza which now has a parking lot for tourists like me who would like her photo taken there for a souvenir shot. Then my first night was spent getting updated with each other’s goings-on...up to 3 in the morning!

no photography allowed inside, so just this pic! 

Excalibur at night

Then off I went to the very first mini-reunion outside of the Philippines with gal pals Ann Gatmaytan and Jingjing Romero! I picked up Jingjing from her son Doc Oliver’s apartment. We were booked at the newest hotel on The Strip, the VDara which also belonged of the MGM Group. The concierge told us that Wednesdays and Thursdays are The Strip’s lean days. So we had only one choice for a 9 pm show (we knew Ann would not make it to the 7 pm)… ‘Thunder from Down Under’, Australia’s Chippendales at the Excalibur. Anyway, ‘Whatever happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas’!

the funky garden inside Bellagio's Conservatory

Afterwards, however, we thought that it was a relatively tame show. All we got was a kiss on my cheeks, a touch on Ann’s thigh and a hand on Jingjing’s arm. But we relished the thought that finally we were able to watch this that we had all wondered about for a looooong time. Later we rode the tram back to VDara and walked through the summer flowers in Bellagio’s Inside Gardens but, sadly, missed the Dancing Lights because it was past midnight.

buffet at Palace Station with Angie and Wendell

The next night was truly a treat from a friend, Angie Manchester and her gentle giant of a husband, Wendell. They took us to the buffet at the Palace Station then to the Gordie Brown Show (comedic impersonator of Obama, Bush, and Cheney and a host of celebrity singers, including all my favorites) at the Golden Nugget.

Gordie as Elvis, courtesy of Angie

After the show we stepped right into the Fremont Experience in downtown Las Vegas. This original Strip is two blocks of 1940 casinos renovated through the years. On the middle of the street (no cars) were bands and sax players on several stages, different artists demonstrating and selling their crafts and tons of side shows. The highlight, however, was the hourly light show coordinated by about 300 computers on the long high roof that covered the strip! There was even a zipline that ran below the roofline (riding fees during the light show was
double).

one of the side shows at the Fremont Experience

We had shrimp cocktail before midnight at The Golden Gate, and passed by the White Wedding Chapel where Elvis got married before they took us back to our hotel!  I am now on this plane, leaving Las Vegas, thinking my gosh, I didn’t know there were so many other things to see in this infamous city besides The Strip! Hoover Dam, Lake Mead, a plane tide through Grand Canyons, and the Red Rocks just outside are also must-sees! Next year I will return, with Bill and M’A ‘turn, and stay for three weeks at the Las Vegas Thousand Trails RV Resort!   

the Little White Wedding Chapel where Elvis fot married

Next Post: Taking Me Home to Country Roads (West Virginia)