One of reasons I wanted to go to Vegas is because it holds a bit of my family history. My Bapa really enjoyed vacationing in Vegas after he retired many years ago. This meant my Nana got to 'enjoy' it too. Neither of them smoked and rarely drank alcohol. They were careful with their money, and only gambled with X amount each trip. They weren't Vegas-type people. Still, Bapa enjoyed it for some reason. Even more oddly, his favorite place to stay was Circus Circus. Twenty or so years ago, when they first started going to Vegas, CC was probably a decent place. Vegas surely was different back then, and Bapa wasn't big on change. He liked CC once, and so he probably saw no value in trying out someplace else.
Mom and I took a cab to CC Monday so I could see it live and in person. Yikes. Mom and my heart's ached for my Nana when we saw what CC was like inside. It smelled old, musty, smoky and generally icky. Nana must have hated it. There wasn't much for her to enjoy doing in Vegas. Bapa's favorite casino was Slots of Fun. I kid you not. Again, I don't know why. Apparently, this is was an awesome place back in the day. Bapa just never really left that day, I guess.
The wind was blowing crazy hard that day. See my post-chemo hair blowing in the wind? Yay for hair that's long to blow in the wind again!!
Inside Circus Circus during one of the circus acts. It was, well, amusing.
It was nifty to see the places that my Bapa enjoyed so much. I've heard about them almost my whole life. In a sad way, seeing these places completes a circle inside my heart.
We decided to walk back up the Strip and check out The Venetian's shops. It was further than it looked, just like everything in Vegas. I definitely got plenty of cardio on this vacation!! We saw the gondolas. I wasn't impressed, but it was interesting to see. Inside the shops is similar to a mall, but with upscale stores, beautiful and ornate architecture and the ceiling looks like a cloudy blue sky. Very cool! I felt like I could have easily been in Italy. Judge for yourself, click here. The beginning of the third and fourth pictures show the ceiling/sky. And, yes, that's really what it looks like inside. It's amazing, elegant, and grandiose. I found my personal favorite shop in this 'mall', but that's top secret. Remember?
There are, also, living statues. Each living statue we saw was so graceful. Great ambiance!
This was part of a little free show. The jester was stealing the statue's tips.
I was shopped out and hungry, so we decided to walk across the street to our hotel. That sounds simple, right? Ha! It took us 20 minutes of actual walking time to get back to the lobby. We decided to share a couple appetizers at Stack. I ordered one of their specialty drinks called Raspberry Sin. It was yummy and decadent- and expensive. Yikes!
Here's a very bad picture of my drink taken from Mom's phone. Notice the list? I had so many things I wanted to see and do on vacation that I had to write it all down so my chemo-brain wouldn't lose it.
We ordered lobster tacos and lettuce wraps with beef, chicken and pork. The meats for the lettuce wraps came on a tiny grill. It's hard to see in the picture, look in the upper left hand corner. How fun is that? It was THE most expensive and smallest meal ever. Very tasty, though. And all the people watching was fun, too.
Excellent, slightly emotional, and exhausting day 2. I was thankful to spend the rest of the evening resting my post chemo-ed feet and knees on the super comfy luxurious bed while texting with a couple friends.
Day 3 is next...
