Las Vegas Trip Report Part 4
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Hope all the readers here are having a happy and healthy holiday season. Despite unseasonably cold weather in Georgia and viruses hitting friends and relatives right and left, we felt blessed that we could spend some time with family members on Christmas Day.
Now that the festivities are over and our life can return to a fairly routine schedule, I want to finish up reporting on my recent visit to Las Vegas with granddaughter Kaitlynn.
One of the questions that keeps popping up was how different I found Vegas this trip from when we moved away three years ago. I’ve described in the last three parts how we could do some of the old things we used to do, such as the money-making coupon run, and how we enjoyed the new activities, particularly the mind-boggling Area 15.
But I must tell you about one of our evenings that encapsulated this merger of the old and the new so well. It began by meeting long-time friends at the classic Hugo’s Cellar restaurant at the Four Queens, a nostalgic visit to a place we first tried about 30 years ago. Absolutely nothing had changed: We were once again greeted by a gracious tuxedo-clad host, who gave all of us ladies a long-stemmed red rose. The servers were also formally dressed and impeccably but warmly efficient. Once again, Jon Simons was our sommelier, giving us wine advice like he’s been doing there for 37 years. From the time we walked down the stairs from the casino level, I felt like I’d been transported by a time machine back to our early Vegas days when everything was so new and exciting.
But after we finished our magnificent meal, it was time to have the time machine transport our whole group back to the present and set us down across Fremont Street at the shiny new(ish) Circa Casino. We were going to use our LVA coupons for complimentary glasses of champagne at the Legacy Club. We knew this would be a classy bookend to complete our classy start at Hugo’s. So we took the elevator to that elegant rooftop lounge on Circa’s 60 floor and walked around those floor-to-ceiling windows for a night-time bird’s eye view of the city lights.
From a dark basement to a sky of lights – yes, it was a dramatic difference, but perhaps symbolizing all the changes I’ve seen in Vegas since Brad and I first arrived in 1984. But on the way down on the elevator, we stopped just before the ground floor and had a passer-by take this picture of our group, we ladies still with our red roses from Hugo’s. And in the background was 43-year-old cowgirl Vegas Vickie, still kicking after being refurbished and a new leg motor installed when she was moved from outside on Fremont Street into the Circa.
I’m guessing that no matter how much Vegas changes, it will always be a “kickin” place. How long will I be “kicking” enough to write about it? Hopefully, a long time to come.
But for a short time now, perhaps a few weeks, I’ll take a little rest from blog writing.
Below is a photo Kaitlynn took of me when I found a great vibrating couch in Area 15, with beautiful changing lights and enchanting music, where I could rest my feet after two hours of non-stop activity. (Security said I was fine there, but just don’t close my eyes, since sleeping isn’t allowed!) I’m going to spend some time in January trying to replicate that relaxing experience, but sleeping will be allowed!
