(Well … it was either that, or “It’s a Long Way to Tipperary” LOL)
Wrapping up this trip (WEEKS now since we’re home!), I am reminded of so many wonderful sights, sounds & experiences that we had!
We stayed at the famous Harrah’s:
Dined at the Eiffel Tower Restaurant:
Sang (or watched 😉 ) karaoke at the best place for it in town:
(I have no idea who that guy is …)
Had breakfast in THE most “Classic Las Vegas” location:
We strolled through “Venice” :):
We rode on the fabulous Las Vegas Monorail:
We attended Donny Osmond’s FIRST EVER LAS VEGAS SOLO SHOW on Opening Night!:
We rode the “High Roller” ferris wheel:
And we visited the Grand Canyon:
… All in only THREE DAYS! lol I have truly become the Queen of Hit the Ground Running on these quick vacations!
On our way back from the day-long Grand Canyon tour, I saw (for the first time) the face of Harrah’s, as seen from the “Strip” (the Main Entrance, which we perpetually used, was at the rear of the building.) At that moment, I recalled a photo that Donny Osmond posted to his Instagram account on the day of his opening night. Naturally, I had to take a photo in the same spot:
Although the juxtaposition of myself and Mr. and Mrs. Osmond seems like I’m with them at the same moment, the photos were taken 2 days apart. LOL Still fun. 🙂
The last question SOME asked, was “Las Vegas, huh? Didja win any money??” Funny thing: The result of the $10 we each got in Caesar’s Rewards Cash was the giant payout of 17 cents. However … when we were on the drive back from Arizona, I was playing the Casino game on my phone, and when we were back at the hotel, I said to Gerry, “Hey, ya know what? I’m feeling a little lucky. I hit on the Casino game for $223 million.” Gerry’s eyes went wide. “Not REAL money,” I added.
However, I decided to shove some real, hard cash into a slot machine — exactly one $20 bill. Here was my cash-out ticket:
Not bad! Additionally, 50 cents in a slot at the airport the next day yielded another bit:
In the end, you just can’t made me up. Net gains: 17 cents plus $165.59 plus $44.25 = a whopping net gain of $210.01. I’ll never get rich gambling, but it was fun to come out ahead.
And … as our plane was coming in for a landing in beautiful Newark, NJ, it was the sunset on a lovely vacation, and summer. See you next time! 😀
So … once again … I was familiar with neither the song (entitled “Grand Canyon”), nor the “artist”: Puscifer (whose name, I’d begrudgingly guess, rhymes with Lucifer) is described as a “super rock group.” WHATevs … if the lyric fits, blog with it!
In case you’ve not yet guessed … this entry is the story of our trip to the Grand Canyon!! Geographically close enough to Las Vegas to allow for a day trip, the Grand Canyon trip was the major event during this vacation to which Gerry was most looking forward; I would imagine almost as much as I looked forward to seeing Donny Osmond’s concert!
We’d been given a recommendation for a tour company … there are hundreds of choices in and near Las Vegas … and this company seemed very good at the outset. I received many update emails prior to August. The first several explained that the tour would leave Vegas at APPROXIMATELY 7 AM, and would depart from our hotel. A few weeks out, however, in my “IMPORTANT REMINDER” email, the time frame changed slightly to … “sometime between 6:30 and 8 AM, from a NEARBY hotel.” Ugh … this was getting a little more complicated. Every email they sent ended the same way: “We will contact you by 8 PM the evening before, with the exact pick-up details.” Fair enough.
Those details were provided during Donny’s concert, after which, when I read the text, I was less than pleased. “Please meet the tour bus at Treasure Island Hotel (about an 8 minute Uber ride from our own hotel) at 6:10 AM. If at all possible, please be 10 minutes early. The driver will make every effort to contact you if you are not at the pickup point, but may be forced to leave without you, if you are not on time.”
AWESOME!! 🙁
Therefore …. imagine my own displeasure, after we hoisted ourselves outta bed, and got to Treasure Island Hotel by 5:45 AM, when the driver of our van was LATE, and arrived at about 6:30. (For real, fella??) I said to him, when he finally arrived, “Traffic, huh?” to which he replied, “I couldn’t find MY PHONE!” (Those kids and their phones!!)
Despite such an inauspicious beginning, the tour did turn out quite well. We traveled in a 15-passenger luxury Mercedes Strider Van (a photo to a similar model below:)
It was comfortable and spacious. The drive to the Grand Canyon’s West rim is a little under 4 hours, so certainly comfort is key. Sufficient rest stops, and food provided made for a very nice day. Less than an hour after we got on the road, we reached another of my own personal milestones:
.
Arizona! My 44th state! (Of course, our driver whizzed past this sign going about 85 mph, so this is a Google stock photo of the location.)
It was actually an overcast day, with sporadic rain showers on our way to GC. The “glass half full” of that (aside from NOT having to drive!) was the appearance of a gorgeous double rainbow, seen at our first rest stop.
Our fellow traveler, Brent, actually noticed the rainbow first. Lovely!
Inside the rest stop, I was not really surprised to see where our 45th President has retired:
FYI, I did _NOT_ deposit money for my fortune to be told, but the thing had a motion sensor, and a bad imitation of DT blasted out of it at random passers-by. Ugh.
When we arrived at our first location at the Grand Canyon’s West rim, it was the Skywalk area. Initially, as we approached, our driver gave us disappointing news: the Skywalk was temporarily closed due to the rain. We parked, and honestly, I will always remember the first moment I saw the view:
I find it impossible to “poo-poo” the majesty of the Grand Canyon. Call it a hole in the ground, if you wish … but it’s the most amazing hole in the ground on Earth, in my humble opinion! We’d just barely taken our first few photos, and our driver hollered over to our group … “The Skywalk just re-opened!!!!”
Yay!! I was truly looking forward to experiencing the Skywalk. We’d watched a video all about the Skywalk on the trip out, and any concerns I had about weight limits on the thing were securely put to rest, and learning about the design and construction was absolutely fascinating! In a sentence, Skywalk is a horseshoe shaped walk way with a glass floor, that juts out from side of the Canyon. Certainly — with that glass bottom and 4,000 foot view straight down — not for anyone with acrophobia!
Lulu, who is quite the daredevil, and not an acrophobe AT. ALL! was a little disappointed not to be allowed to experience Skywalk. Humans who wish to step out onto Skywalk may not take ANYTHING — coins, keys, purses, cell phones, NOTHING! — with them. Everything (including Lulu — and please don’t tell her she’s not a human!) had to be stored in a locker while we ventured out.
We generally enjoyed the Skywalk — me, more than Gerry, I think. He’s not afraid of heights, per se, but let’s just say he stuck to the side runners whenever possible.
OF COURSE, they have the prerequisite photographers, at the ready to snap plenty of photos, particularly as we were not allowed to tote our cellphones. (And … from a teacher / person of authority p.o.v. …. GOOD MOVE on the part of Skywalk. Not sure if that’s been a rule from the beginning, but there are dozens of gaps in the barrier for things to slip through.)
Our assigned photographer was a gangly hipster type, who seemed pretty much “over it”, and it was only 10 AM. He followed his script … “Put your hands up like you’re on a roller coaster” … “Put your arms around each other” , etc. And then Gangly Hipster said, “OK, sir, … now, pretend you’re pushing her off.” Gerry absolutely, flatly refused. Twice. Even after I said, “Aw, come on! It’ll be funny!” Nope. LOL Despite having the wind taken from his sails, Gangly Hipster came through with some nice shots. Here are the best ones:
We fell directly into the tourist trap of “Buy one for $20, or …” But, actually I feel it was a pretty good deal, because we could buy all of the photos, plus 20 bonus Skywalk professionally done photos, for $50 something. Might as well share the others, too … Enjoy!
This one is so cool … no runners along the wall … and a cloud below. Walking in Heaven!This was the only photo-op I was sorry I missed … that eagle shaped rock formation, directly in front of Skywalk is amazing to behold.
(I know … you didn’t count 20 photos, did you? Some were so similar, I decided to give my readers a break. LOL)
Before leaving the area of Skywalk, we needed to take the obligatory “Lulu On Location” photo:
Can you spot her??OH! There she is! 🙂 (Credit to Lulu handler, Gerry)
It was around now that we were socializing more with our fellow traveler, Brent. Brent was traveling by himself, and was a perfectly personable young man. I found that he not only looked a little bit like Jim Parsons (who plays “Sheldon” on “Big Bang Theory”) but sounded EXACTLY like Sheldon, and said things like, “I think I see a big whole in the ground” and “Imagine, all this time in the desert, and I haven’t seen one coyote chasing a road runner!”
Brent was a pleasant addition to our trip, and makes a cameo in my brief panorama video. His biggest concern … making his dinner reservation at Ex Caliber … would’ve been less amusing if he didn’t sound so much like Sheldon. LOL
Our second, and last, stop was another location on the West Rim. I’ve included a few more (of the best) shots, but before that, a few random observations:
The Grand Canyon is a stunning sight.
So stunning, it _ALMOST_ seems fake, even though I know it’s not.
I am _SO GLAD_ I was able to visit.
A two hour stop, to admire the scenery in the one spot, is way too long for me.
LOL … we’d just had a conversation on the van about the fact that Guano means “Bat shit” … and here’s the Guano cafe. A soda and corn on the cob made for a good snack before heading back to Las Vegas.
Here’s a very brief video of our view, from the outdoor eating area of the Guano Cafe. Brent (aka Sheldon) had just told me that he saw a lizard on the rocks. In retrospect, I wish I’d gotten more of his voice on record. Hilarious.
Many times some of these tours include brief stops for a look-see of Hoover Dam. Not us. We stopped to see grazing sheep.
I mean … I kinda got nothin’ for this, but the driver seemed pleased with his knowledge that the sheep regularly graze at this random park, and that they were not to be spooked or scared off by us. Hence, photographs. LOL
It was a really great day and excursion!
A wrap up to the vacation will close out the Summer 2021 blog in my next post!! Stay tuned!
If you’re in ANY way, shape or form a Donny Osmond hater, BEAT IT! I’m not even kidding; this post isn’t for you. As you must know by now, I am a HUGE (literally) Donny Osmond ADMIRER, and some of my recent Facebook posts have been littered with some nay saying and nastiness. If you’re in the mood to make fun of Donny, or me for being a fan, gimme a break. Seriously, Bro, enough already!
🙂 Now that we’ve established our boundaries, lemme just say that attending Donny Osmond’s OPENING NIGHT for his solo show at Harrah’s in Las Vegas was PURE. MAGIC!!
As we waited in line to get into the showroom, a blonde woman suddenly crossed in front of us, followed by several suspiciously Osmond-looking young adults and children! It was Donny’s wife, Debbie! (Looking quite gorgeous as always) I actually said, “Hi, Debbie!”, which caused her to look back, and give me a double take … (“Do I know you? Nah!” LOL) Once inside the venue, I looked around to see where the family was sitting, and spotted some of them in a private box in the balcony:
That’s Debbie … honestly she looked none too happy, but my guess was it was some sort of Mama Duck thing.
Donny and Debbie have 5 sons, all married, and 12 grandchildren. They were ALL THERE, babies included! Donny posted a very sweet & amazing photo on Instagram after the Opening Night show, including the (as my Uncle Jackie would say) Whole Fam Damnly! (lol) Here it is:
That’s some Gene Pool, don’t you think? 😀
The pre-show vibe was SO electric! I mean … the room was filled with die hard fans like me, all THRILLED to be in attendance at this very special opening night! We were seated at a table for 6, about half way back in the audience. Gerry turned to the one other guy at our table, and asked, “So … are you here to support, too?” His female companion declared, “No! He’s a FAN!” (I later watched a video of the personal Meet & Greet that Donny did before the show … and there was the same couple.) Don’t ask, BTW, why we didn’t do the Meet & Greet … it’s ALL GOOD!
Ohhh … the BUZZ was definitely happening! I was absolutely beyond excited! Although, due to Covid restrictions, you can only tell from my eyes:
Yes, masks required at all indoor venues throughout Las Vegas. (… although, nice CHIN STRAP on the woman seated behind me, huh? Oy!! Yes, yes, that’s a picture of Donny on my mask. At least I wore it in a place where it was appreciated! LOL
In short order, the house lights came down, and the man of the hour made his entrance! I took a few videos, and found more online, and hope you enjoy!
There were so many highlights!! One of the first things he did was perform a RAP SONG (What?? I know!) that included his entire 6-decades long career! I recorded some of it … the whole thing is almost 10 minutes long, but (natch) was already posted on YouTube! Both videos are below.
Absolutely delightful! Donny sang, what he termed his “signature song.” I know for a fact that Donny went through a long period of time when he resented / hated? being associated with “Puppy Love”, but he’s come to point, I feel, that he fully owns it.
And he’s delicious singing this. Honestly, back in the day, I enjoyed “Sweet & Innocent” more than the Puppy song … but this was a sincere and lovely moment in the show.
Here are a few more stills for you to enjoy:
Donny did an amazing thing in this concert. I’ve since seen an interview, in which he describes what happened next. Behind him, all 65 of his albums covers are projected. He invites the audience to call out an album, and then offers to sing any track from that album. In the interview, Donny says that when he presented the idea to his producer, it seemed like an impossible feat to accomplish, and Donny said to him, “Don’t tell me No! We can do this!” Aside from the fact that he says his band is mad at him for having to learn all those songs (and, to be fair, he does a verse or 30 seconds of the requested tunes), it comes off without a hitch.
I mean, REALLY!, what an undertaking! Of course, it was pretty hilarious when the very first request that someone hollered out was for the album, “Disco Train.” LOL
LOL Donny groaned … “Really?? THAT’S the one you want? I _HATE_ that album.” He sang a song from it anyway! 🙂
During the request portion, one woman who was perhaps(?) Special Needs stood up, and requested a song. She asked Donny if he remembered her, and he couldn’t have been sweeter to this woman, and replied, “Yes, of course!”. She also said it was her birthday, and he soon thereafter launched into his famous birthday song from American Greetings, inserting her name as the recipient. Here’s the photo I took of the exchange:
And here’s a much longer video of a few requests, which lead into this moment. His manner with her is one of the things I love most about Donny.
He came out to the audience for one of his costume changes, before singing another Osmond oldie, “One Bad Apple.”
He did a WONDERFUL tribute to Andy Williams. I didn’t get photos or videos … but that seems readily available on YouTube as well. I was sobbing by the end of it … good thing those tears dried up sooner, because he then launched into a tribute to his sister, Marie. Sweet, for sure, but we all know how I feel about Marie.
Near the end of one of most fabulous concerts I’ve ever attended, Donny rolled out on a platform, playing the piano. A wonderful ending!
Noooo! Please don’t bring down the curtain yet!!
Bye-bye, Donny!
We floated out of the Showroom (well, OK, _I_ floated, Gerry walked LOL), and I’d hoped to take a selfie with the cardboard Donny on the way out. (We were in the wrong line before the concert.) Unfortunately, the cut-out was put away by then.
We tried the following night … we’d spent a long day in the Grand Canyon, but arrived back at the hotel to mosey on up to the Showroom, right after the show began, hoping to meet up with cardboard Donny for a selfie, but once again, all put away. ::sad trombone::
A few days later, I’d been attending a writing workshop all day, and got home around 10 PM. Gerry said to me, “Ummmmmm … you have a visitor in the living room.” I was honestly feeling a cross between panicked and annoyed that anyone would have been visiting me at 10 o’clock on a Sunday night.
Until I saw my visitor:
Yup. Gerry got a cardboard Donny, just for me. LOL Oh, what a treat, indeed!
Full disclosure: I don’t think I’ve ever listened to a song by Cheap Trick in my life … but their song lyric used for today’s title of Las Vegas, Day Two, is perfectly fitting!
Day Two in Vegas was ALL ABOUT DONNY, but I’m actually going to save that story for my next post, and write about the day, both before and after the concert.
We began our day at a place (I’m SUCH a tourist) touted by several guide books as offering “The Best Breakfast in Las Vegas”
(We were actually there during the day … but the evening view stock photo looked better 🙂 )
The Peppermill was very much as advertised! We were actually good to go until dinner after that visit!
Our next stop was a visit to the Venetian Hotel — a (you guessed it!) Venice themed hotel experience. I shall let the photos pretty much speak for themselves … it’s a gorgeous place!
It really is a pretty cool lookin’ place. 🙂“Hey, Mom!” said Lulu, “Can we take a ride on one of those gondolas??”
After departing the Venetian, it was back to Harrah’s to catch the Monorail. OK, so I think the LV Chamber of Commerce would LIKE to think that (maybe someday) the Monorail will be the mode of transportation of choice in their fair city. At the moment, not so much. But, it was a nice diversion for us. 🙂
Here’s a map of the whole system:
As the Monorail directly connected with the east side of the Strip (where we were staying), it was relatively easy for us find & board. If we’d been staying in the Southwest quadrant of the Strip, it wouldn’t be an effective mode of transportation AT. ALL!
Again … I will allow the photographs to speak for themselves, with a comment or two sprinkled in for entertainment purposes. 😉
(Just in case you were unclear of your location and/or what that big ol’ silver train pulling into the station might be)“Gee … I hope we get a seat!”There’s that High Roller again!We’ll be hopping aboard tonight!The Las Vegas Convention Center … I guess nothing was scheduled that day …Passing by Paris again …Dontcha love how Lulu is So GAME?? 🙂
On the walk back to our room, for a rest and then to get dolled up for dinner & Donny, we had to pose with this hilarious statue, of Winnie & Buck Tourist (get it? WINie & BUCK? lol) with their suitcases full of cash. As if, I know … but funny nonetheless!
(… and, please notice that my bag was certainly NOT overflowing with cash! LOL)
Although we didn’t take a photo of dinner at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse, I did take a few from our window view, where we looked out at the walkway plaza between Harrah’s and Linq.
We finished dinner in plenty of time to stroll on up to the Harrah’s main Showroom, and Donny’s show, which was TRULY fantastic! I will devote the entire next post to the show. Fellow fans … Marcie, Judy, Amy, Rhonda, et. al … I’m sorry to make you wait, but I assure you, it will be worth it!
After the show, we strolled over to (finally!) take our ride on the High Roller! This 550 foot Ferris wheel has large, spacious cabins, that can comfortably hold 20 or so people, but with Covid restrictions, masks are required, and we shared the cabin with about 9 or 10 others. I’m told that some cabins are equipped with a snack bar, but not ours. That’s OK! The height it attains offers SUPERLATIVE views of the Strip … especially at night, when we rode! The whole ride — one trip around — goes super slow, and takes 30 minutes. A fun experience!
Those are some really stunning views (“Oh, THANK YOU!” said Lulu).
When we arrived at “High Roller”, and before we boarded, they did the usual, “Stand in front of the green screen … smile … hug … looked scared” thing while taking “souvenir photos”, and below are the results:
Yeah … not too convincing … lolHey, those acting lessons are really paying off for Gerry! We’ve come a long, long way since the “Look Scared”moment at Niagara Falls! (lol)This one’s my favorite … how about you?
Our day trip to the Grand Canyon was scheduled for the very next day, so after the High Roller deposited us back on terra firma, we called it a night.
Next up: All About Mr. Donny C. Osmond, and his wonderful solo show!
I’ve been looking forward to this trip — for MANY reasons! — for almost a year! First and foremost … Las Vegas is in the state of Nevada, which became the 43rd of the 50 States that I’ve now visited!
There we are, Lulu & I, just after we checked in at our hotel, Harrah’s on the Las Vegas Strip! Honestly, I never did see the OFFICIAL sign at the city limits, but much more manageable replicas are all over the place (this one being in the hotel lobby.)
Everywhere we went in Vegas was expanse, and far apart. This photo shows one edge of the check in lobby. Kind of overwhelming!
We dropped our things in our room, and explored around a little bit. FYI, the tab for lunch for 2, quite modest typical lunch fare at a “Grab ‘N Go” counter, was almost 50 bucks. An eye-opening welcome to Sin City, for sure! LOL
Of course we were there for a very important reason, to see the MAIN EVENT: My Christmas present was tickets to the OPENING NIGHT of Donny Osmond’s new solo show. We arrived on Monday, and the following night, Tuesday, August 31 was the opening. After lunch (and some Oxygen to recover, j/k LOL), it was time to visit the Showroom.
Ahhhhhhhhh! There it is!! And … a dress rehearsal was going on inside! (Anyone who knows me can only imagine the restraint I exercised by NOT attempting to peak inside!)
A treat for concert goers, we found a display of Donny’s costumes & memorabilia. My reflection is found in all of the photos (as well as the reflection of some other fans snapping photos LOL), but, what a fun collection!
Here’s the teeny tiny jacket (which matched his brothers’) worn on the Andy Williams show. He made his TV debut there, at age 5. (Andy: 5?? Donny: Yessir. Andy: Do you know ‘Yessir, That’s My Baby’? Donny: Yessir. ::cue Alan on the pitch pipe, and song begins!:: )A 70’s Donny white jumpsuit from the Osmond Brothers era … seriously that thing was so small, he must have had a 12-inch waist! …. and other assorted Donny / Osmond toys … Rhonda, the D & M dolls reminded me of you!.The “Soldier of Love”, Donny’s-new-image, circa 1989 black leather jacket, and his gold record, thanks to all of us Forever Fans. 🙂Donny’s tuxedo, and his Mirror Ball trophy, when he won “Dancing With the Stars” (Season 9, in 2009)Donny’s costume (The Peacock) for “The Masked Singer.” Yeah, yeah, I know … he DIDN’T win that one … but he did come in second. And … I _STILL_ don’t understand how ANYONE didn’t know it was him under all those purple feathers — his VOICE was completely UNMISTAKABLE! —even though Marie outed him on some talk show.There I am … JUST a lil overwhelmed … with Donny’s “Joseph” wig & Amazing Technicolor coat, from the Toronto production. So kewl for me to see!
OK, so, it was then time to look around the hotel and the city a little bit more. From our hotel room, we had a great view of the “High Roller” from our room — the giant Ferris wheel seen in the Las Vegas skyline. During the day, it looked like this:
Pretty cool! And, yes, our “view” of the rest of the cement jungle was perhaps not so impressive, but from our 27th floor perch, a great clear view of the mountains in the distance!
After dark, the “High Roller” is lit up like a 550 foot tall Christmas tree! (Stay tuned … we took a ride on Tuesday night! Lots of photos to follow!)
A BONUS (in my humble opinion, MUCH better than winning any money) happened at our hotel: My devotion to frequently checking at Facebook yielded a fun coincidence … my friend, Tracey, who played my daughter in Somerset Valley Players production of “Moon Over Buffalo”, was ALSO visiting Las Vegas at the same time! Despite our BUSY vacationing schedules, we were able to meet up for a drink at Harrah’s! (OK, if she ever sees this, she might kill me, but here’s a production photo from “Moon…”, in which she’s screaming at me for being in the wrong costume. A truly hilarious scene!)
LOL
But … MUCH BETTER … here are Tracey & I, in our fabulousness of being Vegas gals:
It was WONDERFUL to see you, Tracey! As you said, “Imagine? We live less than an hour away from each other, and had to come to Vegas to get together!”
Tracey & friend went off to see their show, and we had dinner reservations at another hotel on the Strip. It was an eye-opening and rather warm 15 minute walk to the Paris Hotel.
Exiting Harrah’s, we encountered the 50 foot announcement of Donny’s show. Talk about overwhelming! No missing this marker! LOL
(I’m sorry … does anyone else hear angels singing??? LOL)Best to use the bridges to cross the busy streets!Feeling somewhat “EPCOT”-ian, sort of stunning to have the Eiffel Tower in our sights after walking just a few blocks! FYI, the Eiffel Tower replica here in Vegas is half the size of the Paris original, standing at a over 500 feet tall!)Oh, the things you’ll see on the places you’ll go! Listen, folks: I was not even a LITTLE BIT surprised or shocked to encounter anything / anyone we saw on the Las Vegas Strip. But here’s what did surprise me: the more voluptuous gal on the left was quite angry, and took offense to anyone and everyone who DARED to snap her photo. ::crickets:: For real, girl?? Does the concept of the effects of exhibitionism not really land for you? Anyway … I took my own photo as surreptitiously as possible, so as not to set off another of her tirades. lolWe’ve arrived at Paris!
Our table wasn’t ready, so we decided to try our luck in the Casino. I put 5 bucks in a slot machine, and wound up with 17 cents. (“Whoo hoo, honey! 17 cents!” says I. Gerry replied, “Well … actually you LOST $4.83.” Yup. LOL)
Our window seat offered QUITE the view of the Strip!
One of the FEW things that I really wanted to see, was the dancing fountain at the Bellagio Hotel. My sister (who’s visited Vegas several times) suggested the best view would be had from the Paris Hotel, which is directly across the street. From our window table location, boy, was she right!
And, very good news about the meal: It was excellent!
The waiter brought over a complimentary starter, the Chef’s “amuse bouche” of the day, which was called a Watermelon Parfait, but was more precisely like a watermelon gazpacho soup. Delightfully delicious!
I’m not a person who usually takes food photos, but I made some exceptions at this place. 🙂
Gerry enjoyed the Watermelon Parfait, too … but when the waiter said the phrase “amuse bouche”, he gave me the WTF? look, and then said, “Moose? Anything to do with Bullwinkle?” Kidding, yes … but … hey, you can take the boy outta Jersey City, but you just can’t take the Jersey City outta the boy. 🙂Another food photo (!!) … but I was very impressed with the presentation of the salad.At the table next to us, a young man proposed to his girlfriend. She said “Yes”, as he repeatedly announced to anyone who walked by … but left the long stem rose behind when they departed.
From Paris we went to a place off the Strip, called Ellis Island. (Imagine? An Uber from Paris to Ellis Island for only 9 bucks! lol)
What was so special about Ellis Island, you ask? One word, people: KARAOKE!! LOL
If there’s an opportunity to sing karaoke, I’m all over it like flies on poo. Got to sing two songs, before it got too crowded.
(Care to guess which song I was singing here? HINT: read the words on the screen above my head.)
It started getting crowded, and although I had begun to build a fan base ;-), I decided to leave before the rotation list got too long. Had a BLAST, though, and thanks to my camera crew (GDM) for hanging in there!
It was back to Harrah’s after a particularly long but exhilarating day. Time for some well-deserved shut-eye, and so excited, looking forward to the long anticipated CONCERT the very next day!
