A Birthday in Vegas

Yesterday was George’s birthday. We celebrated his special day by doing some clothes shopping and getting See’s chocolate, a nice leisurely stroll on the Las Vegas Strip, and a nice dinner at the Bellagio. Most of the preceding week was rather cloudy and filled with chilly and gusty winds. Yesterday the sun decided to come out in full force. And boy, did it warm up quickly. The forecast for next weekend calls for temperature well above 90 degrees. Looks like the desert is once again skipping Spring altogether and heading right into Summer.

Below are some photos we took yesterday on the Strip.

The birthday boy at the atrium of the Wynn Resort on the Las Vegas Vegas Strip.

I call this photo “A Local Among Tourists.” This is me in front of the waterfall next to entrance of the Esplanade at Wynn.

The new Spring display at the Garden Conservatory inside the Bellagio Hotel & Casino.

A fantasy tree inside the Bellagio.

The Bellagio Garden with this year’s Spring display.

Art sprung to life. A “painting” made of real flowers.

George is enjoying the Spring show. We had a nice birthday dinner at the Bellagio shortly after this picture was taken.

Marines, Sailors and Bears...Oh My!

We have officially changed back to standard time again on Sunday. Europe did that last weekend already. Wouldn’t it make more sense if the whole world changed the times all at once? Or is this just one of America’s many exceptionalism thingys? Who knows?

In any case, while most people were able to enjoy that extra hour of sleep on Sunday morning, George and I did the exact opposite. Of course! We got up an extra hour early. Not because we felt so exceptional but because we just couldn’t sleep anymore. Darnit! So much for sleeping in a little longer.

It didn’t matter however. We still enjoyed a wonderful weekend. For the first time in long while we didn’t have any specific plans or obligations. So we decided to take things easy for a change and to just enjoy the moment.

On Saturday we drove to the famous Las Vegas “Strip” late afternoon, looking for tickets to see “Sinatra - Dance With Me,” which will perform at the Wynn Resort & Casino. This Broadway show, with Frank Sinatra’s music set to the choreography by Twyla Tharp, will have a limited engagement at the Encore Theatre. We’ll have to take advantage of this opportunity since “The Great White Way” is just a tad out of reach for us at the moment.

It was quite bustling on the Strip. After we got our tickets we made our way through a sea of people towards the Venetian, where we planned to have a nice dinner. Along the way we ran into the cutest bear cub. He was a real friendly fella with a handsome face and nice beard. Although he was straight as an arrow he was still a feast for the eyes.

The rest of the evening was filled with more sightings of rather dashing men. For some reason there were literally hundreds of Marines and a few sailors in town. While we didn’t find out what the reason for this “invasion” was, it was eye candy heaven to see these handsome guys strut their stuff in these sharp-looking dress uniforms.

Cliché be damned. I love a man in uniform.

For dinner, George and I had scrumptious Crispy Caramel Chicken and Four Cheese Pizza at the Grand Lux. We love that place. Afterwards we strolled along the Strip to walk off the gained calories and to google-eye all these cute guys in uniform. We also admired this year’s very nice lineup of men’s fall clothing at Banana Republic. Beautiful color combos this year. Of course, one will press hard to find one man dressed like this in Las Vegas. First, it’s still too warm here in the desert for these types of clothing. Even in winter. And secondly,...well, this is Las Vegas...this is Casual Clothing Central.

All in all, another nice evening in the City of Sin. Next week we’ll be back in the neighborhood again to see Diana Ross at the Coliseum at Caesars.

We...can’t...wait!

Below are few snippets from our evening on the Strip on Saturday.

Bright lights along the Las Vegas Strip.

The lobby of the Palazzo Resort & Casino.

The Shoppes at the Palazzo.

Carpet inside the Shoppes at the Palazzo. Some of the carpets inside Las Vegas’ casinos are an attraction by themselves.

There's always a crowd at the Sushi Samba inside the Palazzo.

After enjoying some gelato at the “Fountain of the Gods.”

The porte-cochère of the famed Caesars Palace hotel and Casino.

More bright lights on the Strip.