Viva Las Vegas!

We had planned two nights in Las Vegas to give us a break from tenting. I needed one as the night before in Williams Koa a large group of boys scouts settled in for the night after we had gone to bed and were just ready to go into slumber land. For the next hour he heard yelling, calling, and peg pounding. Apparently, they needed to do this well in order to get their merit badge in tenting. Finally, when things got quiet we heard the crunching of pebbles close to our ears in the path to the bathrooms. Even with earplugs in my ears, I would awaken with the crunch-crunch all night long. So we didn't get much sleep that night, and we rolled into the Palace Station Hotel a bit drowsy thinking about a comfortable bed.

Later that afternoon we decided to explore the hotel. We found that there were two pools. We gathered our goggles and set out to do some laps. When we arrived at the pool we found a family playing the catch game, but they were using a special kind of ball that skipped on the water. Dad would throw the ball and the three teen-aged girls would catch it. They were pretty good as the Dad did everything he could do to make it tough for them. He would throw the ball and make it bounce five times bong, bong, bong, bong, bing, SPLASH! John and I looked at each other and knew we could not compete with this group. So we went in search for the next pool. We found it near the back of the back of the hotel. It was much more mellow and more our style. We quickly put our goggles on and dove in to do our laps. For fifteen minutes we scissored back and forth scattering the bathers to the edge of the pool. We got out satisfied with our workout and left the bathers to enjoy the pool all to themselves.
We headed for our room in the tower which was a $20 upgrade from our sky miles deal. It was a newly renovated part of the hotel. After dinner John was determined to win this money back so he headed for the nearest blackjack table. We could see why this club was favored by the locals as the minimum down was five dollars. So John plunked down his five dollars and played for about fifteen minutes. As soon as he was ahead twenty-five dollars, he quit happy to have beat the dealer.

The second night we were scheduled to move to the Flamingo – the original Las Vegas hotel built by Bugsy Siegel. The hotel had been renovated many times since its beginning, but it still had the choice spot on the strip. It was built in a horseshoe with a beautiful tropical garden in the center. Looking down from our window to the sight below we could see water falls, and lagoons filled with huge koi and exotic ducks. We were eager to see more of this lovely garden, so we got dressed in our swim attire and headed down to explore and then hit the pool.

We meandered around the grounds and noticed a section with pink flamingos, just like the ones we have at Jungle Gardens in Sarasota. Around the corner we came upon a lovely water fall that spilled twelve foot outcrop of rock. It looked like a scene from Kauai with lots of vines and orchids all around. As we moved closer for a better look, we almost tripped over a mermaid. At least that's what we called her. The girl had her feet in the water and was draped over a rock reading a brochure. She was a journalist out of work and had just been give a free ride status with the airlines a as friend designated her as his "significant other." She was now checking brochures to see where she wanted to go next. The only problem was that "Sharon" did not have any money and was also trying to figure out how to get some. We gave her some ideas as we wondered how she ever got herself in such a situation. Later on in the afternoon after having gone swimming, we saw her lying down sleeping on the park bench by the flamingo exhibit.

That evening we didn't want to go out into the strip to find a show so we opted for a show in house. Our choices were: Donny and Marie or X Burlesque. John chose the latter and I was not going to argue as he is our driver after all! After a little nap we went down to the stage door. The host seated us in the second row which was close enough for this small cabaret. He seated other people in strategic places, like a group of four young guy's right in front of the Pole. He also stopped to whisper to a young man in front of us and then asked, "Is that ok with you?" to which the young man named Paul, answered with an enthusiastic. "Sure!"

Six beautiful well-endowed dancers began as a still cameo picture behind a frame and then one by one stepped through the frame and the dancing began. Most of the routines were in the jazz style like some of the dances we do in our Dance Trance exercise program but with more emphasis on T&A. In one interesting sequence one dancer who was at least 6ft tall came forth and did a cartwheel in pike heels landing on the platform in front of the Pole. The guys nearby had eyes as large as saucers. The dancer then proceeded to whip her body around the pole extending her legs with the spike heels just missing our boys. She then shimmied up the pole like a zoo animal and turned herself upside down holding on the pole just by her highs! She extended her hands out to the boys doing little fluttering motions with her hands. You could almost see the sweat glistening on the boy's brows. She then swept around, stepped off the platform and was gone in an instant leaving us sitting with mouths open.

Now it was time for audience participation. The number had to do with taking a flight on an airplane and something about a five mile club. I guess this is what Paul consented to doing because a dancer came down and took him by the hand to the stage where he had to sit in a chair. The dancers went on with their routine around him and he was looking a bit worried with a nervous grin on his face. Finally, the lead dancer turned his chair around and wheeled it through the open curtain and then it closed. They left it to our own imagination as to what was happening to poor Paul. Then the dancers finished their dance and Paul was rolled back on stage with his shirt open and hair all tousled and with a bigger grin than before. He was then escorted back to his little wife.
The last part of the show were routines in the different styles such as Country Western, belly dancing, and an Arial dance like you might see in Cirque du Soliel. The dancer suspended herself by her arms and did all sorts of tricks while swinging back and forth on the stage. At one point she spun around so fast that she was almost a blur. Being a dance teacher, I enjoyed the performance on another level than that of other audience members. So I was delighted with the evening entertainment.