Going Home

Our trip home was as seamless as the trip down. Thank you, Alaska Airlines!

Because we left the Sahara early, we ate breakfast at the airport and I had a tasty breakfast sandwich with ham and eggs at Fresh Attractions. I find it difficult to negotiate an airport without coffee so it was surprising that I even made it to this small café.

When we landed in Seattle, we changed terminals and found our gate easily enough. It was lunchtime and I wanted to have our last meal in an actual restaurant. Anthony's was our choice. It was a seafood place with wall-to-ceiling windows so you could see the planes taking off. Glen had a delicious crab/shrimp melt while I indulged in tempura prawns, onion rings and zucchini slices. Mike had halibut and chips and Meg, seafood alfredo. All very sumptuous. I wish that all airport dining could be so enjoyable and tasty.

Bonus on our trip home was free beer. Thank you, Alaska Airlines! Called Okto, it was brewed in Portland, Oregon by the Widmer Brothers.

We arrived in Calgary on time, our luggage appeared in the 20 minutes Alaska guarantees, and we were home by 6:00 pm. For those who had to work the next day, this allowed for unpacking and generally getting settled back into a normal routine . It was a fun trip but four days was about all I could handle of the sights and sounds of Las Vegas. Would I return? Of course. Viva Las Vegas!

Anniversary

Our 38th anniversary dawned much like the other days in Vegas although we ate a much smaller breakfast. The previous day, Glen had indulged in a huge plate of french toast, strawberries topped by a mound of whipped cream. This morning he had cereal and our waitress remarked he was eating light.

Since neither of us felt like swimming, we left Meg and Mike to lounge by the pool while we headed out to see the best of old Vegas (according to Glen)--Circus Circus. Meg had a tattoo appointment so she and Mike didn't join us on our morning walk.

When Glen first experienced Vegas, over 20 years ago, he had gone to Circus Circus and Slots a Fun to gamble. They lured in customers with free beer and shrimp cocktails which Glen thought a great deal for someone travelling on a budget. He bet $20, played the nickel machines, and ate several cups of shrimp. Winnings at that time poured into tiny margarine tubs. Today, the machine makes the sound of falling coins but then spits out a ticket with a bar code that you cash at an ATM.

Meg warned me I should not touch anything in Slots A Fun, to just see what I had to see and leave. She felt the place was disease-ridden. Both it and Circus Circus had obviously seen better days but Glen insisted on playing one machine for old time's sake so I sat beside him on a rather shabby, cigarette burned chair. The circus part of Circus Circus, made famous in Diamonds Are Forever, wasn't open when we toured the hotel but I could see the array of games designed to amuse children.

It was here we almost got caught by a face cream hawker. She met us as we entered and admired my tattoo. Without realizing it, we had a gob of cream in our hands and she was asking us where we from. Being Canadian, we answered as she steered us toward a chair. Fortunately, we saw the trap and high-tailed it out of there. It was the second time that day someone had commented on my 'ink'.

Meg was ravenous after her tattoo session so we ate at the Nascar Café, changed for supper, then headed to the Venetian. This hotel has a beautiful Italian style shopping plaza but our plans were to do a gondola ride. It was too hot to do the one outside so headed to the dock of the interior canal. We had done this with Geoff, Melissa, and Elijah and it is well worth the price ($16.00/person). Our gondolier was Tino and he entertained us with humour and three songs, the first in honour of our anniversary. It was a relaxing half hour hiatus from the hustle and bustle of Vegas.

After a refreshing lemonade, we went to the casino to wile away the time until supper. Meg had made reservations for us to eat at Mario Batali's B&B Ristorante. She and Mike treated us to a lovely meal there. The grilled octopus antipasto was spectacular! It was a great way to celebrate our anniversary and so nice to share it with our children.

After dinner, Glen and I headed to the Bellagio hotel and Meg and Mike went back to the Sahara. We had to pick up our tickets for the Cirque du Soleil show "O". I was glad we arrived an hour before the show as there was a line-up. Once we got them, we went out to see the Fountain Show.

We had missed this famous show the last time we were in Vegas as it was cancelled due to high winds. The fountains 'dance' to one song every 15 minutes after 8:00 pm so we 'saw' two songs before we had to leave. It was a magic moment.

Any performance done by Cirque du Soleil is worth the money spent and "O" was no different. We had seen Love and enjoyed it immensely but did not have the best seats. This time, I paid a little more and we had the first row of a balcony so my view was unobstructed. As with any Cirque show, there were acrobats, contortionists, trapeze artists, dancers, and clowns but "O" adds the abilities of Olympic athletes to its cast. Medal-winning synchronized swimmers and divers contribute to the awe of this show as did the 1.5 million gallon pool which served as the stage. Platforms were raised and lowered to allow for performers to move across it. Ten thousand feet of hose lined the pool and released bubbles to break the water's surface so dives were almost splashless and swimmers glided in and out of the water. The affect was mystifying.

Our monorail trip back to the Sahara was an adventure. As we learned while riding the beast, the trains have no driver. So we were on a northbound train going south and could do nothing about it. At its final stop, we stayed on board hoping it would get us to where we needed to go. Once it began moving, an announcement said its destination was Harrah's, not the Sahara. We disembarked thinking we'd have to catch a cab but there was an actual person on the platform answering questions. Turns out they were repairing the track so we had to take an alternate train to the Sahara. We tumbled into bed at 1:00 am knowing we had to rise at 5:30 am to catch our flight home.

Viva Las Vegas - Third Day

At our beside-the-pool meeting, we decided to go to the Rainforest Café in the MGM hotel for lunch then do some shopping at the Planet Hollywood Hotel. We had come close to eating at the Rainforest Café at Downtown Disney in Disney World when we holidayed there over ten years ago. At that time, there was a 2 hour wait to get in so we never made it beyond the entranceway. I took some pictures then we hunted down a place that served faster food.

This time we walked right into the restaurant. The jungle decor was fantastic and we had a great time watching the little ones in awe of animatronic elephants and monkeys. Large aquariums dotted the place so we were never without visual stimulation. Another bonus was souvenir, flashing margarita glasses.

After lunch we browsed the shop and I discovered they had 100% rayon Hawaiian shirts. These are Glen's favourites so we chose two since they were the cheapest I had ever seen. After that we headed to the Planet Hollywood hotel.

The last time we were in Vegas, we walked by the construction of this hotel on our way to the Aladdin hotel shops. Little did we know it was out with the old and in with the new and the Aladdin was demolished (but not it's tourism website). When we entered the shopping area, it was definitely déja vu. The Aladdin-themed concourse was still there with its Moroccan decor and hourly rainstorm.

Meg wanted to check out the Betty Page store so Glen and I sat on the rocks surrounding a pond. Glen carried the Rainforest Café bag with the flashing glasses and had several people comment on his parcel. One couple also remarked that the Betty Page store was good because it didn't use animal products. Glen pointed to their leather sandals as they walked away. I guess people don't realize when they are being hypocritical.

Gambling was next on our agenda and since we had loyalty cards for the Sahara, we headed back there to fritter our money away. Meg and Mike play machines which reward you with video games as well as money (at one point Meg turned 15 cents into $32) whereas Glen and I play video poker. We agreed to meet at the Nascar Café for before dinner drinks and that's when we first beheld the phenomenon of men trying to consume a six pound burrito with dollops of sour cream and guacamole. It was not a pretty sight and no man who tried, succeeded although the first guy we saw did very well. We cheered them on but neither Glen nor Mike were up for the challenge. Too much food!

We dined in the hotel's steakhouse restaurant, the House of Lords. Not sure how that title relates to the Saharan desert theme but the decor was definitely Moroccan. We sat in a booth shaped like half an onion dome and had a great meal (good food and inexpensive). It was a place where you could imagine the Rat Pack eating and in fact, they did. The walls of the Sahara are decorated with old black and white photos of Sinatra, Lewis, Martin, Elvis, and The Beatles.

Viva Las Vegas - Second Day

Meg's Vegas involves meeting at the pool in time for morning margaritas. That sounded like fun. Glen and I had breakfast at the Caravan Café and discovered food portions in Vegas are huge. I ordered granola and yogurt. It was served in a large salad bowl with very fresh blackberries and raspberries. Glen had a Denver omelet that was about 6 inches long and 3 inches wide.

We waddled to the pool and enjoyed a swim but could not sit in the sun to dry off as already it was too hot. The bar didn't open until 11 so we never did drink morning margaritas. We planned our day while lounging on the deck chairs. First stop was lunch at Planet Hollywood in the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace. This meant wandering through the Forum and enjoying the colossal fountain statuary of Roman gods and the ever-changing sky that makes this place feel surreal.

After lunch, we did a brief tour of all the memorabilia collected from different movies in the Planet Hollywood restaurant then we headed to Mirage. I had already won $100 on video poker but wanted rub the mermaid there as she had given me luck in the past. Unfortunately, she was gone so we decided to see the dolphins instead. Turns out they were outside and the show cost $15 per person so we returned to the hotel lobby, rubbed the entranceway's brass dolphin's nose (for luck), then took the tram to TI (also called Treasure Island). Here, we did our first shopping at the Siren's Cove Shoppe before we headed across Las Vegas Blvd to the Venetian. We wandered along the canal, crossed a replica of the Rialto Bridge (with moving sidewalks) then entered Harrah's Casino which had a monorail station.

We played the machines at the Sahara and relaxed in our room before heading out to supper. We were excited to see the Tournament of Kings. Meg and Mike had enjoyed this experience on a previous trip and said we'd love it. They were right. It is loosely based on King Arthur and his round table. Merlin and the jester introduced the show as we enjoyed our bowl of tomato soup without using a spoon. Cola was served ad libitum and we ordered a bucket of beer with 4 bottles of Stella Artois. There were no utensils at this meal so when the whole chicken, baked potatoes, broccoli, and biscuit arrived we literally 'dug in'.

Each section of the stadium represented a country. We sat in one of the smaller sections and were to root for Hungary. We had some very enthusiastic people in our section so cheered and banged our tables whenever our 'king' appeared. He seemed to appreciate our support and went on to win a couple of the tournament challenges. However, there was a script and he would not be declared the overall winner. Meanwhile, we heckled the other kings, especially Russia and France who seemed to enjoy our boos. We had front row seats so saw all the action including some burly, bare-chested men who played the part of dragon knights. The horses were well-trained and the fights extremely well choreographed. Sparks flew when the heavy swords connected.

The show was geared to families and when it was over, one passed through a midway-like area where kids could play games for toys. They also had some of the older gambling machines that Glen remember seeing in the casinos when he first visited Vegas over twenty years ago.

Viva Las Vegas - First Day

Okay, I know the title of this piece is a cliché, but the first music we heard upon our arrival at the Sahara Casino was ZZ Top's version of this iconic song. It set the mood for a great time in this crass and yet beautiful city. Las Vegas is larger than life -- you can travel the world and never leave the 4 mile long Strip. Our hotel anchored the northern terminus and Mandalay Bay Hotel, its southern-most point on Las Vegas Boulevard.

This was my second visit to the city, the first being with our son, Geoff, his wife, Melissa and our grandson, Elijah in 2006 (see Meet Me in Vegas). At that time, we stayed at The Orleans hotel and took a shuttle bus to The Strip. This time we travelled with our daughter, Meg and her husband, Mike, and stayed at their favourite hotel, the Sahara. It is the final stop on the monorail so very convenient to all the sights and sounds of Vegas yet far enough away from the maddening crowd.

Our flight from Calgary was uneventful but we had to rise at 2:30 am to make it through customs. Calgary's US customs are notorious for being slow, hence the early rising. However, as luck would have it, we breezed through in less than an hour and the plane took off right on time, 6:30 am.

Our flight attendant on Horizon Air entertained us with a safety demonstration which made our first foray on this airline fun. It was also Mike's first flight on a prop-driven airplane. We changed planes to Alaska Air in Seattle with little hassle. Meg spotted her suitcase entering the airplane so we knew one of them had made it on board.

We arrived in Las Vegas to 40 degree C temps. Both bags arrived as we reached the carrousel so there was no time to play the nearby slot machines. Meg told our cab driver to take us directly to the hotel as cabbies often do the trip down The Strip. If it is your first time you may not mind spending $45 on a long ride but we just wanted to get to the hotel which cost about $15.

We checked-in but Meg's room wasn't made up so they stored their bags with us then we headed down to the hotel's liquor store for 'one for the road'. Like New Orleans, Vegas has lax drinking laws so you can walk and drink with impunity. It seems like a civilized way of doing things.

At the monorail station, we got our 3-day passes ($28 but we had a $7 off coupon from the hotel) which are a real bargain if you plan on going back and forth on the train. Our first stop was an authentic Mexican restaurant, Gonzalez Y Gonzalez, Meg had discovered on a previous trip. It was housed in the shopping mall beneath New York, New York.

Vegas is more than just a gambling town. The food is excellent with many great restaurants and some famous ones with TV chefs. It also offers an incredible plethora of shops from trashy souvenir kiosks to high-end stores like Harry Winston Diamonds. A happy, carnival atmosphere permeates The Strip with street vendors hawking everything from bottled water to 'girls'. There are roller coasters, magic shows, animal acts, and arcades as well as slot machines and gambling tables. We saw Elvis several times, girls dressed in nothing much but wearing gigantic headdresses, and more tattoos than anyone could imagine seeing in one place.

After a delicious Mexican meal washed down with giant margaritas, we headed south towards Mandalay Bay to do the Shark Reef experience, passing through the Luxor Hotel and Excalibur (where we bought our tickets for the Tournament of Kings). We had to walk outside in the heat to reach Mandalay Bay and quickly learned to appreciate the cold air conditioning.

The Shark Reef was a nice sized aquarium where you could learn about the fish via a phone-like device. At one point, we stood under an arch of water that allowed the sharks to swim over our heads. It was a wonderful feeling, almost like you were snorkeling. The children shrieked with excitement when a ray 'flew' over them. But, by 8:00, we were tired and ready to head back the hotel where we had supper in the Nascar Café. It had great burgers and better beer. We then tumbled into bed.

Week Two in Victoria

I'm tempted to say our second week here was the same as the first but it wasn't. Monday we headed downtown to get bicycle helmets at Mountain Equipment Co-op. We also wanted to pick up Glen's favourite incense. But, the main reason for the trip was dim sum at Don Mee's.

As usual the food was great and the 'yummy yummy' lady served us our favourite - sticky rice. She was particularly happy this day and sang while she cut the leaves wrapping the rice. She has a lovely voice. We pigged out on seafood dim sum but still had plenty of leftovers for supper.

Tradition dictates we walk down Fan Tan Alley. One building was under construction so the alley was even narrower. At Whirled Arts, Glen began his incense hunt. He wanted Mogra but couldn't find it. The clerk assured us they didn't sell that type. I picked up some Xmas presents (made by women in India who are paid fairly) for Elijah and Miles then did a quick search of a stack of incense boxes and found the Mogra. Unfortunately, they had only one package so Glen will have to find a source in Calgary.

Tuesday, we were at Mount Doug golfing. We met Iain's friend, Richard, finishing his round and had a brief chat. We played with two long-time friends, Ed and Dennis, both very good golfers. I struggled for the first three holes then things finally came together after a young doe crossed the fairway not ten feet from the tee box. Later, at the 7th hole, an eagle flew over just as I was teeing up. I had to forego my birdwatching instincts and hit the ball. I ended up paring the hole.

Wednesday, we did household chores and worked on the slideshow Glen made of our road trip. We compromised on music and came up with a nice show.

Thursday we were at The Ridge golfing and Glen had 3 pars. He still missed the green on #6 but he's getting close. On the 7th hole, my ball hit the water, bounced then hit a rock, bounced again then landed in the middle of the fairway. I had to chip up a steep hill but popped it for the first time. It was a good feeling. On the final hole, right by the clubhouse patio, I sank a 25 ft putt. It ended the morning well.

That evening we met up with Iain and Janet at Haultain Fish and Chips, a place I've always wanted to try. Meg and Mike lived on Haultain Street so the name is sentimental. We walked along it until we saw smoke billowing forth from their cookers. The place boasts the best fish and chips in Victoria and Iain confirmed this. The restaurant has an old-fashioned diner atmosphere (they also do take-out) of vinyl and arborite. The servers and cooks have worked there for years so you feel you are guests of a family. The cafe was packed at 6:30--it is a small place but we lucked out and nabbed the last booth. The bottled beer was cold and the wine came with foam on the top (obviously from a box but good none-the-less). The fish and chips were indeed the best we've had. Thick slabs of halibut had been quickly dipped in batter before frying. The chips were homemade and excellent. Neither Glen nor Iain had the coleslaw and our server said they'd ordered the 'man's meal' but they missed out as the coleslaw was very good with green onions added to the cabbage and carrots.

At 7:15, the cook came asking how we were paying and at 7:30, they kicked us out. Obviously going home to family was more important than feeding folks who wanted to linger over their dinner. We didn't mind as we'd had a good hour's chat with Iain and Janet, but needless-to-say, we were the last ones in the place before the door slammed shut.

Friday, we met Tom and Isabel at the Art Gallery to see the Emily Carr exhibit. Most of Carr's works were ones that usually hung in the gallery but they had augmented the display with some of her earlier pieces and some paintings of artists like Lawren Harris who had influenced her style. The exhibit was small but one could truly drink in her paintings and feel what she tried to conveyed through her art. It was very moving.

Afterwards we headed to the Abkhazi Gardens which I wrote about in the previous post.

Saturday was beach day and we headed down to Gonzales Beach to have a picnic lunch and lay in the sun watching the kids play in the water and the whale-watching boats pound past. The air was crystal clear so the Olympic Mountains of Washington floated above us.

Suppertime found us at Christie's Carriage House Pub treating our neighbours, Ray and Cynthia, to supper in honour of their 80th birthdays. They have been very good at looking after the place during the renos so we felt a dinner out is a small price to pay for peace of mind. Besides, they are a fun couple and we had lots of laughs.

Today, we were golfing again at The Ridge. I struggled for the first three holes before finally shaking the double par scores off my back. At the 6th hole (a peninsula surrounded by water), both Glen and I plopped our balls on the green and parred the hole. It was a cause to celebrate. I ended up with 2 pars so had a strong finish. My second par was a whisper close to being a birdie.

We hope to end the day by Skyping with our grandsons which will finish the week off nicely.

Hidden Gems II

We discovered another hidden gem in Victoria within walking distance of our condo. In fact, we have passed it many times walking from Gonzales Beach to Safeway via Foul Bay Road. It's called the Abkhazi Gardens. Our friends, Tom and Isabel, invited us to join them for lunch there after viewing the Emily Carr exhibit at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria.

The garden began when Marjorie (Peggy) Pemberton-Carter bought the property in late 1945 and built a summerhouse on its grounds. She began landscaping the land then received a letter from an exiled Georgian Prince, Nicholas Abkhazi, whom she had met in Paris in the 1920s. They married in November of 1946 and settled in a house built on the land in 1947. They each brought their own creative energy to the gardens and worked on them for 40 years.

The house and garden are now owned by The Land Conservancy of BC who acquired the property in 2000. They created a restaurant/tea room and gift shop in the home and it is here we had a delicious lunch.

The tea room had a few tables scattered over a stone patio but we chose to sit inside, enjoying the view from what was originally Peggy and Nicholas' sitting room. Glen had a refreshing beet salad while I had a cup of chunky tomato soup. Both were excellent. We then enjoyed Peggy's lunch of a crisp salad with balsamic vinaigrette and smoked salmon nestled on homemade bread, smothered with a dill/cream cheese spread. Beverages were tea, coffee, apple juice or water. I chose the Abkhazi Tea blend created by Silk Road Tea. It had a delicate flavour with a hint of vanilla finish. Glen drank Salt Spring Island Coffee with a flourless chocolate cake for dessert. Tom enjoyed freshly-backed scones with clotted cream and jam which I imagine is also served during the restaurant's afternoon cream teas.

He and Isabel left to deal with their alarm company while Glen and I wandered the gardens for about a half hour. It costs $10 per person to view them which helps cover the maintenance costs. Apparently, in the spring, the rhododendron garden is spectacular but we saw lots of summer flowers and enjoyed the pond with its resident turtle. We also saw a Spotted Towhee and Chestnut-backed Chickadee. An Anna's Hummingbird came to the feeder outside the dining room.