Sara and I in front of our hotel, the Luxor..cool sky, huh?
Eric had his annual telephone broker conference in Vegas a couple of weeks ago. This is always a very fun conference because the telephone companies host dinners at amazing restaurants and private parties at exclusive clubs. It gives us the chance to live like jet-setting C-list stars for a few days. This year, my daughter Sara flew in from LA to hang with us for a few days.
Our first night, we had tickets to Zumanity, Cirque du Soliel's "sexy" show. We arrived about 30 minutes early in time to see the pre-show which was a riot! The show was quite good, and Eric certainly liked it because all the women were topless, he must have seen 100 boobs that night. The show's hostess, was the fabulous Miss Edna (drag queen extrodianare) who kept us all laughing with her erotic humor. The show's not for everyone, but if you're not shy about a little nudity and sensual humor, then I'd recommend it.
In the Zumanity lounge.
Next stop was Coyote Ugly. Sara had never been and wanted to go. We paid $5 to get in to the crowded, noisy bar. There were a sea of guys on the floor all looking up at the bar where women (just girls from the audience, not very cute ones either) were dancing - and not very well. We ordered drinks and then I told Sara she should go up on the bar and show those girls how to dance. Never one to back down from a dare, Sara made her way to the bar and hopped up. She danced a couple dances, climbed down and then we left. We all agreed, that was a huge waste of $5.
Sara shows the girls at Coyote Ugly how to dance!
So next we headed over to the Mandalay Bay, where a guy gave us free passes to go to Mix Lounge on the 64th floor. We rode the glass elevator to Mix and stepped out into a seriously dark lounge with lots of couches and tables and floor to ceiling 3-story glass walls with amazing views of the strip. We ordered some drinks (5 drinks cost us $73...ouch) and sat and enjoyed the view. Eric used the restroom and then came back and told me I had to go and check it out. The restrooms were again very dark with black marble walls and floors and black doors to the stalls. I opened a door to a stall and there was a black toilet, facing away from the door toward floor to ceiling glass looking out over the strip. There is no light in the little room, so when you sit on the toilet with all that black marble around you, it feels like your floating in the air. Best view I've EVER had while peeing.
Next we all (Sara, Eric, a few of our friends and I) decided to get some food (breakfast at 2:00 am). Our waiter told us they were having 2 for 1 drink specials, so Eric, Sara, and our two friends all ordered rum and cokes...cool, four drinks and we only had to pay for two. Ummm, no, Juan our waiter brought each of them two rum and cokes!
After eating we started walking back to our hotel. "You're not going to bed already, are you? It's only 3:00 am", Sara says to me. Yup, I'm going to bed!
Next night we had dinner with some telephone folks. We'd been invited to a couple of private parties, and picked the one at the Foundation Room at the Mandaly Bay to go to. We showed the elevator guards our invitations and then were escorted up to the 67th floor. The place was very cool...sort of like an Asian bordello with velvet walls and couches, buddahs and incense burning. We were shown back to the private party room (Madonna, Dan Akroyd, and Prince all have private wine lockers in this room) and enjoyed a hosted bar, dancing, and again, amazing strip views for the next few hours. I tried setting Sara up with "Sergio" who was also at the party, but she wasn't too interested. At about 2 am, too tired to stand anymore, with my throat feeling raspy from the 12 packs of second hand smoke I inhaled, Eric and I headed to our room. Again, Sara was rolling her eyes at us being such party poopers and decided to stay in the casino to play roulette. Unfortunately, Sergio followed her and ended up being totally obnoxious. Sara tried to loose the guy, but he kept following her. At 3:00 am she called me, "Mom. I'm trying to loose Sergio, but he keeps finding me. I'm hiding between the slots, what should I do?" "Just go back to your room, Sweetie." I said. And then I hear Sergio calling Sara, he found her. "Crap!" she said and hung up. Luckily she finally lost the guy and went to bed...alone, thank you very much!
Sara and I at the Foundation Room.
The next day Eric treated Sara and I to the spa to recover from the partying the night before. Sara then got on a plane to go home about 6:00 pm while Eric and I headed to a few private parties. The big party this night was at Drais. The vendor had bought the club out for the party. Again, it was a hosted bar...anything, and I mean anything. By this point, I was about "Vegased" out and was drinking only ginger ale, but people kept bringing us over champagne or shots of tequila. Drais was pretty cool, again with a bordello feel. What was funny about this place, was the wait staff was obsessed with making sure you had a napkin under your drink at all times. Within seconds of putting your drink down without a napkin, some guy swooped down, picked up your drink and put a fresh napkin under it! The room we were in was lined with leopard print velvet banquettes. Two guys sitting next to us had picked up some, ahem, "ladies in the business" and were practically giving an X-rated show right on the couch next to me. Yuck! I asked Eric to take me out for some fresh air, and I admitted, "I think I'm too old to party like a rock-star anymore". Eric was sweet. He took me back to Drais to get my purse and jacket and then we walked back to our hotel enjoying the fresh air, and pretty lights.
Eric and I at Drais. Notice how I match the couch, and how I look like I've had a bit too much Vegas at this point.
All in all...a fun trip. I got to see some very cool clubs I never would have seen otherwise, had a lot of fun with Sara, got a nice massage, had a few good meals.....but, as much as I hate to admit it, I think I'm kind of "over" Vegas. It's loud, it's smoky, it seems to bring out the worst in some people. Not sure if we'll go again next year, but if we do, I think I'll plan on spending my days in the spa, limiting myself to 2 drinks a night, and be in bed by midnight. Yup, it's official...I'm old.
oh that girl in the background of Sara dancing is ALL wet down her pants. ha!
Fun trip!!
Also you totally needed to take a picture in that bathroom!!
Posted by: Patty Stephens | March 21, 2010 at 09:23 PM
I am glad that you got to spend time with Miss Sara even tho you found out you were old.
Love ya
Your older sister
Posted by: Laurie Ellis | March 22, 2010 at 12:16 PM