Vacation

We got back late last night from our trip to Vegas and all in all had a wonderful time. My son announced it our best vacation yet!

Our first night we attended the TOURNAMENT OF KINGS at the Excalibur. A full 1-1/2 hour dinner show where you eat with no utensils (sorry, I just couldn't eat the cooked broccoli with my hands), the tournament was fun and exciting. The audience is divided by countries and each country is represented by a competitor in a number of games including a horse race, a jousting match and sword fighting. We sat in the middle as supporters of the rowdy and ornery Czar of Russia, and the show was amazing and the food excellent!

Whether you're a Star Trek fan or not you don't want to miss the STAR TREK EXPERIENCE at the Hilton. Tickets are good for the entire day and believe me, we spent most of Saturday there strolling through the amazing "History of the Future" exhibit, which displays Star Trek props, weaponry and spacecraft and an amazing historical and futuristic timeline that includes the Star Trek characters from all the shows. There are also souvenier photos you can purchase (my son was photographed in the ultra-cool Borg Regeneration Chamber) and two amazing rides: On the BORG Invasion 4D, as unsuspecting visitors tour a research facility, they are attacked by the BORG, who try to capture and assimilate them, and on the Klingon Encounter visitors are "accidentally" beamed onto the Starship Enterprise, just as it is being attacked by several Klingon warships. In an effort to escape, visitors hurry to a shuttle bay, where they board a 27-car shuttle and attempt to make their way home. My son and I both agreed this was the best and most fun experience of our trip and the number 1 reason we will be returning next spring.

Sunday evening was spent at the famous BELLAGIO FOUNTAIN. Using a dramatic combination of music, water and light, the Bellagio fountain was one of the highlights of our trip. The fountain plays every 15 minutes after 8:00 so we were there from 8:00 to 10:00. The range of movement across the lake is varied; some of the movement is continuous, responding to the smooth passages of music, while other water jets are rapidly pulsing, reaching heights as high as 240 feet. I sang along to my fave Elton John song, "Your Song," but there wasn't a dry eye in the crowd as everyone sang along with "I'm Proud to be an American." My son and I were both moved and struck with the beauty of the fountain.

Thumbs up also to HOUSE OF BLUES (co-founded by one of my faves, Dan Ackroyd) for a great mix of terrific music and excellent food (we recommend the Elwood with sweet potato fries and the Grilled Steak sandwich, oh yum!!), the KING TUT EXHIBIT at the Luxor, the LION SANCTUARY at MGM (the 2 lion cubs were both beautiful and adorable!) and the ADVENTUREDOME at Circus Circus, an indoor amusement park. If you love water rides and roller coasters it's not to be missed!

The big went to THE INDOOR GONDOLA RIDE AT THE VENETIAN. This was something we both wanted to do. Unfortunately it's impossible if you're limited on time. First you have to walk completely through the building to get to the first line to buy tickets then you go to another line to actually experience the ride, which it turns out just goes through the bottom floor and back. The ticket line was a good one hour wait as there were already about 80 people ahead of us and then the ride line was another two hour wait. Another disappointment was THE SIRENS OF TREASURE ISLAND show. In Greek mythology a siren was a sea nymph, half woman and half bird, who lured sailors to shipwreck along rocky coasts with her irresistible singing, before devouring them. There were several mythology buffs like myself present and most of them loudly voiced their objections to the show, where the "sirens" were dressed in bras and thongs and rope dancing (they didn't have poles). Let's just say, I'm no prude but I sure felt uncomfortable standing there with my 15 year old son. Needless to say a large part of the crowd didn't stay for the entire show.

We both agreed that next spring we will be returning to Vegas to see what we didn't have time for this trip and to revisit the faves we enjoyed so much this time around. And I have to say my son, who I love so much, was the perfect gentleman and as always the perfect date. The only other time I had been to Vegas was with my ex boyfriend and it was a disaster, so now my son and I have great memories of a great trip!