How Was Your Mother's Day?

Did everybody have a great Mother's Day? I did. Pat gave me a dozen roses and $100 and told me to take the kid and go to the casino which he knows it is my very favorite place. What a guy. I did just what he said. I played for about 3 hours and lost $60. It was really fun. Kerry didn't gamble. She sat around studying physics! In a casino! She amazes me.

The slot machines went cold so we decided to take the other $40 and go to the mall. We had lunch at a make your own salad place. It was really good and healthy too. We walked around the mall for a while and then came home and watched some Grey's Anatomy. Kerry bought me those for my birthday. We love Grey's around here.

After dinner Kerry said that she had to go out so I figured she was doing something related to a possible Mother's Day present because at this point she hadn't given me anything. She came in a little later with a smug look on her face and a bag. She handed me the bag and I opened it up. It was a beautiful photo album filled with all of the pictures of our trip to Las Vegas. She even had saved the tickets from the LOVE show and the Titanic exhibit and included them in the album. I was so thrilled. It was really a wonderful and thoughtful gift.

The last part of my present which really wasn't a present for me but I'm looking at it as such is that Kerry decided to move the MCAT back from May 31 to July 8. That means she will be home much longer that we had originally planned. What more could I ask for? I'm ecstatic that she will be home for an extra month. What a great Mother's Day.

I did, however, miss my mom who I wrote about yesterday. She was on my mind all day but I guess that's to be expected. I wish she was here now to help me with all of the issues of getting older. She helped me so much while I was young. I sure could use her sage advice now and going forward (as they say on CNBC). I guess I'll have to figure it all out myself. As my wonderful friend and fellow Fab Laura would say "Oy Vey".

Viva Las Vegas Final Installment

Part of the Las Vegas experience is taking in a some of the large production shows and/or exhibits that are a staple on the Las Vegas Strip. Every hotel has something to offer. It was hard to make a decision when there were so many activities to choose from. So many shows, so little time.

Kerry had voiced her opinion about wanting to take in the double exhibit at the Tropicana Hotel. The first exhibit was called The Bodies. Kerry is a pre-med major in college and really wanted to see this. I was hesitant but as always Kerry got her way with me and I was happy I had given in to her. It was an amazing experience for both of us.

This exhibit featured actual human bodies that had been dissected and preserved so that all the different systems of the body could be featured. Each room had a different theme. One of the rooms featured the respiratory system where we got to see actual human lungs. A different room showed the circulatory system where human arteries, veins and hearts were displayed. Another room was dedicated to the muscles and how there worked. Another room featured the reproductive system complete with conjoined twins. It was an awesome thing to see.

There also seemed to be an underlying theme of this exhibit which was healthy living. We got to hold both a lung from a nonsmoker and a diseased smoker's lung. The smoker's lung was black and had small holes in it while the nonsmoker's lung was pink and smooth. There was a huge see through trash can where people could throw away their cigarettes after holding the different lungs. It was about three quarters filled with different brands of cigarette packages.

We also got to see arteries and veins that were were clogged with cholesterol and fat from a lifetime of unhealthy eating and not exercising. There were human hearts with fatty deposits on them as if to say "eat healthy food and exercise or be sorry". I felt Richard's presence in this room. LOL

The second exhibit was called The Titanic. As far back as I can remember Kerry had been fascinated by the sinking of The Titanic. Long before the movie came out my house was filled with books and movies on this subject. Kerry was the house expert on The Titanic so we had to see this exhibit. She still has a piece of Titanic Coal that was brought up from the sea floor.

When you first walked in you were handed a replica of the boarding pass that was given to all of The Titanic passengers. Each boarding pass contained personal information of a real person who was on the ship when it sank. At the end of the exhibit there was a list of all the people who were on the boat and you got to look up the person on your boarding pass to see if your person survived or not. It was very moving.

We went through one of the doors and found ourselves standing in front of the grand staircase. It was beautiful and sad all at the same time. This was the staircase that was featured in the movie.

We went through another door and found ourselves in a replica of the first class cabin. Another door led us to the third class accommodations. There were things in the rooms that had been brought up from the Titanic when Richard Ballard found it so many years after it sunk.

One of the rooms was a replica of the outside deck at night complete with cold weather, boat noises, icebergs and stars. It was amazing.

We got to see many different things that were brought up from the sea. Plates, bowls, clothes, luggage, socks and shoes, hats, hair pins and many other things. It was very sad to think that these things actually belonged to someone.

In the last room Kerry and I looked up our boarding pass people. They had both died that night. It was very sad. We were both very glad that we had seen this exhibit. Don't miss it if you ever get the chance.

Our last night in Las Vegas we went to the Cirque de Soliel Beatles Love show at the Mirage Hotel. I had already seen it but Kerry had not. It was absolutely fantastic. It was like being dropped into a 60's acid trip. The costumes were amazing and the surround sound Beatles music made this Beatlefan very happy. Pictures of Paul that were 100 feet high didn't hurt either. LOL


This was a vacation that I will never forget. Kerry and I got even closer than before if that is possible. I know that she will always remember the trip to Las Vegas with Mom and that was what Pat wanted when he first suggested it. What a guy!

Thanks Pat, we love you.

Viva Las Vegas Part 2

When our Las Vegas trip was in the planning stages, being the tree huggers that we are, Kerry and I decided that we wanted to do something "naturey". This could only mean one thing. We had already been to Red Rock Canyon and Mount Charleston years back so there was only one choice. We had to go to the Grand Canyon.

I looked online at many different tours to the canyon from Las Vegas. I figured that a nice long bus ride there and back would blow off a whole day and keep me away from the tables. That would be a good thing. There were so many different choices it was hard to make a decision.

While searching the web I came across a site called grand-adventures.com. The testimonials for this tour were outstanding. One of the things that appealed to me was that we would be going in a van instead of a big bus. This would allow us to go to places in the canyon that the big buses were not allowed to go. Another thing that I liked was that we would be taking a walking tour and eating a picnic lunch overlooking the canyon and not stuck inside of a restaurant. It turned out to be a fantastic choice.

We were picked up at 6:30am in front of the Mirage hotel. It turned out that our party consisted of only 11 people which included our tour guide Darryl. Our adventure started out at a local McDonalds where we all had breakfast and got ready for the 4 hour ride. Kerry and I were very excited. Being from Florida we don't get to see much mountain scenery so our camera was out and we started taking what turned out to be over 100 pictures of our day trip to the Grand Canyon.

After breakfast we stopped at Hoover Dam. It was a very scenic place right in the middle of the mountains. We ran around taking pictures like a couple of tourists. Oh yeah, we were a couple of tourists. LOL


After Hoover Dam we were in for a long ride. About an hour into the trip we noticed that there was some of this white stuff on the ground. I remembered this from growing up in Long Beach, NY. It was snow. OMG!! Snow!! The closer we got to the canyon the more snow there was on the ground. We were psyched.


When we got there we could not believe our eyes. It looked fake (yes, Laura, you told me so). It looked like a fantastic back drop that someone had put up for us and yes, it was cold. One of the first things that I did was grab some snow and made a snowball that I threw into the canyon. It was the first snow ball I had thrown in 30 plus years.

We walked around in disbelief. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. I suspect nothing else that I see in my life will ever come close to this. Darryl told us that millions of years ago the canyon was an ocean. It was amazing to think that something as fantastic as that could be under our oceans.


We ate our veggie sandwiches(which were outstanding) overlooking the Grand Canyon. Yes, it was cold but nobody cared. We were all happy to be outside in nature instead of stuck in a restaurant. This was one of the places that we were able to go because of the smaller vehicle we had come in.


We walked around for hours taking pictures and seeing the sights. Kerry spent her time climbing out on ledges and taking pictures of herself while I freaked out. She had no fear of falling into the canyon. I had enough fear for the both of us. Our cell phones got a workout too. I called Pat and Kerry called Sean (her present boyfriend). We took picture of each other on the phone. LOL

Here is Kerry hanging out over the edge of the world. My stomach turns just looking at the picture.


Me on the phone to Pat.

Kerry on the phone to Sean.
Darryl took us to two other spots that the big tour buses couldn't go and we took more pictures. We even got to see a family of elk. The male was huge and just stood there while we took pictures of him. It was almost as if he was posing for us. The female and baby were a little more skiddish but we got picture of them too.


The ride home was long and we were all very tired but it was a trip that I will never forget. I am sure Kerry will remember it her whole life. Yeah, that was the whole point of going. That and a way to keep mom from gambling away the college fund.

Part 3 still to come

Viva Las Vegas Part 1

About 10 months ago Pat said "why don't you take Kerry to Las Vegas for her 21st birthday? I'll stay home and take care of the dog". I'll stay home and take care of the dog?? Well, he didn't have to say that twice. I made the airline reservations that day even though her birthday wasn't for nine months.

We decided to stay at The Mirage hotel. It is centrally located and seeing that I wasn't going to rent a car it was a perfect choice. We had a very nice room overlooking the Las Vegas Strip and we were close to everything.

I was ready to gamble and Kerry was ready to shop. Shop?? You gotta be kidding me. With all those blackjack and craps tables? We decided that would I wake up early each day and get my gambling fix in and then we would do what Kerry wanted for the rest of the day. It sounded like a good plan to me.

I woke up each morning and was at the tables with a large coffee in my hand by 5:30am. When I didn't hear anything from Sleeping Beauty by 10:00 or 11:00 I called her and woke her up. By that time I had 5 or 6 hours of gambling under my belt and I was ready for whatever the kid wanted to do.

One of the days was the designated shopping day. Kerry wanted to break our previous shopping record of 4 malls in one day. We started out in the Forum Shops at Caesar's Palace which was a fantastic 3 story indoor mall with every designer store imaginable.

Then it was off to the Shoppes at the Venetian Hotel. Another fantastic mall with gobs of shops and restaurants. The ceiling was painted like the sky so you felt as if you were walking the streets of Venice. Very cool.

Then it was off the Bellagio Hotel to look around in the designer shops there. This is another very upscale, gorgeous hotel with paintings on the ceilings and wonderful shopping.Then it was time to go to the new Wynn hotel and see what kind of shopping was there. It was more of the same. Prada, Gucci, Chanel, Fendi...you get the idea.

We finished up that night at the Fashion Show mall. I'm sorry to say I don't have any picture of this place. It was the one of the biggest malls I have ever seen and I have been to some big malls like Sawgrass Mills. It was 3 stories filled with every store you could name. Kerry was in hog heaven.

Considering the amount of time that we spent shopping that day we really didn't buy much. We got a few presents to bring back and of course 3 dresses for the kid. I thought that wasn't bad seeing that we were in some of the most expensive stores in the world.

We started shopping at 11:00am and fell into the hotel room that night at 10:00. We were whipped. We were shopped out. So shopped out, in fact, that we ended up ordering room service and going to bed early. It was Belgian Waffles for me and Haevos Rancherous for Kerry. It was her first experience with room service. It was a yummy experience.




Going to bed early turned out to be a good thing. I was up at 5:00am refreshed and ready for another try at a 6 hour blackjack marathon. The house won.

More at a later date.