Las Vegas

Las Vegas, Nevada: Lazy morning around the campsite... then Mom, Dad, DT and I met our pals at the Bellagio for 'touristing' and gaming fun. The Bellagio has a fabulous art collection - Van Gogh, Monet's, Picassos... and fabulous gardens with thousands of potted flowers, which are changed every two weeks (according to Mary's new best friend, the Pit Boss at the Bellagio). Mary and I played blackjack (not very successfully) at a table with a young, very handsome, gentleman who was betting up to $5,000 per hand. It was nearly too much for Mary to take and we kept teasing the gambler about having to move to "a van down by the river" if he lost. He was doing very well when we left the casino. Everyone gathered, dressed in Parrothead finery, around Goldie in the early evening for a pre-function. It was the Buffett Birthday Bash - food and drinks - Margaritas, of course - to give us stamina for the Parrothead Madness (and, don't forget the Kenny Rogers show) to come. Lisa phoned during the party to wish Grandma a Happy Birthday and told her to have fun at the 'Roy Rogers Concert' - Lisa won't be able to live down these Kenny Rogers flubs for a while!

After fueling-up for the concerts - Mom & Dad headed over to the Hilton Hotel for Kenny Rogers and the Parrotheads headed over to the MGM Grand. It was Parrot-emonium! Imagine 17,200 (grown-ups!) people in tropical shirts!  People with shark-fin hats, grass skirts, parrot hats, men (and women!) in coconut shell bras, leis and other island attire! Imagine the gallons of margaritas consumed! The number of Corona's downed! The Parrotheads were in the finest form I have ever witnessed (and I have witnessed often). Jimmy was in fine form also. Gorgeous, of course, in white silk slacks and a Caribbean blue shirt and - barefoot! 53 years have taken his hair, but not his energy or spirit. Jimmy seems to have more fun than the fans. He put on a fine show, with the Coral Reefer Band and the Reeferettes, and sang his "1.25 hits" and many more for about 3 hours. The theme of the concert was from his "Beach House on the Moon" album and he had video of Walter Cronkite announcing the progress of Jimmy's lunar landing between songs. One of my favorite parts of the concert is when he shows the video of the Parrothead Party pre-concert and the video of Jimmy riding his bike through the city-of-the-day. The final take was Jimmy bowing down to the bronze statue of Siegfried and Roy in front of the Mirage Casino. 
 
Set list included: Margaritaville, Brown-eyed Girl, Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes, Come Monday, Volcano, Fins, Ringlin, One Particular Harbor, A Pirate Looks at 40, Beach House on the Moon, Gumbo, Permanent Reminder, Grapefruit/Juicy Fruit, Coconut Telegraph, Who's the Blonde Stranger, Cheeseburger in Paradise, Why Don't We Get Drunk, Pencil Thin Mustache, and Love and Luck.  He also sang a Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young song - Southern Cross. For the final encore the band did a fine rendition of Viva Las Vegas. I was exhausted after the show and I had nearly lost my voice. The six of us had our photo taken, and we look wonderful and happy in our tropical shirts and leis - though I am sure we will look back at ourselves, years from now, and try to remember when we all went to Hawaii together.
 
The boys wanted to get back to the racehorses - and the MGM Grand Casino has a newer version of the horse racing game. They played the ponies while I gave the MGM Grand some of the money the Bellagio had given me the day before - it seemed only fair. It was a Zoo in the casino, with wild (and not-sober) Parrotheads - crowds at every table, bar and restaurants and long lines for taxis. We didn't get back to the campsite until well after 1:00 a.m. and fell into a blissful sleep, dreaming of far-off islands... and a beach house on the moon.