I left Sat. morning and the flights were unremarkable. Well, except that I got a text Friday afternoon that my flight out of Detroit was delayed an hour and a half. But that worked out OK as I would have had a 3-hour layover in Dallas which was then just an hour or so.
I got to LA and Anne picked me up at the airport. We went to a cantina and had some nachos and margaritas. Then she drove me out to Malibu to see some beaches and I was a very bad car passenger. One, driving with my kids always freaks me out and two, we were in California traffic on the 101. Or something. She is a really good driver but I couldn't help but jam my foot on the floor for simulated braking. Later we went out for dim sum at Bao. Then we got a bottle of Jack Daniel's Honey and a bottle of wine and went back to her place where we drank the wine.
Sunday, we had brunch at Grub, which is only 3 blocks from where Anne lives and across the street from Glen Glenn Sound. Which you old people will remember from every TV show in the 60s.
We left for Vegas about noon and I was a very bad car passenger until we got out of LA and on to I-15. The scenery is straight out of No Country for Old Men out there in the desert.
We checked into the Tropicana around 4. The whole place has been remodeled and the room was spacious and nicely appointed. We had a couple of drinks in the room and made a dinner reservation at Mon Ami Gabi in the Paris resort.
We took a cab up to Fremont St. which is where some of the old Vegas casinos like the Golden Nugget are. But it has been turned into the Fremont Experience, with this big canopy over the whole street onto which is projected a light show with songs and a panoply of images relevant to the song, which in our case was American Pie.
Also up there were a man holding a poodle wearing glasses and an Irish hat with which you could have your picture taken, a balloon twisting clown, some zip line ride overhead, various vendor carts, etc. Overall, it was overwhelming. I lost my first casino money playing Texas Hold Em at Binion's. There is also this part called Fremont East that just looked creepy so we didn't cross the street to experience it. We took this agonizingly slow bus back down the strip to the Paris for dinner. By the end of the ride, Anne had had it with me and my attitude of whatever was wrong with me. I just couldn't get down with the experience. I don't blame her one bit.
We had scallops and steak Bearnaise and warm berry crumble at Mon Ami Gabi and everything went fine until I tried to pay with the only card I had brought for this outing, which turns out to be my AAA membership card, not my AAA Visa. Oh the embarrassment. So I have to take a fast cab back to the Tropicana and back with a REAL credit card. leaving Anne as collateral.
Monday was much better. We went down to the pool area around ten with some beverages from the hotel's Starbucks and lounged around. I got a sunburn just under my swimsuit top which I didn't notice for 2 days. We had some lunch at Cafe Nikki at the hotel, after which Anne went out for more sun and I went to the room to make a dinner reservation. About 6, we took a cab to The Mirage where we were seeing Cirque de Soleil LOVE. It's one of those phatasms of choreography and costuming and music and people flying through the air, all to Beatles music. It was unbelievable. We were in the front row so performers were right in our faces or swinging out over our heads.
We had dinner after at Il Fornaio at New York New York. Another example of how you have to take reviews at yelp.com with a grain of salt because people complained about the service and the small portion and the prices, all of which we thought were unfounded. We had lasagna and chicken cannelloni, both of which we polished off.
I told Anne people would be disappointed if I had not gambled in Vegas so we get $200 out of the ATM and Anne starts in on winning at blackjack. I went to a Texas Hold Em table where I was the only player most of the time. I lost a bundle. Fortunately, we cashed out Anne's $105 and went to gamble at the Tropicana. Where she continued to smoke the blackjack while I continued to lose. If I played at her table, SHE would also lose, so I went elsewhere. At 3 a.m., I had to go back to the room but she continued on and cashed out with $230. A man at a table I was at, upon me mentioning my daughter who was winning like crazy, said "Is that the stunning young lady in the black dress?" I was so proud.
Tuesday we got up and drove back to LA, where we went to the Griffith Observatory, from where you have a great view of the Hollywood sign and panoramic views of the various parts of LA. It was a lovely day. Later we went out to the Spanish Kitchen for delicious $2 tacos, like lobster and blackened halibut and pork. MMMMMMM. And half price margaritas. After which, we went to see the new Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, which has (spoiler alert) vampire mermaids, Keith Richards, a ton of sword fighting and Penelope Cruz. And at the end, an opening to POTC 5. Jack Sparrow had some classic lines. Including this, with Keith Richards as Capt. Teague:
Jack Sparrow: Have you been there?
Captain Teague: Does this face look like it's been to the fountain of youth?
Jack Sparrow: Depends on the light.
After the movie, I get a text that my flight has been cancelled for Wednesday. I call American Airlines and an hour later, I get a flight out at 7:20. I had to talk my way through the lines at security, waving my boarding pass showing my boarding time as 6:50 while now it's 6:40. Miraculously someone opens the cattle ropes and I'm through security and on the plane in time. And as you can see from these Google results, it's a miracle I even got a flight.
Overall, Anne did a great job of showing me LA while I was not the best guest. Like this cartoon. Her Hollywood apartment is spacious, with granite countertops in the kitchen and bathroom, which has both a shower and a tub. She has flowering trees outside her bedroom window.
At Dallas, I tried to offer my flight up for some of the people who had been at the airport for TWO DAYS and stay and see Karen Schaller but they declined my offer even though some of the standby people didn't get on the plane. THEN we get on the plane and out on the runway and have an hour delay because there are tornado warnings in Detroit. But finally we leave and I got home last night at 8:45.
Today, I did about nothing. It rained all day. I had coffee with a woman who also took the buyout at WTVG. I watched a bunch of sitcoms and this pretty hilarious movie on Netflix on the iPad called Trick 'r Treat.
I hope tomorrow will be more productive.
I filed for unemployment and got some emails and letters about it that I haven't dealt with yet. I have survivor guilt about work. I'm freaking out about not having a job, as I've had one consistently since 1968.
Big party Monday. Crystal Bowersox with the wimmens Sat. night. And then, dealing with my mom, who has fallen twice in the last week, once causing her to go to the hospital. I'm hoping she'll go for admittance to some care facility which I will explore in some trip down there after Memorial Day.
Adding pictures to this later. "Right," you say. "I've heard that before."
___________________________
No comments:
Post a Comment