Trip Diary 8-14-06 (11 of 20)
Today, is Phantom day. Last April, it was announced that
Phantom of the Opera was going to be staged at the Venetian hotel
and that they were building a theater especially for this
production. Phantom has long been one of my favorite musicals of
all time, I and knew immediately I'd be going to see it at the first
opportunity.
In addition to teaching English, I also am the drama teacher
at our high school. Two of my seniors, who were in my drama class
the past couple of years, came to me saying they had heard about it
too, and they'd love to be able to see it. The planned was hatched,
and I made reservations for three. I warned them of the price, a
steep $125 per ticket plus taxes. Both graduated this past June and
they are both over 18. I told them I'd take care of the rooms.
I called Martin and asked him for his help. We both decided
to double book rooms for August 14th and 15th. Martin booked the
Las Vegas and the Flamingo, which he got free offers from both, and
I booked Sam's Town. I didn't need to double book. The plan?
Since both places are miles apart, the couple would stay in Vegas
Club on the 14th, then I'd switch with them on the 15th. This way
they could experience both downtown and Henderson.
They arrived in town about 11:30 and called me. I gave them
directions to Sam's Town. After arriving we discussed the day's
itinerary, and I then had them follow me to Vegas Club downtown. We
met Martin at 1:00 PM, and gave them the keys to the room and they
left their bags there. I showed them a little bit of Freemont
Street. Jeran had not been to Vegas since he was a small boy, and
Erin had been here, but her first time on her own as an adult.
They were both tired from the drive. I walked them to the
Vegas Club Deli where they could buy some food and take it to their
room where they could relax, freshen up, and I'd be back at 5:30 to
pick them up for dinner and the show. I drove Martin over to the
Flamingo to check in. He planned his evening to hit the Monday
night high hand game at the Luxor, hoping that lightning would
strike twice and he'd once again take the top $500.00 prize.
On the way back to Sam's Town, I stopped at a Terribles car
wash on the corner of Flamingo and Paradise to get the car's ears
cleaned. This place use to be $5.99; however, they remodeled and no
longer have discounts. I opted for the $15 major cleaning. Even at
this price, it was a bargain. As I sat from a distance and watched
them dry the cars, the attendant working on my car really went over
it carefully, looking for any small marks or spots and spent no less
than ten minutes on the wheels alone. I was very happy with the job
and left him a nice tip (5 soaps).
I headed back to Sam's Town. I had a couple hours to spare,
so I went down to my favorite bank of 10-coin nickel progressive
deuces. I played for about an hour, but didn't have any luck. I
had six four-to-royals and plenty of five-of-a-kinds to keep me
playing. After playing a little over a thousand hands, I
surrendered, went up to my room and changed for the show.
I picked up Erin and Jeran, and we headed for the Venetian.
After walking around the canal shops for a bit, we found the Phantom
Theater and picked up the tickets from Will Call. To my surprise, I
found that the show started an hour earlier than I thought. It was
a good thing that we were early, or we'd have missed most the show.
It's been noted on this board before, but I'd like to also add that
Phantom of the Opera was simply wonderful. Though it was shortened
to just over an hour and a half without the intermission, you really
can't tell where they edited it. I had seen the show before, and I
could see that they simply removed some of the "fat" of the show.
With the exception of a couple of effects at the graveyard I thought
were a little poorly done, the entire play, and especially the
incredible theater was fantastic. We were in the 12th row center
and Jeran, who's quite tall, had the falling chandelier come down
right above his head by seemingly inches.
Erin and I both give the show 5 claps, but Jeran, who didn't
care as much for the actor playing the Phantom, gives it 4 ½. I'll
go see this show again, but I'm going to sit in the balcony next
time so I can get a different vantage point of the show. If you
like Broadway shows, this is a no-brainer, go see it.
After the play, we took the walk. We went first to Caesars
Forum shops, then into Caesars where we had dinner at Mesa Grill.
This is an upscale eatery in Caesars. Erin had chicken something
(fill in a fancy sauce name), I had a whole fish (fill in a fancy
sauce name), and Jeran went for the rabbit (fill in a fancy sauce
name). I suppose I should have written down the actual names of
these dishes, but I did learn that if you put the name of the fancy
sauce next to the main dish, you can charge an extra twenty bucks
for it. Jeran liked his rabbit (4 ½ forks). Erin liked her chicken
(3 stars), and my whole fish was good, but I can't quite describe to
you how it was presented, which was in a curled position facing up.
I really didn't know how to eat it. (3 stars)
We then walked over to Bellagio, went through the
conservatory (beautiful), then across to Ballys and finally back to
the Venetian. Erin, in high heels, had to have been sore though it
was fun watching her as she began to slide on the medal moving
walkway that was broken down. We made it back to the car and I took
them back downtown to drop them off.
This diary is shorter than others simply because I did very
little gambling and very little eating, but managed to keep my
string of losing days alive (not a good thing). However, it was a
terrific day with good food and great entertainment, and best of all
good friends.
More tomorrow.