I love Fridays, although sometimes I wonder why. I’m not sure having my kids lounge about or demand rides to the mall, movie theater, and friends’ houses is actually a break, and with a husband who is a shift worker, it’s not like Saturday and Sunday scream celebration. Still, the atmosphere is a little lighter out there as most of the world prepares for the weekend.

For me and everyone else who loves bright and sparkly things and a good stiff drink, there is a place where everyday of the week spells fun; a place where the party is on everyday, all day, all night…yah, you know it. Las Vegas.

I went for the first time about 18 years ago but I’ll never forget my initial impression. I was mid teaching practicum (in my former life I taught elementary school) and my husband–bless his romantic heart–was down with a bunch of buddies but being newlyweds, he missed me! So he called and told me to get on a plane and join the guys.

I was overwhelmed with the fun at the casino. I’m not much of a gambler but I do enjoy those slots. There’s just something so satisfying about pulling that little lever down and watching the three columns of colour spin, your heart beginning to pick up pace as the machine slows down. I recall winning a whopping $40 or so (which at a .$25 a spin meant I’d been cruising the casino for a while) and exiting while I was still up. Back then you carried a cup of coins around with you and there was no just-press-the-button- style slots. Personally I think some of the satisfaction is lost in the technology now as you put in your bills  and out comes a printed receipt with your remaining total.

I remember seeing a show. Tommy,  featuring actors in cute clothes whizzing around the sloped stage in roller skates to the music of The Who. I know we ate well and danced all night. I don’t remember a whole lot else (except what I wore on the plane…I know…weird…but I have this uncanny ability to recall outfits for various occasions).

Since then I’ve been a bunch of times, with kids, with just girlfriends, with just my husband. This go was with my very good friend from Calgary, Lane. Our objectives were simple: get good dresses cheap (Ross) eat great food without regard for prices (we nearly always split a meals anyway) drink whatever we pleased (beer or Sangria for Lane, wine or caramel apple martinis for me), lay by the pool (I never did), hit the gym (only happened once), and read our books (mission accomplished).

We stayed at the Trump Hotel–a very nice establishment with fantastic service but a little dull if you’re there for the sparkle and party (which, as mentioned, I love). With no casino, it’s smoke-free, which we greatly appreciated but it’s awfully quiet, except for that train that whistled and chugged loudly by at 4 am every morning. Who knew there were trains in Vegas? Not moi. Positioned next to an empty lot, just off the strip, our other big concern with the hotel was the lack of safety for two girls hobbling home in heels well after midnight.

My husband surprised me this summer with a birthday trip to Sin City and we stayed at the Venetian… now there’s a twinkling hotel. Lane and her hubby stayed at the Belagio…now there’s another twinkly place. Both fun, busy, classy, and very Vegas.

A highlight of the trip was our last night, spent having a drink with an old high school friend of mine, now a manager @ Caesar’s (thanks, JP!) followed by the Elton John concert. He was incredible and the venue, superb. At Caesar’s, where our Canadian darling, Celine Dion plays (along with upcoming Shania Twain), there isn’t a bad seat in the house and the sound system and stage, amazing!

It was my second Elton John experience. I saw him in Dubai about 8 years ago. Just him and his piano, on a stage, out in the middle of a field near the airport. We stood around with buckets of beer, our mouths open in awe–that or song. Seeing him in Vegas, with his back-up singers and big band, and flashy piano and lights and screen show, was an entirely different experience, very sparkly; very Vegas.

And really, isn’t that what you go for?

Have a great weekend. See you for more on the LOL’s latest novel, Spanish Fly, on Monday.

Cheers!

Shannon

Use Facebook to Comment on this Post

What do Will Ferguson and Las Vegas have in common?

Well, I don’t know, really. Mr. Ferguson might be a big time gambler (he’s certainly up on his clever crime schemes of the depression-era) or maybe he enjoys a good stiff drink, readily available in any hotel bar. Maybe he’s a fan of the famous Cirque de Soleil (he is Canadian, after all). I’m going to guess he doesn’t hit Sin City for the shopping.

But here’s the connection for me. I just got back from four days in Vegas with a good friend (which explains my tardiness in blogging our next book) and the timing was just right for me to start the LOL’s latest book. With a lay-over in Seattle and a few hours to kill on flights, it’s like my reading got a tailwind! I’m about a third of the way through Spanish Fly and have so much to say…But first, here’s Lane and I, dressed up for our last night in Vegas, moments before meeting an old friend of mine from high school, Jean-Pierre, now a manager @ Caesar’s Palace & a new dad, (congrats, JP!)…and about an hour before seeing Elton John in concert. Unreal…but I do digress…

Set in the American Southwest during the Great Depression, the novel features Jack McGreary, a young man growing up in Paradise Flats–a broken-down dust bowl of a town. Witty,   wonderfully quick with math, and a speed reader, it’s clear from the outset that Jack will out grow the tiny town he was born in. With a deceased mother and a good-hearted but going-crazy father, Jack outsmarts everyone around him and is itching for more out of life than the salt mines of Paradise Flats–and even the libararian’s “reed of a daughter”, Becky, in her tempting floral dress and page-boy haircut–can provide. So when two “fast-talking swindlers blow through town”, Jack ends up joining them on a wild and crazy ride of crime spreeing across the Southwest.

It’s a very interesting premise, and a delight to read Will Ferguson’s (he of the Leacock Medal for Humor) wonderful wit working its way through the novel in the voice of Jack. But don’t take my word for it, here’s what Monday Magazine had to say about the book:

“Ferguson’s intriguing characters and rich descriptions of the depressed towns they inhabit draws you into the forlorn pre-war world of the Depression. I couldn’t get enough of their cons and was seduced by the romantic notion of a grifter’s exciting life. From the coffee tins full of cash to the getaway car to the hot jazz clubs…Spanish Fly is a compelling piece of historical fiction that bring’s Ferguson’s writing to a whole new and exciting level.”

Why not pick up a copy of Spanish Fly and join the LOL in our latest book? And join me here for Wordy Wednesday for more and if you want to know what we bought (and ate, and drank, and saw) in Vegas, tune in for Free-For-All-Friday.

Good to be back,

Cheers!

Shannon

Use Facebook to Comment on this Post