I had high expectations, but I had no idea. Let me tell you , it was probably the least acrobatic Cirque show ever, but is was so visually amazing, from the very first number, I just didn't care. It was so good, I don't even want to tell you any details about it, because I don't want to spoil one moment of it for you.
But I felt like a child watching it. And by the time they played "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds," I was openly weeping. I LOVEd everything and everybody.
I've been trying to remember the term for having a completely emotional reaction to a piece of art ever since. I think it starts with an "s"...
Other highlights:
Rum Jungle, the Brazillian Rodizio by day/discoteche by night at Mandalay Bay.
Having been burnt before, CH and I went in with a plan to turn down all bready and filling items offered beforehand, so that we could save room for the all-you-can-eat meat.
But the Rum Jungle folk are crafty for sure. They offered us four types of bread, including sweet potato and jalepeno. Which with Midwestern me and California CH is a perfect one-two punch. They also brought out black beans and coconut rice with the most lovely plantains. It just about killed me to eat only one.
But it all worked out it the end. We made it through the full rotation of meats. I even got seconds on the spicy honey-mustard turkey breast, which was so moist, you wondered if the turkey it had been made from hadn't spent it's entire life lounging in a vat of orange juice. And best of all, we had a bowl of plantains for the dessert. Mmm-mmm.
House of Blues Sunday Gospel Brunch: I've been meaning to go to this for a while in L.A., so was happy to see there was also one in Vegas.
The food was good, and the service was terrible. So terrible, in fact, that I found myself having to go up the bar to refill the coffee thermos for our entire section. This wouldn't have been so bad, but the gospel singers somehow chose the moment I was heading back to the table to thank the servers -- A spotlight came down on me and grudging applause went up from the audience. I'm sure a few people were wondering why I hadn't refilled their coffee yet. Apparently, Christians expect good service -- even on the Lord's Day.
Still, the show was great, and I totally solved a tricky screenplay I wrote three years ago, while they were singing, "An Angel Done Signed My Name." I love when that happens!
The Hotel: To my delight, we stayed at the Luxor, which rocked, because everything was Egyptian-themed in the tackiest way possible -- even the carpets.
And because the hotel's shaped like a pyramid, we got to ride in the inclinator, an updated, and 10 times less unsettling version of the creaky St. Louis Arch elevator, which also swings back and forth in order to take you to the top.
The only drawback: Carrot Top is their mainshow, and there were ads for him everywhere. And he's got these huge muscles now, so there's like even more of him. Ugh, I'm still seeing that red mop top in my nightmares.
The Heat: Yes, Vegas is hot. We only left the air conditoned Luxor-Mandalay Bay compound twice. It was 112 degrees, and unlike the rest of the country, they weren't having a heatwave. Apparently this is a typical summer in Vegas. I'm still wondering how people actually live there.
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