Category: Las Vegas

Magic in Vegas Day#4 “No, No, Please Say It Isn’t Over”

by reissmd, posted in Las Vegas

I won’t bore you with stories about breakfast except to say we went to Blueberry Hill again.   It was great again. How this place gets a 3.9 rating on Yelp is beyond me.

The morning session was at times a bit mind boggling,  mind blowing, and mind numbing.  We heard an interview with Penn and Teller and also a lecture about under appreciated Black magicians which were very interesting.  There was a very impressive mentalism performance by an act named Mind 2 Mind. I don’t think many of the men in the audience concentrated on the act after the female part of the duo walked through the audience. (see below) 

The female part of the Mind 2 Mind twosome. This was the reason many of the men didn’t pay attention to the tricks and just stared at her. I of course was focused on the magic.

Patrice here. Do you believe that nonsense he just said? Ask him to name one of their tricks and see if he can name any.

Lastly and most sobering was a talk about an attempt to end piracy of magic books and tricks.  Apparently the pirates not only have stolen money but have also threatened the investigator with extortion and threats of physical harm. Yikes!

The afternoon sessions were great.  I learned some great tricks to do plus some others that although I can’t do were interesting to learn the secrets.  

Dinner was also a show.  Yes we went to Benihana.  We joined Bill and his son Bill and 4 other friends from back home, John, Connie (who told us about Magic Live) and their friends Gary and Cindy. It is always a lot of fun watching and listening to the Benihana chefs and tonight was no exception.

From left to right: Bill II, Bill (Bill II’s dad), John, Connie, Cindy, Gary. Row 2: Patrice, Yours truly, and Owen.

When I asked my magic buddy, Mike, if he wanted to attend Magic Live, he scoffed at the thought of staying at such a cheap hotel as the Orleans.  I have to admit that he was right in many respects.  Of interest there were a couple of things that made the hotel desirable. For example the hotel doesn’t have any pressure filters in the shower so you get a real blast which I really like.  Also the water temperature is extremely hot. I love a hot shower.  Newer hotels tend to limit the water pressure (money saver?) and temperature (possibly to avoid injuring guests and hearing from attorneys?) so the Orleans has my vote in regards to the shower.  Interestingly this morning Owen noticed that the cold water from the sink was hot.  I’ve been to numerous locations where hot water is a rarity (LAX for example) but I’ve never seen any location where the cold water is hot.  Well, not until today.  

The closing show was one more treat to top off a great 3 days of magic. It is late and I don’t want to bore you with details of the show. Actually I need my editor to proofread my posting and she is fading fast so we need to call it a night.

Tomorrow it’s back to home.  I am always happy to return home but I have to admit this trip was very special. I look forward to returning next year. Thanks go to our friends who made it a unique event. Treating us to dinners, driving us to locations, waiting in line to save us seats, gifts for our grandson, showing us the lay of the land for the convention, is too much to fathom. What a wonderful group of friends. I am really blessed.

Not a great photo but definitely a great bunch of people.

No trips planned for the near future but if we head out of town I promise you’ll be the first to know. 

Ciao 

Magic in Vegas Day #3 “Robert Becomes a Magical Star!”

by reissmd, posted in Las Vegas

Another great night’s sleep.  I think I need to leave my phone in the kitchen from now on. 

Last night we were treated to an amazing show which included a mentalist, a juggler (not strictly a magician but still very entertaining), a physical magician, and a guy who had a nonstop supply of cards emanating from his hands.  There was also an emcee who did the best trick of the night.  He took a ring from an audience member.  Another member of the audience helped him make it disappear and the same member of the audience helped him find it.  It was located on the emcee’s toe under his sock AND BOOT! I would tell you how it’s done but I can’t because I don’t want to break the magician’s code of ethics. Also, I have no idea how he did it.

This morning we decided not to risk being killed by a cab driver for hiring them for a one mile trip and ate at the Copper Whisk located in the hotel.  It was closer but clearly a step down from Blueberry Hill.  But what it lacked in quantity and quality they made up in service. For example look how they arranged our service settings.  See below. 

As I recall he dropped the utensils on the table and said, “Here”.

We then attended the general session which showed a mentalist (Brian Curry) who was funny and impressive and a hilarious magician named Piff the Magic Dragon.  His trick was funnier than it was impressive but it was definitely my favorite presentation of the session.  There was a father and son duo who discussed how storytelling and magic presentations are very similar.  They gave tips to performing magicians which were definitely lost on me.  There was also a costume designer explaining the importance of your costume for your presentation.  I think I will stick with a white coat for my performances. 

The afternoon was much more enjoyable.  First we saw another mentalist (Drew Backenstoss) who gave a great show and then told how everything was done.  I definitely plan to utilize some of his tips.  This show was especially enjoyable because I was able to be a volunteer participant.  I was a bit scared because he was trying to predict the PIN of my debit card.  Lucky for me he failed in that endeavor.  After that we saw a close up magician (Mike Pisciotta) who also did a show and proceded to teach us how everything was done.  I got a close up view because again I was picked as a volunteer.  This was spectacular because we got to see a great show and learn some great magic tips. See  below.

Mike Pisciotta explaining how to do his tricks.

We have one more show tonight and then it is off to dinner. This has truly been an incredible experience. 

Ciao

Magic Time in Vegas Day#2 “The Magic of Sleep”

by reissmd, posted in Las Vegas

I had an amazing night.  The room was very quiet and I slept like a baby (that is I woke up every 2 hours) but thanks to Owen it was a great night.  Often when I wake during the night I’ll grab my phone and can’t back to sleep.  I didn’t want to bother Owen so didn’t touch my phone and instead fell back asleep.  Glory, glory, boy do I feel great. 

We got our act together this morning and headed to Blueberry Hill (a local restaurant recommended by Bill, not the Fats Domino hit song from the 50’s) [1505 E Flamingo Rd, Las Vegas, NV 89119].  The place was amazing.  Food was great, portions generous, and prices reasonable.  If you plan to stay at the Orleans Hotel I’d definitely recommend this place for breakfast but please take an Uber.  When the cab driver heard we wanted him to take us to a place about a mile away he was not a happy camper.  Getting an Uber back to the hotel was not all that easy either so maybe tomorrow we will look for something walking distance from the hotel.  No food pictures but here are just 4 pages from the menu.

French Toast or Waffles?
Pancakes?
Eggs Benedict?
How about an Omelette instead?
I lied, here is a food picture. Patrice and I shared an omelette (this was my portion) and it came with pancakes (located behind the eggs).

Then it was time for Magic!  Well not quite.  The General session was hosted by a very funny and clever magician named Rick Merrill.  The other presenters were talking about their philosophy and history of magic.  That is not very interesting to me but seemed very well received by the others (the true magicians) in the audience. 

The afternoon session was interesting, informative and inspiring.  We saw a British magician named Joseph Barry do some incredible card tricks and then showed them again but this time explained how they were done.  I think they are all quite doable.  All I have to do is quit medicine, not talk to any friends or relatives, and practice all day for about 10 years and I will then be mediocre at what he did, seemingly with ease.

We then saw a stunt magician named Jonathan Goodwin.  He too is from Great Britain but unfortunately about 4 years ago had a trick go awry and he is paralyzed from the chest down (T11 level for those of you in the medical field).  He showed us some incredible tricks that he used to do and also explained how they were done.  In addition to being informative he was quite amusing.  When the audience gave him a standing ovation, he said, “It looks like you are all mocking me”. 

Jonathan Goodwin

After a short break it was the close up magic show.  This is always my favorite.  Tonight was no exception.  There were 4 different magicians and all were spectacular.  Some of the tricks I had seen before but there were others that were beyond comprehension.  For example one of the magicians made shadow figures with a light on a screen.  No big deal, we have all seen that.  But have you seen it where he throws a card from his hand to the shadow and then the shadow throws it back?  But my favorite was a trick involving a bag and an egg.  No need for me to explain it because it clearly was impossible and the magician just had us all on hallucinogenics.  Yes, it was mind boggling.

We then went for dinner and got stuffed on cajun food. What else would you expect at a hotel called, Orleans? 

But that isn’t the end of our night.  We will be leaving the room soon for another show.  This is apparently the big show of the night.  

And to think this is just day #1 of the convention. 

Ciao, until tomorrow. 

Magic Time in Vegas, Day #1 “Welcome to Sin City”

by reissmd, posted in Las Vegas

Many followers of this blog know that I have adopted a new hobby, magic.  My friend Mike and I have been studying online with our instructor (also Mike) who is a plumber in New Jersey (not a joke). We have been having a lot of fun and become much more interesting to strangers (our friends are bored having seen our tricks too many times as we use them as an audience for our practice sessions). I found out about a convention dedicated to magic called “Magic Live”.  It takes place every year in August in Las Vegas.  Yes, Vegas in August doesn’t sound like a dream trip but that is where Patrice and I are.  Lucky for us we have a travel guest, our oldest grandson, Owen.  This is our third trip with Owen having taken him to Panama and Canada previously.  He is a great travel partner, very easygoing and so fun to talk to. 

We found out about the magic convention from 2 of my patients, John and Connie.  We ran into them last year when we were out to dinner.  Oddly, Connie recognized Patrice from the blog and didn’t even notice me.  I don’t recall how we got on the topic of magic but Connie mentioned that her brother hosts the magic convention and here we are.  

Upon arrival to the Harry Reid International airport in Las Vegas there was no doubt that the pilot took us to the correct city.  These two sights made it clear that we were not in Salt Lake. 

Slot machines by baggage claim. “Dorothy, you are not in Kansas anymore.”
Okay, can you direct us to which part of the airport where this is allowed?

After exiting the airport we were in a cab in seconds (this definitely is not LAX) and on our way to the Orleans Hotel. My friend and magic buddy, Mike, decided not to attend because the hotel at which the convention is located is not one of the luxury gaming houses.  “Robert I am not going to a hotel that charges $80 per night”.  Hmmm, okay. At first it seemed just like any of the other Vegas hotels, smelling of smoke and with a huge casino greeting you as you enter.  It is clear that this is not like the higher profile places.  For example at check-in your option was to do self check-in or pay $35 to have a human take your information. We opted to save the $35 and use the self check-in machine which was very easy to use.  We were only given 2 keys which is all we need since if we let Owen out of our sight for one nanosecond his mother and father will have us fried.

The Orleans might not be a luxury hotel but it still is very nice and adequate for our purposes.  For example we had an excellent dinner at Alder and Birch which is located in the hotel. We got a great deal on the price of the meal because we were the guests of our friend Bill and his son Bill Jr.  The meal was amazing but the best part was the entertainment. Bill teaches airline mechanics how to work on engines.  Years ago he also worked as a party clown entertaining kids. Bill Jr. is a professor at Abilene Christian University.  Both Bills are amazing magicians and entertained us during dinner with some incredible tricks.  

After dinner we headed over to the Convention mixer where we met some more magicians and were treated to some more impressive magic.  Next door was what they call “The Dealer’s Room” which is essentially a hoard of merchants selling a variety of magic tricks.  It was very interesting but there were so many people there it was hard to get a salesperson to even talk to let alone see what was special about their booth.  Hopefully later in the week it won’t be as crowded.  

Enjoying time with our baby grandson (he is the one towering over us) while I try to hide the ice cream I am eating.

Tomorrow the convention starts for real.  Hopefully I will be funnier tomorrow.  Patrice can be brutally honest sometimes.  I asked what she thought of the blog and she said, “It wasn’t very funny”.   

I will try harder tomorrow. 

Happy Birthday To You Day #3 “It Was Worth the Wait”

by reissmd, posted in Blue Diamond, Nevada, Las Vegas

OH MY GOD, doesn’t do it justice. The Sphere was spectacular!  From the moment we entered we were impressed.  We found our seats with no difficulty entering the area directly (after a long walk) from the Venetian Hotel lobby.  We got to our seats and we were treated to a series of hit songs with superb acoustics.  The arena was illuminated with a graphic paying tribute to the Eagles with a collage of Los Angeles landmarks (in honor of the band being from LA).   Check out the video below to see the scene and two patrons waiting for the show.

The Eagles came on stage (no warm up act) and we were treated to 2 hours of their hit songs and a series of graphics that almost upstaged the stars.   I have a great video of Glen Frey’s son, Deacon, singing “Peaceful Easy Feeling” but copyright laws won’t let me post it. Sorry.

The Sphere has 18,600 seats and can hold 20,000 with standing room expansion.  The only thing that would be a concern would be exiting in case of an emergency.  Leaving the arena was awful. Thankfully there wasn’t a tragedy and we are alive and well 

After the concert ended. Do we look like we had a good time?

Telling you about the concert and the venue was supposed be the end of my entries for this trip but Sunday morning we had a special activity that I have to share.  A friend of ours, Milton, has relocated to Las Vegas and we planned to connect for a brief visit. 

Milton picked us up at the hotel and drove us out of the Strip area and filled us with all sorts of interesting “facts” about Vegas.  As Milton put it “I’m going to tell all sorts of interesting information about Las Vegas and you can decide later which of it is true.”   This made him sound typical of one of my blog followers (and like me too for that matter).  In addition to showing us a number of local communities (including his beautiful home) he took us by Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area.  We didn’t enter this region but what we could see from the highway was beautiful. Looks like it is definitely a site worth visiting.  We had a lovely breakfast at Cottonwood Station in Blue Diamond, Nevada (14 Cottonwood Drive; Blue Diamond, NV). The food was delicious and the prices reasonable.  Service was friendly but interesting.  If I’m not mistaken they brought out each drink and meal one trip at a time.  Luckily they brought my meal last since (although I’m not proud of this) I’m a very fast eater.  Speaking of fast Milton told us something I had not known. He was the state high school champion in the 100 yard dash. I didn’t want to brag but I have a 100 yard dash honor myself. I still hold the Dorsey High School record for the SLOWEST 100 yards ever run. With the 100 meter dash having replaced the 100 yard dash, I most likely will hold the record for eternity. After a quick picture and a goodbye it was time to check out from the hotel and head for home. 

Milton, Patrice and me. That is Milton on the left

Well that is the end of this trip. I know I usually end with fun photos but forgive me this time since this was short, sweet, and all about giving Patrice a pleasant birthday. I did think about you at one point. Our room was number 5121. All the odd numbered rooms were on one side with the even numbered rooms on the opposite side. On our way to our room we passed 5111, 5115, and 5117. That’s correct, no 5113. Room number 13 in Las Vegas? ………………… NO WAY!

Ciao

Happy Birthday To You Day #2, “What a Drag”

by reissmd, posted in Las Vegas

Last night we arrived after 11 pm. You would think with a late arrival we could cruise in and the staff would be tripping all over each other to help us.  Think again, Robert.  We were greeted with bumper to bumper traffic.  I had to fight my way between taxis and limos in a traffic circle only to find out that the entrance for checking in was on the other side.  So again I needed to extend my arm asking to get over (easy to ignore a turn signal hard to ignore an arm).  We got to the valet and asked if they could charge our car overnight since we arrived with very little energy remaining.  He said he would make a request but no guarantees.  This morning I checked my car app and saw that what was at 16% last night was down to 12% this morning. Not sure if it was the cold weather or if the valets used our car to keep themselves warm but that further drop was a little unnerving.  That level of charge was a new low for me and I needed to find a charger or I would not feel comfortable.  Patrice made a call downstairs to check on the charging.  Based on what I had experienced so far I knew it was a wasted call.  You would think for what we are paying here we would be treated like royalty.  So I continued to get ready to find a charging spot and suddenly a message came across my phone that charging had begun.  Isn’t she amazing?  Aren’t I, the lucky one?

So instead of heading out looking for energy I decided to expend some of my own energy in the gym.  Oops, I forgot we are at an expensive hotel, I meant fitness center, not the gym. As I slowly meandered towards the fitness center a gentleman passed me and said hi.  He knew the way, so I followed him. Turns out he and his wife are visiting from New York and celebrating her birthday.  What a coincidence.  I told him that we will be celebrating by going to the Sphere tonight.  He replied “I’m taking my wife to the Eagles – Raiders game tomorrow.  Maybe Patrice is the lucky one?

Actually I realized later that the Raiders aren’t playing this weekend and he meant he was going to see the Eagles at the Sphere just like us.  I guess I’m not that special after all. 

We are not gamblers and I can’t stand the smoky air in the hotel so hanging out at the casino was not very appealing.  Instead, Patrice booked us a brunch and a show at the nearby Treasure Island hotel.  I don’t like to gamble but I sure like to eat.  Turns out she made reservations for “Señor Frog’s Drag Brunch”.   Sounded like an event where you eat as much Mexican food as you can, as fast as you can.  Turns out that was not quite correct.  It was Mexican food but we were entertained by a bunch of guys dressed up as women.  I wasn’t expecting much but OMG does not adequately describe what we saw.  Clearly society has passed me by.  I have NEVER seen anything like this in my life.  A series of men dressed up as women came on stage then sang and danced.  The audience would scream.  Then the performer would come off the stage into the audience and people would beg them to take cash from them.  Most were just single dollar bills but I saw at least 1 one-hundred dollar bill.

Performer with cash in both hands and patrons begging for her to take more.

Then they came out for their finale.  The entire troupe was on the stage sending their love to the audience and then came off the stage to join us.  Again audience members gave them lots of cash.  The screaming in the audience was mostly women and reminded me of the when the Beatles came to the USA for the first time.  Heck, if I knew wearing a dress would be such a turn on for females I would have taken a much different approach  in college. 

From the amount of cash being given, I think this was the most popular performer. She did some amazing acrobatics during her set.

By the way I think I must look like the owner of the Treasure Island hotel because we stopped twice on our way to the show to ask for directions.  Each time the Treasure Island employee addressed me the same way, “Hey boss, can I help you?”  And once again the directions to Señor Frog’s started with the same sentence “Walk through the casino……”

‘We are back at our hotel chilling for a while.  We will be seeing The Eagles (musical group not the football team) tonight and since the show doesn’t start until 8:30 we need to rest up. 

That’s enough for tonight, or as Patrice just told me “That’s too much”. 

Happy Birthday To You Day #1 “Road to Las Vegas”

by reissmd, posted in Las Vegas

On Thursday Patrice celebrated her ??? birthday.  We decided to celebrate by going to see the Sphere in Las Vegas.  We have been told it’s a very special venue so why not use it to celebrate this very special occasion. 

I got off work fairly early and we headed east. Traffic was awful, as expected but, we made it to about 130 miles from home in the first 2 1/2 hours when we stopped to get some dinner. Close to the freeway we found HK’s Bar and Grill.  The food was fine and the prices reasonable but it was quite clear that we might have been only 130 miles from home but we were light years from our element.  At the table next to ours there were some women who were very loud and boasting about their tattoos and body piercings.  At the table next them there were a group of men two of which had T-shirts that read “Sons of Trump”.  

Well fed we carried on. The traffic varied from heavy to light. Our car said that we could make all the way to the hotel without stopping and still have 3% left in our battery.  That didn’t seem like a wise strategy so we stopped at the Super Charger adjacent to “Eddie World” in Yermo, California to charge for a bit.  Patrice took the opportunity to use the facilities where she saw this sign in the convenience store. 

A couple of hours later we pulled into the lot at the Venetian Hotel and hurried to our room.  No surprise that it was gorgeous and that we had to walk through the casino to get there.  It’s a well known fact that in every Las Vegas hotel when you are given instructions on how to get somewhere the first sentence is “Walk through the casino……”

Enough for tonight.  I would like to tell you about the hotel arrival but my blog editor wants to go to sleep.  So that means I must stop writing and leave our arrival story until tommorow.

Ciao