Off To Visit the Baby, Madrid 2025 Day #3. “Another Great Day With Our Kids”

by reissmd, posted in Madrid

Last night we had a wonderful dinner.  We ate at El Valle (Calle de Sebastián Herrera, 6  Madrid, Spain).  It only gets a 3.6 on Trip Advisor but this was our second time visiting this restaurant and we give it 5 stars.  Clearly Reiss Travel Blog is about to surpass Trip Advisor with users.  The food was excellent.  We had a Turbot that fed all 4 of us.  The food was very good and the waiter deboned the fish (not all bones were gone, so be careful when swallowing). Last time we were here the server did the deboning at our table which provided a wonderful show.  This time it was done out of sight.  The service was good except for one of the busboys spilling our water (which we paid for) and then he planned to just put a small towel over the wet area that encompassed almost half our eating space.  We convinced him to change the table cloth instead.  In addition to the turbot we had a side order of potatoes (that came with the fish) and appetizers of calamari and croquettes.  They gave us a complementary after dinner drink called Crema de Orujo which was a lot like Bailey’s.  Then we shared a Tart de Santiago (almond cake) for dessert.  It was a wonderful meal. Following dinner we hung out at the hotel for a while and then it was off to bed. 

The Turbot before deboning.
Turbot after deboning and ready to eat.

I slept in this morning and got us off to a late start.  Erica gave us instructions on how to take the bus to her place.  I love learning how to get around town with local transportation.  I did a great job, turning a 16 minute walk into a 20 minute bus trip. 

For breakfast Erica took us to a local place which was one of the few places that were open because today is Constitution day (December 6) a holiday in Spain.  The place had seating inside and out. It is not horribly cold so we might have chosen to sit outside but outside there are frequently smokers nearby.  We were told there was only one table inside that would seat the four of us.  They said we could have the table ONLY if we promised to vacate by 3 pm.  We were told this at 11:30 AM.  I LOVE SPAIN. 

We then strolled around the town seeing the opera house, Plaza España, Cervantes statue, Sol, and something I’d must have walked by numerous times but never seen before, Raton Perez (known by locals as the “Tooth Fairy”).

Don Quixote in front, his sidekick Sancho Panza, at his side, and their creator, Miguel de Cervantes.
Raton Perez, aka “The Tooth Fairy”
Outside the building we saw where Raton Perez enters and exits the building

We did a fair amount of walking today (obviously I am feeling guilty for not exercising on the treadmill) so this deserved a little treat (oops, need to get back on the treadmill) so we went to the famous Chocolatería San Ginés There we had churros and Spanish style hot chocolate. The hot chocolate is more like a dipping sauce.  It was divine.  

Churros and Hot Chocolate from Chocolatería San Ginés.

We need to go back to the hotel to rest before our next activities.  Maybe I will go to the fitness center and work out (who am I trying to kid?). Speak to you tomorrow.

Adiós 

Off To Visit the Baby, Madrid 2025 Day#2. “We Get to See a Celebrity Today”

by reissmd, posted in Madrid

Any of you parents out there will be able understand why today was so wonderful.  Erica met us at the hotel after breakfast and then it was off to visit the Irish Embassy where she works as the Executive Assistant to the Irish Ambassador to Spain.   And if you don’t know how much I enjoyed writing that sentence or telling it to anyone who will listen then you definitely are not a parent.   When we planned this trip I asked Erica if we could meet the Ambassador and she said definitely.  I asked, how she could be so sure and her answer was “I make his schedule.  Hmmm, Friday December 5th, 11:00 AM: Meet my parents.  There, it’s done”.  If you don’t think that put me in parent ecstasy you are out of touch with reality.   

Meeting Ambassador Brian Glynn was a real treat.  As expected this career diplomat was very diplomatic and said all the things we wanted to hear about our daughter.  We also spoke about world affairs.  He had viewpoints about Ireland, Britain, and the United States that were spell-binding. In addition he gave me a chance to show him a few of my magic tricks.  I was amazed by how much time he devoted to us.  Mr. Glynn is a very impressive person who speaks 6 languages.  That reminds me of a joke you’ve probably already heard.  A person who speaks 3 languages is “trilingual”, someone who speaks 2 languages is “bilingual” and someone who speaks one language is of course an “American”.  

Irish Ambassador to Spain, Brian Glynn, yours truly (aka Proud Papa), Patrice (aka Proud Mama), and Erica (Executive Assistant to the Ambassador).

After leaving the ambassador we stopped for a quick snack.  I was feeling a bit guilty about not exercising so I decided to work out while eating.  See below.  

I guess I was lying when I vowed to never get on a bike again.

We bought our treats at a local market. Here are a couple of pictures from the market.

Poor little piggies hanging in the market.

If that isn’t enough to make you give up meat try looking at this picture.

Poor little piglets.

Then it was off to meet a celebrity.  Wait, did you think I meant Brian Glynn when I wrote about meeting a celebrity?   Absolutely not!  A very prominent and respected software engineer has been in London working on a project and is traveling through Madrid on his way home.   Yes, our son, David made it to Spain.   How lucky we are.  We met David at the airport and cautioned him to try hard to carry on his luggage and avoid the problem we had.  The 1500 steps to baggage claim is another matter but some exercise is actually a good thing.  Unfortunately David was not allowed to carry on his small bag but luckily his wait at baggage claim was a lot shorter than ours.

It was great having 2 of our 3 children with us.  We visited the Museo Arqueológico Nacional and saw some fascinating  exhibits some dating back to about 500-600 BC. 

Patrice and me with 2 of our 3 wonderful children.

That is going to have to be enough for now because we are off to dinner.

Adiós

Off To Visit the Baby, Madrid 2025 Day#1. “The Joys of Travel”

by reissmd, posted in Madrid

We got off to an early start to LAX today, thanks to our good friend Mike.  He has frequently volunteered to give us a ride to the airport and I think it is mostly because he feels guilty about kicking my butt during our weekend cribbage matches.  Today we are beginning a visit to see our daughter, Erica, who lives in Madrid. 

Today I fell victim to the risk of traveling from a warm climate to a cold one. I was very comfortable in Mike’s car but when I exited I realized that my jacket was safely resting on my bed at home.  No problem I thought, I’ll just buy a jacket at the airport.  Ha!  The only thing I found was something that might keep me warm in Northern California but certainly not in Madrid in December.  One thing that did warm me up was looking at the price ($699).  I messaged Erica letting her know we will need to stop at a men’s store soon after arrival.  She said the magic words, El Corte Inglés.  For those who’ve never been to Spain, ECI is the shoppers heaven.  They have everything.  From high end men’s and women’s clothing, sporting goods, jewelry, to groceries.  Mind you, not everything is in one place.  They have multiple stores around the city so you need to know which ECI store has what you need but as I said they have it. 

Our flight was wonderful.  We flew on Iberia Airlines.  The flight crew were very kind and I managed to get a little sleep. We arrived on time to Madrid.  Getting through customs was a breeze.  I went for a run in the morning but got a second work out at the Madrid airport. I’d estimate the walk from the plane to baggage claim to be about 1500 steps.  In spite of that long walk and need to go through customs we still had to wait for our luggage.  I texted Erica an update saying I think our bags might have been on a different plane because we had been waiting such a long time.  We didn’t see anything on the conveyor belt for another 25 minutes after that comment.  Total baggage wait time about 40 minutes.

After finally getting our bags we saw the sight that brought us to the country, our daughter, Erica.  She was kind enough to pick us up at the airport and was very thoughtful to turn up the heat in the car and get me to a store so I could buy a survival jacket.  Instead of ECI we wound up going to another local favorite, H & M (actually based in Sweden and not Spain). They had a variety of jackets for me to choose and I found one that cost less than the tax would have cost me for the jacket at LAX. 

How do we look? 

When I say WE I mean the jacket and me not, Erica, Patrice and me.

Sorry, I’m a little batty. I didn’t sleep much on the plane.  I need a nap.   Erica has plans for us tonight so I’ll say good night and talk to you tomorrow. 

Adios. 

Birthday Celebration Day #3 “Recovery Day: Or Californians Cannot Deal With Rain”

by reissmd, posted in New York City

Yesterday was so special we were bound to have a let down today.  It started out well in that I did make it to the gym today.  Oops, I forgot we are at a fancy hotel and they don’t have a gym.  I got up early and went to the Fitness Center.  I did a short run on the treadmill and then headed back to the room.  Much to my surprise, Patrice was awake and soon we were on our way to the lounge for the breakfast we missed yesterday. 

The hotel breakfast buffet was good but not great.  I tried to eat healthy after my day of debauchery yesterday. For example, today I thought some cheese would be good.  Since the tomato and cheese (mozzarella) salad was a little devoid of cheese (see below) I decided to have a cheese danish instead.  Healthy choice, no?

Where’s the cheese?

After breakfast we whined for a while because today was much colder and it was raining.  Definitely something Californians do not enjoy.  We decided to brave the elements and take a short walk to MOMA (Museum of Modern Art).  I have to confess I am not much of a modern art guy but the other museums were much further away so MOMA was my choice as well. 

First we saw this Jackson Pollock painting.  I don’t recall the name but I think it was “Painter falls and spills his supplies”.  See below.

If your mind works like this is it any surprise the artist had a drinking problem?

We also saw this sculpture.  I think it was called “Jafar from Aladdin”. 

Admit it, doesn’t it look like Jafar?

We did see one of Patrice’s favorites, Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh so the trip was worthwhile.  

Okay, okay, I liked it too!

Another art piece I enjoyed was this one with a medical theme entitled “Jewish Penicillin”.  See below

Andy Warhol’s rendition of our cure all.

Please don’t think I didn’t enjoy myself.  Actually I had a very good time.  I really enjoyed the Senior Discount we received and all the steps I racked up on my pedometer. 

After MOMA it was time to eat.  I told Patrice I wanted to head to Junior’s across the street from the hotel for a corned beef sandwich.  Followers of the blog know that I never eat Shrimp and Grits (which I love) north of the Mason Dixon line.  I have a similar rule for corned beef on Rye.  I only eat it when we come to New York.  This serves me well in that I always enjoy a good corned beef sandwich  on our trips here and my longevity is not severely compromised.   The meal was delicious but I was disappointed that they didn’t offer potato knishes. A New York deli and no knishes?

Tonight we decided to stay at the hotel for entertainment.  The reasons are simple, it is cold and raining outside and Monday is typically a dark night for Broadway so all the shows that interested us are not performing.  Instead we saw “Stranger Things: the First Shadow” at the hotel theater. This was a prequel to a show of the same name on Netflix. The people in attendance seemed to love it. I assume they were fans of the show because I didn’t get it and could hardly wait for it to end.  

We leave early tomorrow so this will be my last post of the trip.  Followers know I like to end with some interesting photos so here you go. 

Do you really need to tell people this?
Junior’s tribute to our Dodgers?
Health food truck around the corner from our hotel.

See you in December when we travel to ………………….

Ciao

Patrice here. Thank you for a very nice birthday trip.

Birthday Celebration Day #2 “Life Can’t Get Better Than This!”

by reissmd, posted in New York City

I started off today with great plans; let Patrice sleep in while I went to workout.  Well, things didn’t quite go as planned but at least I did let her sleep in.  

After Patrice awoke we headed to the lounge where breakfast is included with our room tab.  We got a relatively early start leaving our room at 7:00 AM Los Angeles time but upon arriving at the lounge were told that breakfast ends at 9:30 AM eastern time.   They did supply us with some yogurt but that wasn’t adequate.  I thought we should see if the gelato place from last night had a more reasonable waiting line this morning. Upon arrival we found no one on line or inside the store.  We were greeted by Uriel who offered us samples from a wonderful selection at “Anita’s Gelato” (1561 2nd Ave, New York, NY 10028).  

Turns out Anita is an Israeli woman who has stores all over the world.  In addition to 4 in Manhattan there are stores in Spain, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Israel and other countries.  They even have a store in Los Angeles.   I found out the only store in Los Angeles is in Tarzana. Yes, Spain, UK, Australia, and Tarzana?

Uriel and his co-worker Loïc. Patrice thought she said she spelled her name Loïz. She is Israeli. I Googled it and the only name I found was Loïc, a French male name. The only Israeli name close to that would be Lior. Whatever her name, both she and Uriel were very nice. As was the gelato.

After leaving the gelato place we learned how the NYPD is able to respond to emergencies when confronted by bumper to bumper cars. 

I edited out some people from this photo. Can you see that part of one is still there?

We then saw the ultimate picture of harmony. Check out this gorgeous child.

I of course asked mom and dad if I could take a picture and put it on my blog. I told them that no one looks at my blog so they are safe.

Motivated by the baby in the picture we went to our room for a brief rest (Hey, missing out on breakfast and eating gelato requires some recovery time) and then headed over to see the musical that encouraged us to make this trip, “& Juliet”. We saw the show in Los Angeles and loved it in spite of having horrible seats.   We bought our tickets for tonight’s performance quite a while back. Tickets were available in the 4th row and front row.  We chose the front row seats and realized they were half the price of the 4th row seats because during one of the musical numbers your view is obstructed by a prop.  That was unfortunate but for the remainder of the show you are in musical heaven.  The show was every bit as spectacular as it was in LA. 

Patrice and me at our front row seats hoping the cast will come back and do the show again.

Following the show we went back to the hotel to pick up an umbrella (yes, it started to drizzle) and then we were off to dinner.  Tonight we dined at Milos (125 W 55th St, New York, NY 10019).  This place was recommended by one of my patients.  He told me it’s a bit pricey but he loves it. He goes there every time he is in New York.  I have to admit, it was spectacular, but was very pricey.  

We started by sharing a Lobster Salad. This was amazing.
Patrice had the halibut. Very moist and delicious.
I had the pasta primavera. It wasn’t on the menu but was offered to me when I asked what kinds of vegetarian options they had. That really impressed me (as did the taste of the dish).
We shared the grilled vegetables. Have you ever seen a more lovely display of veggies?
For dessert we had Walnut Cake.
And how can you go to a Greek restaurant without having Baklava?
To help us celebrate Patrice’s birthday they gave us a small fruit platter. I love the candle holder (see above).

As I said the food was expensive but I can be thankful that neither of us are drinkers.  See below.

People really spend this much for wine? I think that is the definition of a drinking problem.

We are back in the room now and ready to call it a night. Until tomorrow.

Ciao

Birthday Celebration Day #1 “Don’t You Just Love to Fly?”

by reissmd, posted in New York City

Patrice and I headed to New York today in order to  celebrate her ??? birthday.  Her actual birthday was yesterday.  So if you forgot to call or message her forget it, it’s too late, and you are on her no fly zone list.  Don’t worry she got congratulatory messages from her credit card company and insurance agent.  

As a special birthday gift we both get rewarded by flying when  the government has been shut down resulting in TSA agents and Air Traffic Controllers working without pay.    

We had a pleasant ride to LAX.  Our taxi arrived on time and we seemed to have a great driver.  Apparently there is an app that he uses that critiques his driving.  A couple of times we heard this mysterious voice announce, “Rolling stop detected”.  Wow, glad I don’t have one of those in my car.  I can just imagine what it might be telling me: “You might want to drive a little slower” or “Is your turning signal broken?”. 

Boarding was uneventful as was the flight.   Unfortunately the ride from JFK to our hotel was less than ideal.  A crash on the highway slowed our voyage.   But it wasn’t a total loss because we learned some interesting phrases from our cab driver.  At one point I checked Google maps and it said we were 1.1 miles from the hotel but the estimated arrival was 24 minutes. 

Don’t these people know it is my wife’s birthday and we need to get to the city?

After checking in at the hotel we got a quick bite to eat and then tried to get tickets to a Broadway show.  With travel being so unpredictable we didn’t want to buy tickets in advance, in case our flight got canceled. So we tried to get rush tickets at a variety of shows. We failed at 3 locations and finally were successful at getting the last 2 tickets for the show “Chess”.  We heard a lukewarm review from one of Patrice’s friends but we thought what the heck, what else do we have to do?  The show is a fictitious story about a chess match between an American and a Russian that supposedly happened in 1979.  All I can say is that we won’t be asking Patrice’s friend for show recommendations.  We loved the show even though we got the last 2 seats and had to sit on opposite sides of the theater (Patrice here, that was the best part).  

The set of “Chess” before the show began.

After the show we decided to stop by for some late night gelato at a store next to the hotel.  We arrived there at about 11:15 pm and saw about 50 people on line.  We decided that we didn’t need gelato that much and came back to the room so I could write the blog. 

People on line for gelato at 11:15 pm.

Great first day of our birthday celebration.  More fun planned for tomorrow.

Ciao

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.