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.
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”.
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.
Robert Reiss Travel Blog and Other Ramblings 