If you’re a guy they say you know you’re not in Vegas anymore as soon as you walk into the grocery store upon your return. Sure, you might run across an attractive lady or two picking through the bananas or asking their child what they for dinner, but there are no beautiful people, no size 0 chicks in short skirts up to here and strutting around in stiletto heels. After a few days at Wynn Las Vegas they all start to look alike, but that doesn’t mean you get tired of looking….
What can I say, I love Vegas, and especially love the vibe at Wynn, and Tracey and I had a great weekend. To start off with, we got the dinner/show package at The Mirage. The dinner at Kokomo’s was as good as we’ve ever had (the lobster bisque was absolutely to die for!), and while the Cirque de Soleil show was about what you’d expect – lots of acrobatics and funky weird stage props and effects – the music was great. Strangely enough, there was no stereo separation in the sound system, which (at least in my opinion), deadened the overall quality of the Beatles recording experience. Still, it was well done.
Golf at Las Vegas National was interesting – interesting in that I’ve never played golf in 40-50 MPH sustained winds. It was really blowing out there, to the point where you were just trying to survive. It was hard to tell when you made a good shot – if you strayed offline was it the wind or your swing? Or vice-versa. Still, the course was beautiful, and while I kicked the ass of that course on the front nine (hitting all but one fairway), I learned I have a lot to work to do before Goodboys Invitational weekend, especially with my short game (although I believe I found a key on my next to last shot on 18). I know, I know – fine time to find something out there, but with a nickname like The Great White Shank, it’s obvious I ain’t no pro.
And the rest of the weekend? The spa at Wynn was great: if I had my way, I’d never play another round of golf without a trip to the spa afterwards, ever. The Peppermill, the Parasol Up bar at Wynn, and Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville were their usual reliable selves. Still, there wasn’t a dose of times-a-changin’: I learned I can make better Mai Tais than Gary at Peppermill, and the folks at Margaritaville have forgotten what it takes to make a great Bubba’s Big Bamboo. But hey, time marches on…
The Beach Boys 50th anniversary concert was very well done. I can’t say it was great – as someone who has seen the Boys two dozen times over the years, the absence of Carl Wilson and Dennis Wilson is just too much for me to just pass over – still, the band sounded great and played a wider repertoire than most concerts I’ve attended. To me, the standout performances were from their early ’70s period (my brother Mark’s and my favorite Beach Boys recording era) with “Add Some Music To Your Day”, “This Whole World”, and “Forever” (Dennis singing via video clip on the big screen) from Sunflower, “Marcella” and “All This Is That” from Carl and the Passions – So Tough, and “Sail On, Sailor” from Holland. Watching the proceedings, I couldn’t help but think back 38 years ago to when Mark and I first saw the Beach Boys play Boston Garden: everyone was younger then, our whole lives ahead of us. Now the Beach Boys, their fans, and me are all much older, the dreams of decades back tempered with experience and the realization that nothing last forever. Not even brothers.
Still, there’s nothing like walking back into Wynn and siding up to a table at the Parasol Up bar to watch all the pretty people strut by as you sip a Hemingway Daiquiri or two. Shallow and self-centered? Perhaps. But I love the vibe the young people bring and playing the part of spectator in the larger play of a younger and more spoiled generation doing the very same thing I’m doing in Vegas – spending a relatively few hours escaping from the real world and the demands of real life.
To me, that’s OK, and I can’t wait to get back there (God willing) next February with the Goodboys. Because it’s Vegas, baby, and there’s nothing like it.
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Uncategorized by The Great White Shank at 23:18 |
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