Celebrating 20 Years of Marriage in Las Vegas!

Richard and I have sooooo looked forward to this vacation - no kids, no dogs, no cat, no chickens crowing at 5:00 AM. Just us 2, having uninterrupted conversations and lots of fun together! Yay! Vegas did not disappoint! We had an uneventful flight from Atlanta to Las Vegas, caught a cab to Paris Las Vegas, and began a vacation of bliss. An interesting event during check-in ----- they, of course, were out of king sized beds for the room we had reserved, so we splurged on the upgrade to get the king. However, that room would not be available for about an hour - no problem. We moseyed on down to the bar in the casino, had a martini or 2, ventured to the pool and had another drink and walked around taking in the beautiful sight of the Eiffel Tower sitting on top of the casino and around the pool deck. Finally, time to call and check on our room -- YES! it's ready. We go pick up our key and the girl disappears to the back -- OH NO....... She reappears to announce that some nimrod has flooded 16 rooms on our floor and she can't possibly put us there for fear of the awful stench -- we are upgrading you free of charge to the Executive Suite! WOW! She proceeds to tell the story of 'something about lingerie falling down in the shower while we left it running'........ Richard asked if they made people pay for damages -- OH YES!! They swiped his card for $50,000 and it went right through!!! Can you believe that? So, we checked in, showered and freshened up a bit to get ready to head out for dinner and our first show -- Bite!

We had dinner at Fellini's, an Italian restaurant at the Stratosphere, which is where Bite was showing. We enjoyed a bottle of wine and made our way through the casino to the theater. We enjoyed a very entertaining, vampire themed topless dance show. The dancers were very talented and I could tell that several of them were classically trained. Let's just say they were all very limber....... Richard just couldn't pass up the opportunity of getting his picture with the cast. Looks like he's been up to something doesn't it? Get that goofy grin off your face Rich!

Here are some pictures of the view from our room. Top left is the Bellagio and the fountains in front, top right is the Eiffel Tower, bottom left is the pool, and then bottom right is the Arc de Triomphe and the Paris balloon at the entrance.

Here I am at the fountain in front of Paris on the strip.

The next day was our offical anniversary, September 9. We spent the day casino hopping and shopping. That evening we reserved for ourselves a very special treat - dinner at the Eiffel Tower Restaurant. First we took a ride up to the top of the tower. These are pictures taken from there -- me, view of north strip, Ceasar's Palace, me again, then a view of our hotel with the shadow of the tower.

We had to record this moment for posterity - the goober picture from the ride on the Eiffel Tower. We are standing on a bridge that looks over the casino. That is one of the legs of the Eiffel Tower on the inside of the casino behind us.

CHEERS! Happy Anniversary baby! The Eiffel Tower Restaurant is on the 11th floor of the tower. As you can see, our table overlooked the Bellagio fountain, so we were treated to the fountain show after it got dark. We are toasting with real French Champagne - not sparkling wine. (Yep, there's a story there.) Our traditional anniversary celebration is going out to have a nice dinner ---- here we go.


We decided on the special tasting menu that was offered. (click on the picture to enlarge so you can read it) We also elected to have the wine pairing option, as well as the cheese course. This amounted to about a 10 course meal as there were 2 courses that are not on there. As we bagan, I was worried that it would not be enough food for Richard because the portions were so small at the beginning. However, as we approached the Roasted Rack of Lamb, we were getting concerned that we couldn't finish! We asked if we could cancel the cheese dish, which was acceptable. However, that was replaced with the chocolate mousse surprise pictured below. Sorry I didn't take a picture of it before we at it. The writing and decoration are in chocolate. The wine pairings were absolutely perfect for each course. We were served about 1/3 of a glass with each course, just the right amount! The dessert we chose was, of course, chocolate souffle - what else? It was one of the top culinary experiences we have ever had! I think the most expensive too -- whew! But it's our 20th!

Carlos Santana - You Rock!

After dinner we had tickets to see Santana at the Hard Rock Casino. He treated us to a 2 hour non-stop jam session. He's still got it baby! It was absolutely AWESOME!!!!!!!

Richard is contemplating renting this Ferrari to go for a spin in the desert. Hmmmmmm. Could be interesting.

Again, here I am in front of the Arc de Triomphe at the entrance to Paris. We had just returned from another day of casino hopping and shopping for BLING! It wasn't actually planned, but we happened upon this place and we just had to have it. I got a beautiful pearl and diamond ring, AND a pearl and diamond and ruby pendant. Don't worry, Richard got some bling too -- he placed a $500 bet at 8 to 1 odds at the Sportsbook for Alabama to win the BCS National Championship. Sooooo, if Bama wins the National Championship this year, we get an all expense paid trip to Vegas to claim the winnings - that is, the winnings will pay for the trip!!! Go Bama!!!!! Roll Tide Roll !!!!!!!!!!!! I want to go back to Vegas!!!!!!!

Here is a picture of our room. Soooo comfy. I had to do something while Richard was checking e-mail!

And finally I close with a clip from the Santana Concert. Carlos was rockin' !!!!!!!!!

Last but not least, I have to share the story of our return trip on Friday. We arrived at the airport, went through security with no issues, but were riding an escalator and hear an announcement that the National Security Level was at Orange. I asked Richard what that meant, I had heard of green, yellow, and red -- but orange? Oh well. We arrived in Atlanta before it hit me -- we were traveling by plane on the 8th anniversary of September 11! YIKES! Thank goodness that all was well.

It was the best Anniversary we have ever had. I love you dearly Richard. Thank you for sharing the past 20 years! It's been grand! I look forward to the next 20!

So, to all of our friends, those were the highlights. Because you know ...... there are some things that just have to stay in Vegas!!!!