Vegas Day 3 – Shatner!

20 January 2014

We had a leisurely morning with all three of us enjoying not even half of my caramel cashew bacon bourbon bread pudding. Hooray for leftovers! By about 11 we were in the car to Red Rock Canyon, and got a lucky surprise that it was free entrance because of MLK Day holiday. Even better! The interpretive displays were new the past couple years, so I spent a while reading them and enjoying the metal sculptures of the desert flora and fauna, then we started our 2 mile hike. Amanda likes going backwards on this trail so the steeper part of the trail is quicker, then a gradual downhill slope all the way back. I was watching the loose rocks on the trail so I’m glad Amanda pointed out the fossil or i would have missed it. We took a break at the top to enjoy the view, and we got lucky to see a red-tailed hawk soaring around, even close enough above us for me to catch him on my iPhone!

We cleaned ourselves up at Amanda’s house, then we headed back to the Strip since I hadn’t seen The Cosmopolitan yet. It is one of the newest casino hotels, with giant HD video screens everywhere with all the same videos playing at the same time, touchscreen menu boards in the hallways, 3 story chandelier, giant shoes, and vintage Vegas photos in the upper lobby. The tapas restaurant Jaleo sounded the best and the were already open just before 5pm so that was a perfect meal that we shared again. We felt pretty proud about our moderation with such good food everywhere!

The Smith Center is across the train tracks from old downtown Vegas, and we got there plenty early around 6:15. The voicemail I got last week said we had to be there an hour ahead of show time to pick up our bracelets for the meet & greet after the show, so w didn’t want to be late for that! As long as you have or buy one of their souvenir plastic sippy cups with lids, they let you take your cocktail into the theatre which is nice. I introduced Amanda to Crown & 7, we hung out in the lobby for a bit, then we found our seats only eleven rows from the stage. I had decided that subtle Trek was best, so I was wearing an old plastic charm I had made at least 20 years ago.

William Shatner was very entertaining, telling stories about his life I hadn’t heard before, and he even did a little of his beat poetry “singing” which didn’t disappoint. It was about 90 minutes no breaks, then we went up to the 5th floor and lined up for our autographs. The line attendants were nice and held our stuff while we each handed him a sticky note with our name that had been written by a line attendant, and as soon as he signed, the official photographer with tripod was ready for the quick photo. We worked it quickly so I went first, stayed on the other side so we had both of us in another photo, then Amanda by herself. The photos will be on ShatnersWorld.com in a day or two so we are looking forward to how they turned out. (Edit: the official photos are now below…yay!)

It was only about 10pm when we left the Smith Center so Amanda took me to see the Bellagio’s latest giant floral decorations, now Year of the Horse for Chinese New Year. By the time we wandered to the back by the world’s largest fondue fountain, we couldn’t resist each enjoying an ice cream cone. Yum!

Another fine evening, and one more day before I fly home tomorrow evening!

See all today’s photos by clicking the link below…