Fun Las Vegas, Nevada Holes-in-the-Wall!

Las Vegas's hidden Cornish Pasties shop!

Since I choose to eat a breadless diet, I ordered some mushroom/spinach/walnut soup. Yep, folks, walnuts in soup! 

Go ahead! Throw some in your next soup bowl and see how you like it! (You won't know unless you try.)

My son Brian (pictured with his cute wife, Aspen) found it from an online recommendation by my husband's cousin, Debbie Bahlmann Bagley, who was born in England. (That girl knows her pasties!)

The walls had interesting historic pictures of miners from the 1800's. Some of the more sobering showed boys who looked to be no older than 8 or 9 with black mine dust on their faces and clothes, staring solemnly at the camera. It was certainly a different time, different traditions back then.

One thing I recall from learning about pasties is that they were intentionally made with one thick roll of baked dough on a side that the hungry worker could hold onto like a handle while the meat and vegetable filling was eaten with the rest of the crust. Then, I suppose, the handle was eaten, too.

Of course we shared tastes of all our food! 

Do you like to try new food?

Or are you happy with the tried-and-true dishes that you already love? 

Visions of Las Vegas

Leaving Las Vegas on Tropicana Avenue, we saw Excalibur

and New York, New York

And here is the Luxor pyramid as seen from my son's street. (Find the pointy thing in the middle between the palm trees.)

I think the planes fly in different directions on different days, because when they went north, they were nearly low enough to part my hair, but on the day I left Las Vegas, the planes were headed west. Look closely...there's an airplane just above the tree to the left of the antenna. I wanted to show how low they were when they took off, and this was the best I could do in the time I had. (Use your imagination! That's what it's for!)

In the parking lot, I had a van park behind me with a sign in its windshield stating, "Desert Memorial - On official business for the coroner's office." (In the dollar store?)

I saw this friendly kitty sitting in a window on my morning walk.

I also kept seeing strange figures on the street that looked like little alligators or pieces of dead animals. (They were shreds from palm trees.)

 The water park was refreshing.

I DID get under the mushroom water fountain, too, I just didn't do it with my phone camera!

Would you really want to eat here?

Or would you rather eat here?

This sign made me happy, because I am a saxophone player!

David Copperfield doesn't even have to DO anything...he just looks magic!

The morning sun sure makes the buildings shine!

 After I painted theirs, my grandchildren kindly painted my face for me. This is my nearly 10-year-old granddaughter's heart creation.

Here is my 3 1/2 year old granddaughters "Rainbow Ninja."

And my six-year-old grandson gave me a zombie arm.

All in all, a great vacation! I'm ready to go again! Where will I end up next time?

Sunburn

Yes, I applied sunscreen. (See my white shoulder? See my red back?) Note to self - putting hair down while spending time with grandchildren at outdoor Paradise Pool does not block enough sun.

 Self applied sunscreen DOES block the sun, but only as far as I can reach!

As fun and exciting as it may be, Las Vegas was not made for this Nordic blonde.

Where am I?

Can you guess where I am? When I went outside to go for my morning walk and saw Mandalay Bay down the street from my son's house, I thought it was so pretty, I decided to share it with you. (Now are you ready to see my MORNING MUG?)

Okay, here I am, make-up-less, with my new "Cindy Lou Who" smile from emergency oral surgery that saved my front tooth and upper jaw bone. (NO! I'm not mocking you! This is my new face! And, no, I did not get cheek implants! That is, I don't think I did. Who knows what happens when you're unconscious? Blame the doctor if you must, or just say, "Ooo, Shirley, that's a good look for you!")

By the way, Mandalay Bay looks smaller because my camera makes things look smaller than they really are.

 And THEN, if you walk to the corner south and then the corner east, you get to see the McCarran Airport control tower! (It's the promontory next to my re-glued sunglass frame, the one that doesn't have leaves. THE OTHER TOWERS WITH LEAVES ARE TREES, people! (I think it's so exciting when airplanes take off overhead, going somewhere new and adventurous! I think lots of places are fun and exciting.)

I finally found the secret to why Las Vegas is so dry that my eyes hurt! (I have to sleep with wet cotton balls over my eyes. Really.) This is what I saw on someone's very brown lawn: 

Um... aren't you supposed to let the water OUT of the bottles in order to grow anything?

I've found some interesting street names here, including "Valley Nails," "Sun Shimmer," "Magic Forest," and a series of streets that were Native American names like "Hopi," and "Apache," and then there was a "Betty," followed by "Ute." What?! Was there a "Betty" Indian tribe that I missed somewhere in the history books?

Then I found a section of town with royalty names, like Princess Jean and Count Wutzke. Then I came across Prince Scotty, which I took a picture of for one of my own princely sons. The other sons of mine must have street names here somewhere, I mean, after all, there's also a "Shirley Street," but you've got a picture of the real Shirley above, and that's better than a name on a sign, doncha think?

So what do YOU think of Las Vegas?

Vegas Lights

When I was in Las Vegas last weekend to visit family, I went to a show to catch some free necklaces. I shouldn't have been surprised that the casino gave me a smoke headache, which wasn't really worth the price of a few shiny plastic beads, but my grandchildren loved the jewelry. I showed them pictures of the ship and balloon that ran along ceiling tracks for dancers to throw necklaces down, and ended up leaving all the necklaces at the grandchildren's house, because what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, don't you know? 

 

Michael saw a military guy who was pretty impressive as an animated statue. Michael dropped a dollar into the guy's rucksack so I could take a picture, and the soldier gave him a sucker.

(That's a bonus pix of Bob in the background below.)

Did you ever think a person could fit inside a chandelier? We found a giant chandelier at a casino. It was three stories tall with a bar inside it!

(We skipped the bar, but I sure liked the shiny crystals!)

Not all places in Las Vegas are made for tall people.

 

The best place not to bump your head is outside.

I've wanted to go to Europe for a long time, so it was fun to find a scaled-down Eiffel Tower to tide me over until I can actually cross the ocean.

All kinds of story ideas flow through the streets of Vegas, but they won't stay there. They'll show up in books I write.

The best part about Vegas was the Bahlmann family who lives there. Here are half of them.

What's your best vacation place?