Greetings from Las Vegas. This is Day 11 of our trip report, covering Thursday,
April 13, 2000.
Up bright and early on our final day in Las Vegas/Henderson, starting with
packing our luggage. Then we checked out of our vacation villa and said goodbye
to the friendly folks at the villa welcome center. Before leaving Sun City Anthem,
we made a final stop at our home model to take some measurements for guest-bedroom
furniture, then we swung by our construction site for the last time and departed
Anthem.
Driving over to West Sahara, we paid a visit to the Salvador Dali exhibit at
the Las Vegas Art Museum. Titled "Dali at the Millennium," the show
features about 200 of the famed artist's creations, including paintings, intaglios,
woodprints and sculptures. None of his greatest works are here, including his
famous "The Persistence of Memory," but there is enough to present
a fairly complete retrospective of his life and times. In fact, the artist's
fascination with the melting-clocks theme of "The Persistence of Memory"
shows up in many of the works in this exhibit, even including a tapestry that
duplicates the famed painting. There is also a good selection of his paintings
and prints dealing with the themes of mythology, religion, tarot cards and the
like, along with several paintings and prints paying homage to Dali's beloved
wife Gala.
All in all, this is a minor showing of the works of Dali, a 20th-centrury artistic
titan. But it is well worth the $10 admission ($7 with Nevada ID) to see his
genius in many media, his use of form and color, and his wit. The exhibition
concludes on April 30.
Leaving the museum, we stopped for a while at the Bassett Furniture Direct
showroom on West Sahara, where we continued our search for furniture and carpets.
Then we (finally) stopped for lunch at the In-N-Out Burger outlet on West Tropicana,
where Rosalyn rationalized her burger by noting that the lettuce, tomato, pickle
and onion within were "a small salad."
With lunch over, it was time to head for the airport. Pulling into the Avis
lot, we were directed into a parking slot by an attendant, handed our receipt
in less than a minute, and in the Avis bus enroute to the terminal in less than
five minutes. We had driven 623 miles in our rental vehicle, and the total bill
including taxes was $308.
Our outbound 4:00 p.m. flight was delayed 90 minutes in departing, after which
we had a smooth flight, arriving in Boston at 1:00 a.m. The inflight meal was
hot meat cannelloni and salad. I'm guessing that at least 90 percent of the
passengers were returning from the National Association of Broadcasters convention.
The young man sharing our row is a marketing VP for a company that provides
satellite trucks for special events, and it was most enjoyable to get his insights
on the current state of DSL and cable modem Internet technologies.
That's it for this trip. As usual, it was a Las Vegas visit enriched by the
company of wonderful friends, and of course it was also unique in its emphasis
on matters related to our new home. Now that we are back, the next few months
will be a juggling act as we prepare to put our current home on the market while
making other preparations for the big move.
One final note: We don't have a lot of spare time to go to the movies when
we are back home, so attending a film or two during Las Vegas visits has always
been an enjoyable part of our trips. Back in the mid 1980s, if I am not mistaken,
the twin cinemas at the Gold Coast were the first movie theaters located right
inside a casino, only steps off the casino floor. The auditoria were small,
but they were also among the first movie venues in the country to adopt the
THX sound technology. And best of all, the Gold Coast Twin Cinemas' manager
did an extraordinary job of booking films that were either popular successes
or more obscure films that were critically acclaimed. We saw "Dances With
Wolves" there, as well as "Shakespeare in Love," "La Femme
Nikita," "Life is Beautiful," and many others.
Cinema complexes associated with hotel-casino sites in Las Vegas are now quite
common, especially in the fine locals facilities owned by Station Casinos. These
multiplexes typically have at least a dozen screens, so I guess it should not
have been a surprise to learn that the Gold Coast Twin Cinemas presented their
last showings on Thursday, April 13. The space will be used mostly for a casino
expansion, but it's just another piece of the smaller and more accessible Las
Vegas that is gradually disappearing.
End of Day 11.
--Best from David in MA
