Viva Las Vegas

Andrew's Ophthalmology convention took us to Las Vegas from November 9-14. We traveled with our friends Ryan, Emily and Elizabeth and had a wonderful time in the glitz and glamor of Sin City! We arrived late Thursday night and had time to walk up to the shops at the Alladin where I promptly purchased the most overpriced pair of tennis shoes that I've ever owned. But, after walking what felt like 10 miles in high heeled boots with no support, I would have paid anything for a pair of comfy shoes!! We ate dinner after a quick shopping spree and then headed back to our hotel.

Friday, we decided to rent a car to explore and see what existed in Las Vegas beyond the strip. Emily, Andrew and I went to explore Mt. Charleston while Ryan and Elizabeth attended Retina classes. It was amazing to see the landscape of Las Vegas. In less than 45 minutes, we went from barren desert to mountains with pine trees and ski lifts! There was even a little bit of snow already on the mountain tops. The weather was cool and windy, and you would have never known that you were in a desert.

After the mountains, we headed out to explore Hoover Dam. Wow! What an amazing sight. I didn't know what to expect, so my first peek over the dam wall made my stomach do circles! It was a LONG way down!! We got there 6 minutes too late to catch the last tour, so we just walked over the dam and hoped the engineering really was as good as they say it is! It was fun to walk all the way from Nevada to Arizona in about 10 steps.

That night, we loaded up and explored Lake Las Vegas. We found the resort community of Montelago (where Oprah Winfrey and Celine Dion are rumored to own houses). There were quaint shops along cobblestone streets with chiminea fireplaces to warm your hands. We stopped and had a fine Italian dinner before heading back to the strip.

Saturday, Andrew headed off to the convention and the vendor expo where he cashed in on all sorts of freebies from shoe shines to jump drives with his name engraved in them! He even performed "virtual cataract surgery" on a computerized eye. Emily and I met up with a highschool friend of hers from Sioux Falls who now lives in Vegas and hit the shops at the Alladin again.

Saturday night was our big night out. We had tickets to Mama Mia, which was a really cute musical incorporating the popular 70's hits from ABBA. By the end of the show, we were tapping our toes and ready to hit the town. We went to Pure Nightclub in Caesar's Palace for a reception hosted by one of the Ophthalmology drug companies. Wow!! What a place. The terrace overlooked the strip with beautiful views of the Bellagio fountains and the Eifel Tower at the Paris Hotel. We danced and had a fabulous time. Around midnight, we were all hungry, so we headed across the street to the all-night diner at the Flamingo Hotel. Wouldn't you know it, when we were feasting on hamburgers, Nick Lachey and Vanessa Manillo arrived at Pure (where we had just been) to celebrate Nick's birthday! So, we had a "near encounter" with a celebrity!

Sunday, Emily and I hit the fashion mall and explored the Wynn Casino while Andrew, Ryan and Elizabeth were in meetings. We had another drug company reception that night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. There was an hour long presentation about different developments in Ophthalmology and I got to see what Andrew actually does at work during the day! They had actual videos of different aspects of cataract surgery. It was a lot for this non-medical person to stomach....but I regained my appetite just in time for the fancy dinner reception that followed the presentation.

Monday, Andrew took me up to the expo to see all of the displays, and then I had to head back to the real world to get ready for work on Tuesday. He stayed for the remaining conferences on Monday and that night the gang went to another drug company reception at Tsunami at the Venitian.

Vegas is a great city for a convention...and a wonderful place to have fun with friends!