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Las Vegas
I had been in Los Angeles exactly one month to the
day when my first friend arrived for a visit. Scott landed at LAX
well after midnight after a several hour delay and an unexpected
routing change. He must have been exhausted, but just seemed happy
to finally be here when I picked him up at the gate.
Because Scott used to live in San Diego and in Palm Springs for
a total of ten years, it wasn't such a big deal for him to be visiting
LA, so over the 1.5 days he was here we didn't do very much in the
way of sightseeing. We had brunch at
Hugo's, a great restaurant on Santa Monica Blvd. where you're
supposedly guaranteed to see a celebrity. We didn't. Well, not till
we were walking out the door after a filling and delicious meal
of omelettes and pumpkin pancakes. I think I saw Dustin Nguyen from
the '80s TV series, "21 Jump Street". Scott couldn't confirm it
was really him, but I think it was.
During the one and a half days in LA, we also "hung out"
in Santa Monica; went to
Trader Vics and  got
very drunk on unpronounceable concoctions; and just got caught up
on each other's lives. But the highlight of the trip wasn't anywhere
near LA.
On Sunday afternoon, we took a flight to Las Vegas where we spent
a fabulous 24 hours at the new and gorgeous
Paris Hotel and Casino!!! This was all Scott's idea, but he
couldn't have picked a more amazing place to stay.
The Paris is right across the street from the famous
Bellagio -- I walked across to check it out the next day --
but in my opinion, the Paris is much nicer. When you enter the building,
on your way to finding the hotel lobby and check-in desk, you walk
through a long corridor that is decorated to look and feel like
the streets of Paris! The ceilings are painted sky blue, complete
with clouds and the occasional bird; the floors are cobblestone;
and the walls are actual facades of buildings. As you walk down
the hall towards the lobby, you pass "outdoor" cafes, shops, restaurants,
wine stores -- just like in Paris.
Then of course, there's the casino. It, as well, is under blue skies,
and as you approach, people call out "bon jour" much as they would
say "irasshaimase" in Japan! I was blown away!
But for me, the best was yet to come. Upon entering the hotel lobby
to check in, my jaw literally dropped --- this may sound silly,
but the floors were the most beautiful floors I have ever seen in
my whole life! White, iridescent mosaic tiles, with a fleur de lis
pattern in silver/grey. Wow. I took more pictures of the lobby floor
than I did of us that weekend!
The night we arrived we did quite a bit of gambling. Scott won quite
a bit of money at Blackjack while I watched. Then we switched to
another table and he coached me while I won $40. May not sound like
a lot, but I was raised to believe that even if you come out even
at gambling, you are a winner. I was pretty happy about my earnings!
The next day we gambled some more, walked around the strip a bit,
I played some nickel slots (it took me about an hour to lose $5!!!),
and had a great time. That evening, we met two of Scott's friends
from San Diego who just happened to be there that week, and the
four of us had dinner at the Hard
Rock Hotel, which is right near the airport.
24 hours after we landed, we were on separate planes back to our
homes on the opposite coasts of America.
By the end of the hour, I felt like a different person. And I can't
wait for my next audition!
Just back from Las Vegas
Cara Jones
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