In February, 2002, Zoe and I came to Las Vegas for the first time. I loved it. Zoe was less convinced. In February, 2004, we returned to Las Vegas. And then again in 2005. And 2009. By then, Zoe’s mind was changed, and we both now loved Las Vegas. It’s my favourite place on Earth. I love running on The Strip. I love walking on The Strip. Hey, I love driving on The Strip. The sunshine brings joy to my heart.
In May, 2010, in a bar in Mandalay Bay, I put forward the proposition to Zoe of buying a place in Las Vegas, with the dream that one day we’d be able to live in it. Well, that took Zoe by surprise. She mulled. And then shrieked. And then agreed with the proposition. The next day, we were collected from our hotel (Encore (ooh, nice)), and we were off to look at some condos. How exciting.
A few months later, Zoe returned to Las Vegas, to actually buy a condo. How exciting, times ten. Our dream of moving to Las Vegas felt it had taken a big step forward. It was a few years later, in 2016, before we actually made the move. Until then, we continued coming to Las Vegas as tourists, and loving it. We love that there’s soooo much to do in Las Vegas, and we were doing as much as we could, such as the Neon Museum, the Pinball Hall of Fame, the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art, the Mob Museum, walking tours with the fantastic Richard Hooker, the National Atomic Testing Museum, the thrill rides up the top of Stratosphere (sadly, we ran out of time, and just had to come back down again, without having done the rides), Shark Reef aquarium at Mandalay Bay, the roller-coaster at New York – New York, Seven Magic Mountains, a really great Mob Attraction at the Tropicana (ah, I see that was only open for a couple of years, so we got lucky to get to that), the tears-inducing Titanic exhibition at firstly the Tropicana, and then Luxor. I’ll stop typing. We do love activising, though, and Las Vegas is a fantastic place for activitising.
After moving to Las Vegas, we decided we should continue loving it, just in the same way as we had when we were just tourists. In fact, we should aim to be tourists, in our home city. We both mulled. And then came up with 2econd Friday. On the second Friday of each month, we would visit a different Las Vegas resort. We would sleep, eat, and experience some of the resort’s attractions. And then to ensure we avoided becoming Internet sensations, we would add some sort of competition element, and various confusing rules, so the world had no idea what 2econd Friday was.
Back to the present, and this month’s 2econd Friday had Special Guests of Vince and Jessica. Vince and Peter were involved in some bet. There were confusing rules, no doubt. Vince lost the bet, which meant he had to come to The Strip. I’d got the feeling Vince and Jessica cared somewhat less for The Strip, than Zoe and I did. I was hoping to heighten, even if only slightly, Vince and Jessica’s opinion of The Strip.
This month’s activity was art-tastic. Zoe took us on a guided walk of some of the fantastic art at City Center (ah, perhaps I should be calling that Aria Campus). The guided walk finished at the Louis Vuitton store, in Crystals shopping centre. Zoe wanted a new clutch-bag. She didn’t. We were there for Akhob, by James Turrell. Oof, that got big thumbs up, all round. I reckon all four of us would highly recommend that. And wouldn’t you believe it; it’s free.
The month’s destination was Vdara. Edward from Concierge demonstrated some fantastic customer service. It was a delight dealing with him, in the lead-up to our arrival, organizing a couple of things about the room. And, wow, look at the 2econd Friday, and Vdara table decorations he made. What a delightful surprise. [Side-note to the boss of Concierge at Vdara: Thanks for having fantastic staff like Edward. I remember when I was checking out on the Saturday morning, I was showing off the 2econd Friday table decoration, and mentioned that Edward had organized it. The person checking me out obviously knew Edward, exclaiming, “Ah, shucks, yeah, Eddie’s the best.” I can’t remember the exact words, but you get the idea.
With all the talk of love, this month, it seems apt to choose a song called “Love, etc.” Hooray, it’s the Pet Shop Boys. And, the video even features some slot-machine reels.
To finish, we've got a few words from Richard Hooker (of the aforementioned walking tours), on Las Vegas, and I'm delighted to say, a couple of those words are "love". Do you know Richard? Do you know the Neon Museum? Richard played a big part in the creation of the Neon Musuem. Richard has played a big part in lots of things cultural, in Las Vegas. Over to Richard: "Las Vegas does not have a chip on its shoulder, in terms of newcomers - just show what you can do with conviction, creativity, and hard work, and in the end your success is our shared success. And then along the way, if you love Las Vegas, this city it will love you back."
Opening Date: 1st of December 2009
Tune: “Love etc” by Pet Shop Boys
Dress Code: Resort Casual