Today we got up relatively early, went for breakfast and then headed out. I wanted to go shopping at the Venetian shops and over to the Forums at Caesar’s Palace. The Venetian is about 1.5 miles one way, past the Flamingo but if we go slow and take our time we should be fine.
We crossed the street from our hotel and started going thru some of the touristy shops. The t-shirts they were selling weren’t the greatest quality and were very, very thin. We walked thru the Hawaiian Market but half the booths weren’t open yet. It was nice not to see the guys with their porn cards today. They were getting annoying last night.
We were going to go into the Miracle Mile mall, but we got stopped at the entrance with people wanting us to do the “timeshare” thing. Mom got ticked so we left and continued our way up the strip. We walked by the Paris and I’m not sure why we didn’t go into it but we kept on going. It wasn’t until we got to the Venetian that we went in.
Our first real stop was at Madame Tussauds Wax Museum. I wasn’t too impressed. Some of the “people” looked strange and they really didn’t have that many figures. I thought there would have been a few more than what they had. I’m not sure how long we were there, but I bet it wasn’t 20 minutes.
Now onto SHOPPING! I had done some research beforehand and found that there was an art gallery that sold Tom Everhart paintings. I knew I couldn’t afford one but they also sold posters so I wanted to see what they had and would be happy with that. We went through some shops and stopped to get something to drink and sit down for a bit.
Mom had a bathroom break so I was looking at purses. Purses are a huge thing for me. I would have 100s if I could. I just love them. Anyways yes I bought one and when mom came out she got one as well. Now we had new purses for the concert tonight.
We finally made it to the Jack Gallery and I fell in love with the place immediately. The whole one side of the gallery was dedicated to Tom Everhart. His lithographs were all over the walls and there even was an original painting there. It was only $45,000 but it was magnificent. Mom sat down while I looked around and drooled at the pictures. I did find the posters in the back and picked up two – No Way Out and Dog Breath. Plus they were only $35 each so I could afford that.
Rocky, the art dealer, was a hoot. He was a huge Peanuts fan too and we got talking. He didn’t have to work hard to convince me to purchase Salute, an inexpensive lithograph. The painting was finished the day AFTER Charles Schultz died. Rocky threw in one of the posters because I bought the in-expensive lithograph. It is being shipped home as it is framed and I can’t wait for it to arrive.
You weren’t allowed to take pictures in the gallery but Rocky took our picture with the new lithograph that came in – Crashing the Party. I’d given anything to have this painting but will settle for the photograph. One day I’ll own an original Tom Everhart painting. I’d have to have a huge wall as he only does huge wall sized paintings.
On a high, we continued on in the Venetian and then made our way over to the Forums at Caesars Palace. I really liked Caesars as it was very lavish. We didn’t buy anything but enjoyed looking at the shops. It was starting to get late so we started to head back to our hotel so we could get ready for the concert tonight.
Distance walking today during our shopping trip: 3 miles
After getting back to our hotel and changed we then started the trek back up the strip to the Flamingo. We would walk until we found a place to go eat. Well we got to the Flamingo and found a burger joint in the hotel. It was not that bad and afterwards we went to the hotel shop that sold the Donny & Marie paraphernalia. They didn’t really have that much and I was really disappointed. They had a few t-shirts, but not a very large selection. Also a few mugs, but no little trinkets. We bought our t-shirts and went to the showroom. Beside the showroom was a wall display of items you could buy (they had a better selection), but there was no one there to sell anything.
We had really good seats for the concert. We both faced the stage which was nice. The concert was awesome!! We really enjoyed it and Donny was a hoot. The brother/sister banter was so funny. I am so glad that we made the trip down there. It was an experience I’ll never forget. I bought a $19 Pina Colada in the commemorative glass and mom paid $12 for her coke in her commemorative glass.
On the walk back to our hotel, we both were tired. Mom’s legs and hips were sore and I developed a blister from the high heeled shoes I was wearing for the concert. We walked another 2 miles back and forth from the concert.
Total walking distance for the day: 5 miles
I suggested to mom that we try to walk down to the Flamingo so we could pick up our tickets for the concert tomorrow night. I said we could try to go but if we didn’t make it, we still had all day tomorrow to pick them up. We’d walk to see how far we got.
It was a cool night but it was an enjoyable walk…. Until we hit the guys handing out the porno cards. These guys are on every street corner flicking their cards and trying to hand them out to people. They have no respect and hand it out to everyone – old, young, male, female. Plus the cards are lying all over the sidewalk and street.
