THE $5,000 BURGER

Yesterday, we took a day off. We did the laundry, grocery shopping-getting ready to move to Death Valley in a couple days where we probably won't have a signal much of the time. I'm really amazed at how many things there are to do in this city, many of them free. I could easily stay here for 6 months and try and see it all.
This week, for instance, is a party at the Piranha called Ties And Suspenders. Show off your cocktail dress, guys can come in un-tucked button downs, and dance the night away.  Smoke free.

Another nearby venue is Black Book Night at the Vanity. The guy who can talk the most girls into coming to the club can win $5,000. $20 for girls, $40 for men. Hmmm. A different form of gambling. There are over 100 shows like these, many free and constantly changing. Plus sports events and special one time events and lectures for those more serious minded.

Vegas has a destination beer bar, Aces and Ales. They regularly carry 35 selections of craft beers. They just had their winter beer festival with such offerings as Stones Dogfish, Bourbon Barrel IRS, Smoked Chipotle Porter, Double Bastard Strong Ale, with a line-up of the best brewers from Deschutes and Sierra Nevada to name two of my favorites. We had our own beer tasting that night at a birthday, beer tasting party for my son who brews his own beer. In fact, he received the biggest birthday card I've ever seen.

And the food in Vegas. Flashing billboards beckon everywhere for cheap eats, great steaks, shrimp, and  lobster combos. Burgers and frys;  magnificent buffets and deserts. All that stuff but, Jim's on a diet so we are resisting the call.
On the other hand, Vegas has those over indulgent places that kind of fascinate, but make you say, Eeew.  A burger for $5,000 for instance. Fleur, at Mandalay Bay, offers the FluerBurger50000-Kobe beef, foie gras and black truffles. Oh, and a bottle of Petrus which makes up a goodly part of the sum. And, Serendipity's $1,000 Golden Opulence Sundae. But, still, a step down from the $6,000 "combo meal" offered at Carl's Jr. at the Palms in 2006. Which was a six-dollar burger served with a bottle of Bordeaux. Such excess, is decadent and makes you a little sick when you  think what that money can do for good causes.

The shows here, the big production numbers such as Cher, Garth Brooks and some lesser knowns, number 69 for this month.

For those who love Magicians and Hypnotists such as Criss Angel and David Copperfield, there are  29 different acts this month.

Galleries number 27. Most are permanent installations with Photography, Arts, Fine Art, Life and Times, Historic Film, Funk, Graffiti. Something for everyone.

And, there are 7 museums. Whatta place.  For us, to stay at A Thousand Trails in a motor home, (our membership costs us $500 a year) we can spend two weeks here on our membership with no fees, take our time and see the things we want to. To spend this much time in a cheapie hotel would be a minimum of $600. Such a deal. We will return in February for another free two weeks.

They have great bus transportation here. Sleek, new buses. We see city trucks using biofuels. Everybody can enjoy this great place economically.

REMEMBERING

Memorial Day, Wendy Jaillet and daughter Jaime marched 3 miles in the Essex Memorial Day Parade, near Ivoryton. Wendy is a girl scout trip leader. I bought a poppy, forgetting that they still do that. I hadn't seen a vet selling poppies since moving to Murphys.
This county put their flags at half staff for a local man who recently died in Afghanistan.
I'm conflicted because I'm against wars as a way of solving problems because it causes so much pain and sacrifice. The cost is not only human carnage. Right now, the trillions spent on our current conflict could more productively be used to assist nation building and lower our national debt.
Remembering those who served and sacrificed? On this trip since January,  I've visited Fort Bowie in Arizona, The huge Pacific War Museum at Fredericksburg, Texas, Chalmette Battlefield, the Cabildo, Port Hudson and the LaFitte National Parks of Louisiana, covering the Revolutionary War of 1776, The War of 1812,  The Spanish American War and the Civil War. More Civil War battlefields in Gettysburg, PA, and Harpers Ferry in W.Virginia. War is a vivid culture of countries, men and politics like no other.
In short, Memorial Day reminds me of the service and sacrifice made by our armed services and many civilians as well, but it also reminds me of the killing machine going on right now. I despise that it is deemed  necessary. I sometimes think my friends believe people who are anti-war are unpatriotic. Not true. Patriotism is as much about keeping the peace as it means fighting for our country's values. Defining those values is not a straight street, and I take it very personally.

My partner Jim Jaillet in 1961.   

FRONT ROYAL AND A FAMILY VISIT

 Front Royal has signs downtown for the Civil War Trail that leads to 10 points of interest during Stonewall Jackson's Campaign in 1862. Plus there are two Civil War Museums to visit, the Belle Boyd Cottage and the Warren Rifles Confederate Museum.  Battlefields and cemeteries are all over the state of Virginia.
 With one day to spend, it was my plan to concentrate on a family get-together with Glen and Karen Littlefield.

 As it turned out, Front Royal was celebrating crafts and wine and I was celebrating seeing my "adopted" daughter, Karen, after a separation of six years. Glen, their daughter, Sherry Lynn, and granddaughter, pretty Penny, arrived in the new touring car, a Mini Cooper.

Grandpa patiently removed and adjusted the car seat for Penny, who adores her grandfather. 

Downtown was mobbed;  the locals were having a good time. The food booths enticed us with crab cakes and chicken on a stick, but no one was hungry just then.

I loved these shirts but knew I'd never wear one.

The Get The Hell Up coffee gets to the point and made us chuckle.

There were games of chance and drawings and a couple of good bands playing music.

The sun was bright but two year old Penny was a trouper all day.

We repaired back to the Moose Club for a long lunch and played catch up with each others lives. The quilts we haven't finished. The braided rugs we both made.  A dream coming true for them, working toward building a new log house on their lot. The joy of grandchildren. Looking forward to retirement and travel. And, all to soon, we had to say goodbye with regrets that we see the people we love not often enough. We took pictures. Karen and I,  with me squinting against the bright afternoon sun.

Sherry and her mom. Sherry's sister, Kelly, was unable to make the trip with her two year old son, Adam. Having two so close in age is like babysitting twins, Karen quipped.

Jim took a group shot and then everyone piled into the Mini Cooper and returned to Bristow.