Here's Donnetta Heredia the evening of her birthday feast @ Tao in Las Vegas. Donnetta's the reason Harrison and I went to Las Vegas. She's the only reason I would ever have broken my vow to never go to Las Vegas. But, we'd do just about anything for Donnetta. So off we went to her three-day extravaganza, featuring a Donnetta-hosted event each day.
Harrison and I stayed at the elegant Trump Hotel. I have only this to say. If you're going to Las Vegas, stay at the Trump. No slot machines, cigarette smoke, or creepy pumped in deoderizer to mask cigarette smoke. Oh, and no crappy constant loud rock music piped into everywhere. Just sophisticated jaaaaaaaaaaazzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
We absolutely loved mornings in the lobby, drinking the fabulous coffee, chatting, people watching, reading the the hotel's offerings of newspapers: local, New York Post or Wall Street Journal, (
a blessed absence of USA Today thank you very much!), me doing crossword puzzles. So wonderful.
Here is a picture of the bathroom. If I spent time watching television at all in Las Vegas it was in the bathroom where a TV was part of the mirror. Not mounted on top or a hole cut in the mirror around it, but amazingly part of the mirror. There are many high tech, Bladerunner aspects to Las Vegas. This got my attention more than anything else.
Let me get this out of the way: Las Vegas is not for Las Vegans. I mean Us Vegans. Upon my return to San Francisco I looked up Las Vegas in the Happy Cow travel guide. Skinny pickin's to say the least and most are not easily accessible for tourists on foot on 'The Strip'. So, mostly I ate soups and salads making a point not to turn into Little Miss Pain in the Ass demanding everything be purly and verifiably Vegan. In Las Vegan I also ate, for no reason in particular, lots and lots of french fries. I gained three pounds in three days, natch.
The first birthday celebration event was a Friday evening cocktail party at Mix lounge. Mix is a 64th floor bar and restaurant atop what's named THEhotel at Mandalay Bay with mind blowing views like those to the right. WOW!
My Mix bathroom pix didn't come out well enough to show you. But the effect is something like this picture from the main floor. When you sit on the toilet it's you alone in a room before a wall of glass with a view of the entire city. Really.
Saturday I agreed to go with Harrison to The Venetian Hotel and see the Venetian canal replica. In the lobby, on the way to "the streets of Venice", I gambled. Yes, I played $12 on a slot machine and..................lost $12.
And so, heart heavy, we marched on over to 'Venice". Well, I gotta say. It's a perfect stage set. Especially the lighting. Just like when the day is winding down, twilight approaches, people come home and start preparing dinner, home lights become visible. And honest to goddess they were playing the soundtrack from the Godfather! Italian-American ineed. I don't think there's much else to say about it. You don't imagine you've just stepped off a Vaporetto, yet it is charming enough.
A 'Canal' was actually created and people do pay for short 'gondola rides' with a singing 'gondolier'. I didn't follow the advice of travel guru Rick Steves and take a midnight gondola ride when we were actually in Venice. I wasn't going to take one in Vegas.
The Saturday evening event was dinner at the fabulous Tao. An Asian fusion restaurant festuring a mammoth gold seated Buddah looming over three floors of dining. It's tough to see scale from this photo but here's a picture of the Buddah. Donnetta, goddess that she is, had requested that the chef concoct a Vegan dinner for me, he did, and it was very good.
This is the evening that Donnetta's picture was taken. The afro was inspired and I don't know when she's ever looked more beautiful. It must have been all of the love focussed upon her.
Our final event in Las Vegas was held in a private cabana "beachside" at Mandalay Bay. It was a hot hot day but we were in the shade with a cooler of iced drinks and 'cabana girls' making the rounds to take our food orders. It was, I swear to goddess, the first time in Las Vegas I saw a veggie burger offered on a menu. I ordered it, along with onion rings, natch. It was so wonderful.I never ever wanted to visit Las Vegas. But I am so glad I did. Thanks Donnetta!
