Rockabilly Weekender-2009...

Another great year and my first w/out children (either in utero or in stroller). It's affirmed itself as a yearly necessity for me and hubby so we're gonna try to keep this thing going. We stayed offsite this year, which turned out to be a bit of an inconvenience (though GREATLY appreciated due to the 'reasonable' accomodation-thanks guys) and hopefully we'll be able to stay at the Orleans next year and avoid some of this crazy walking, right Misty?

April 11th, Day One:
Thursday was the memorial, as you all know, so we took advantage of the fact that we were leaving the kids w/ my mom to attend the memorial at the new assembly hall in Memphis town. It was wonderful and very interesting to see how 'orderly' it could be even w/ six congregations attending. The next day, we jumped up as early as possible to make the drive to Nashville and catch our 2:30 flight. Flying out Memphis would have been preferable but it was 400 dollars more...gasp! The flight was easy but it is a bit long...4 1/2 hrs. Being anxious to get there made it seem longer...but a beer at high altitudes is always a nice diversion.

We arrived in Vegas at 4:45pm and took a cab to our resort, the Summer Bay Condo Community, right off center strip. Our friends Michael and Misty had offered for us to sleep on the sleeper sofa of their one bedroom and we were excited to save the money. It was a very nice resort...kind of more upscale than we expected, especially in terms of decor. We met our friends there and got all dressed up to go over to the Orleans to get our wristbands and start the fun!

The Orleans was the sole location for the event next year so all the festivities were there. It's a great resort w/ nine restaurants so it's really nice to not have to leave in order to eat or whatever. The bands played on the 2nd floor , split between the showroom and the ballroom. And the vendors (ah, the vendors) were there too. That night, we were most excited about The Domestic Bumblebees, a band out of Sweden, and they didnt disappoint. It was a great, high energy way to start things off, especially when accompanied w/ a couple of Pabst Blue Ribbon. After a very late dinner at TGI Fridays, we headed back to our resort to get a few hours of sleep.



Day 2, Saturday the 12th
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Saturday is the Shifter's Car Show, which was more amazing and fantabulous than ever! Since it was at the Orleans, it was a much bigger area and there was also quick entrance for those w/ wristbands.


The cars were more beautiful than I remember them being last year but maybe that was because the weather was milder and therefore the bright sunshine didnt weigh so heavily. Lots of pretty girls, good shopping, and great music there. We took about 400 pictures. So far we had denied ourselves food so at about 5pm we headed into the hotel for some Mexican food and then back to the hotel to get cleaned up before the next round of bands and shopping.

That night we watched the Go Getters, another Swedish rockabilly band (seem to like the Swedes for some reason) who rocked more than any of the other bands I saw this weekend. They were just great! Unfortunately, the room they played was too small for the crowd they pulled in so we had to leave before the finished so we could get some air. That was the night we did some shopping and I got a 'perfect skirt' from the company Mode Merr, an item I've been eyeing online for a while now. I was very conservative w/ my shopping this year...I'm proud of that. Lots of temptation. After the GO Getters, we caught the Haystack Hitones...a great female singing group that is reminiscent of the Andrews or Mcguire sisters. We loved them and got to see them from right at the stage since I sat on it to rest my feet and no one told me to move!


After that, we enjoyed the best bacon and eggs EVER at the Cafe downstairs before heading back to the hote for another couple hours rest.



Day 3, Sunday the 13th
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Surprisingly, we woke up early the next day and got dressed for the Pool Party relatively quickly. We wore our day clothes to the hotel and carried our swimwear and parasols along to put on after we got there...so as not to ride the shuttles in our 'skivvies'. We got there before the party so we grabbed some sushi to go and ate it out by the pool. Sushi is a great pre-bathing suit lunch, is it not? The party was great and the girls all looked extra pretty. Lots of pretty tattoos to look at too...some were unbelieveable.

Misty and I matched in our red polka dotted swimwear so lots of photos were taken by strangers, a fact that I can't think about too much or I kinda freak out. The party was 3 hrs long and after that was over, we headed back to the hotel for our last night of merry-making.

After a quick dinner at Big Al's Oyster Bar (great clam chowder!), we went upstairs to see the band. Jack Rabbit Slim played the grand ballroom tonight and the dancing was extra entertaining, especially on the part of this crazy-talented eleven year old kid who twirled around w/ lots of different grown women and never missed a step. I am more determined than ever to order an instructional dvd so I can join the dancers next year. I will do it...I will triumph!

By then we were really tired and the lack of sleep was catching up w/ us. We went back and slept until eleven the next morning.





Day Four, Monday the 13th
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We decided to hang out by ourselves today and walked to the strip for lunch. There is a cafe called Caribe Cafe in the Mirage that I really love so we went there for their Cobb Salad for the fourth trip in a row. It's a good'n. Plus, the Miragle is a nice place to hang out, much more 'airy' than the other hotels. The casino doesnt seem to take over like it does as The Flamingo or even the Venetian. Afterwards, we walked slowly towards the Flamingo, strolled around the pool, and went next door to Bill's Gamblin Hall (formerly the Barbary Coast) to catch the end of Big Elvis' performance. Then, we opted to walk back instead of taking the shuttle, stopping by a liquor store for a little champagne along the way. We did ALOT of walking that day.

Our plans to see the Double Down Saloon were at the top of the list that night. It's a dive-type bar that has a great following and sometimes serves as a venue for various punk acts. There is also a famous jukebox that contains all classic punk, psychobilly, and even a few standard style (Frank Sinatra, Louis Prima)cd's. They also servce some disgusting sounding libations that I was leery but anxious to try. It was about 2 miles to the bar but we decided since it was our last night, we'd take the walk. It took a while but was really interesting to discover various off strip things we didnt know were there.

The Double Down is GREAT. We were there at about 8:30 so got to beat any crowds that would dare to come on a Monday. Scott, the bartender, was a cool guy who carried a big stick for whacking people who didnt get their id's out quickly enough. He seemed to like us pretty well because he didnt hit us once. We spent our little cash left on various concoctions like the a** juice (horrid name, yummy drink) and the bacon martini (ugh!), a photo booth, and tons of selections on the aforementioned jukebox. We left when the crowd started coming in and went accross the street to the Hard ROck for a last meal of 1am pancakes before taking a cab back to hotel to enjoy a quick swim and pack.

It was a fantastic trip. We were very tired while waiting for our plane the next morning and slept much of the trip back. However, considering the fact that we had to pick up the kids in Dickson and then drive ALL the way back home from there, I think we've recovered quite nicely.