Viva Las Vegas!

Finally, the time had arrived...to step on the plane.  Let me be frank:  I HATE flying.  It's not the delays (though those are annoying), the baggage fees (which are excessive and unfair), or the security checks (which make me feel like a criminal even though I'm far from one!).  It's the sensation of flying, of powering up into the air and being 25,000 + FEET ABOVE THE GROUND.  If the plane falls, chances are, I'm not going to make it.  It's the most helpless feeling in the world to me--even worse than being pinned down and tickled, and it causes me extreme anxiety. I've been told repeatedly by Ron and others that my fears are irrational; irrational or not, it's how I feel, and feelings are rarely rational.

So it's got to be a really good reason for me to get on a plane.  And Merle's two nominations were two good reasons.  And the glitz and excess of Vegas with friends was another good reason.  Fortunately, these reasons lived up to their promise.

It's not often--at least any more--that I get to dress up in flashy clothing (fondly dubbed hootchie clothes by my friends and me) and go play hard with my husband and friends.  So I took advantage of that in Vegas.

We opted not to stay on the strip this time and to instead stay at the Palms.  It's seen as a hip casino/resort with trendy nightclubs such as Moon--which I didn't get to go to--and Ghostbar, and the spring breakers from USC obviously agreed.  My "hootchie" clothes looked like they were from the Victorian era in comparison to these girls.  The proverbial "less is more" definitely didn't apply in this case.   The only thing we had in common was our dislike (to put it mildly) of Lane Kiffin.


But who stays where they're staying while in Vegas?  We ventured out to Freemont Street, where there were several live concerts, and saw the light show.  We explored the Golden Nugget, made popular once more due to a 2004 reality show based around it and its new owners.  We walked the "streets" of Caesar's Palace Forum Shops and attempted to witness the fountains of Bellagio, though they were canceled due to extreme winds (it was actually cold and rainy--IN VEGAS--that day).  And we gambled, of course. 

The main attraction, the ACM Awards Show, came Sunday night.  Of all the awards shows Ron and I have gone to in the past, this one was, as a whole, the most entertaining and memorable.  And it wasn't because we had the best seats we've ever had before, only 10 rows away from the stage, three rows behind the likes of Kelly Clarkson (love her!) and Kaley Cuoco (my husband loves her), and within lunging distance of Taylor Swift, Keith Urban, and Brad Paisley and Blake Shelton at certain performance points in the show.  And ACM Performer of the Year Luke Bryan's parents sat behind us.

I will be honest:  I'm awed by celebrities, and though my interactions have been limited, I have had a couple of "moments" in the past--like when I made Sisco spin on the red carpet of the CMT Awards Show and when Blake Shelton looked me in the eye and nodded at me after shouting at him that his "choir rocked!" (in reference to his participation in Clash of the Choirs, a reality show in 2007, before The Voice).  I even had my picture made with Gary Allan the night before at the ACM Radio Awards Reception.  So to be literally in the midst of celebrities, I was star-struck.

If that wasn't enough, the performances were, for lack of a better word, outstanding:  

• The Band Perry electrified the audience.  And trust me when I say the televised version of it did  not do it justice.  Everyone in the audience was in awe.  It was like being at a country Kiss concert. 
  
• Going from one extreme to another, Eric Church's "Love Me Like Jesus Does" performance was beautiful and moving; the televised version of it was very nice with him shown in black and white and his female counterpart in red.
• Carrie Underwood and Miranda Lambert, female titans of the industry, lived up to their status.  In particular, Miranda's performance was so fun!  I love the song "Mama's Broken Heart" to begin with, and she was such a fiery spark-plug of energy on the stage. 
  
• And it will be hard to determine the best Group Performance of the Year next year because the opening act with Blake Shelton, Luke Bryan, Brad Paisley, the Pistol Annies, Miranda Lambert, and Sheryl Crow (did I forget anyone?) was the perfect start to the show.
  
• Tim McGraw, Taylor Swift, and Keith Urban later gave a fantastic performance with Keith, in my opinion, stealing the show with his unbelievable talent playing, or should I say owning, the guitar.  He and Brad Paisley simply amaze me with their skills.
  
• And, of course, there was the historic performance of two legends:  George Strait and Garth Brooks.
• To top it off, Hunter Hayes and Stevie Wonder!  What!?  Crazzzzy!  Too bad your DVRs shut off before the television audience could see this one!
  

The after party (though much larger and disappointingly less intimate than in the past) didn't disappoint either with appearances by Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan, Jewel, Little Big Town, Keith Urban, and Hunter Hayes, just to name a few.  The biggest winners for me at the After Party were Keith Urban and Hunter Hayes.  First off, Keith Urban just kept coming back out--either to sing or play his guitar with someone!  And Hunter Hayes, someone who was not even close to being on my radar before the event, has a new fan in me.  That kid is so talented!  He played bass for Keith Urban and drums for Stevie Wonder.  In fact, he can play 30 instruments!  And he's not bad to look at or listen to either!  :)

It was such a memorable experience and the enjoyment of the evening carried on after the After Party, so it was a good thing that our return trip was scheduled for Tuesday.  

Though that was a good plan strategically,  my heart was ready to leave Las Vegas.