The Prophets Are Smiling
It’s Vegas, no real question about it now. Why? Because James Darren is performing 2 shows there during the dates we were already looking at going. He’s only doing 3 live performances all year. It’s like when my mom took us to Europe and the dates they picked put us in London at one of the 12 days a year when you can touch Stonehenge. In simpler language, it was meant to be.
James Darren, Mr. Vic Fontaine himself, in Vegas. How iconic, how perfectly and totally Vegas to see someone from the periphery of the Rat Pack, a close friend of Frank Sinatra, singing in Vegas?
And to get to see him with Jon, the guy at whose house I watched most of the Vic Fontaine episodes when they first aired along with either Pizza Hut or the now-famous ‘Jon Burgers’.
Meant. To. Be.
Hopefully it makes up for him never getting to see The Experience, a crime against man and god.
Dates are starting to firm up; November 1st to 17th was the leave he requested so assuming it gets approved which apparently looks likely than it will be within that timeframe that we go. November 7th and 8th are the dates that Vic, I’m sorry; James will be performing so the trip MUST include at least one of those days.
I’ve been put in charge of choosing the hotel, pending approval from Jon. The more I think about it the more I gravitate back to the Stratosphere – if I’m to play tour guide I want to show these guys a guaranteed good time from a place I’m familiar with. That said if there’s a crazy deal at Tropicana or MGM or Luxor or something I’ll jump on it.
Apparently the length of the trip is still TBD. I guess I just naturally fell into the one week trap but there’s really no compelling reason to be slavish to that format. Maybe a little shorter and save money – cut out the Hoover Dam or something. Or maybe go longer and make a road trip out of it. Either way it should be a blast. I’ve already been subjecting my staff to James Darren marathons at work. They can suffer.
And if it’s a shorter trip that just leaves a bit more money for a hopefully extended long weekend trip with Mindi once we figure out her vacation day situation. I’m hoping we can make it to San Fran or Edmonton for a couple of days if we’re lucky. Maybe take the train to San Fran or fly to Edmonton. Yes sure, who wants to be in Edmonton in October or November but it’s all about the mall anyways and that’s not weather dependant plus it will probably cut down on crowds and perhaps cost as a result. And the good thing about WEM is you can go for just a couple days and still feel like you had time to really enjoy it.
Not only are things looking up, but they’re beginning to seem like they might actually happen.
