The Bellagio

My friend, Jose Villa, invited me and Aimee to sensi at the Bellagio for dinner Sunday night (plus: Linda, Cheryl, Elisa, John Fitzpatrick (brought his 1st homemade gynormous (I'm talkin' 3 ft. tall) bottle of red wine from his vineyard), Tim Halberg & his new wife (left the old one at home, j/k), Mike + Anna Costa stopped by on their way to set-up for the party we went to later that night upstairs, John "Griff" Griffin brought his hair rock star wife, Jodi, and his cool new pocket camera; he is supposed to be emailing me the pics so maybe this post will kick his butt into gear HINT HINT ;o). Update: Griff is hanging out in Hawaii on vaca so I'll have to WAIT for the pics. Ho-hum!)

That's where we had our most expensive dinner ever (and it was WELL worth every penny). We were served endless appetizers (I tried my first, and last, oyster on the 1/2 shell) that were so artfully presented it was hard to eat (they tasted better than they looked). The sashimi Kobe beef was Aimee's favorite (I swear I heard her talk about that one for the rest of the trip and then some). My Sea Bass was so velvety yummy I could barely stand it. Dessert was perfectly-sized tastes of beauty with the huge tear-drop ice sculpture containing the sorbets being the focal point (Linda couldn't stop touching it, causing it to melt prematurely LOL). It was a blast seeing old friends and meeting new ones!!!

My maiden name started with a B, so I got a kick out of seeing these all over the Bellagio property.

As soon as you enter the Bellagio lobby you get hit with all this glass work in the ceiling. I've heard about it before but seeing it in person is spectacular. Just past the lobby is a fountain with tulips (one of my favorites). THEN there's THIS display. Check out the size of those flowers and butterflies compared to the people - they were HUGE! Not only did the display knock me out but the aroma walking through all the LIVE botanicals was intoxicating. All the animals and insects were completely covered with fresh flowers. Check out the detail on the snail! Water was dripping from under the ladybug off the leaf (see the water drip?). Then there were a couple closed green houses slash potting sheds packed with live butterflies. As you go up the walkway, water shoots up over your head and makes a tunnel to walk through. Behind the display and down the hall toward sensi, there is a dessert shoppe on the right. This giant display was breathtaking. But then you notice the 10 foot live chocolate fountain and begin to drool in front of all the tourists. At first it looks fake, but the closer you get you can actually see the chocolate flowing down off their glass trays. Yuh-mee! I should have had a person in the shot so you can see how gynormous this thing is. Go see it in person if you don't believe me. I'm in LOVE with this guy... give him a love tap from me. Now here's a story about a guy (notice the logo on his shirt) and his 3 friends.

I'm walking out of the Bellagio by myself when a group of guys notice my Harley shirt (maybe my boots too because I rode that day) and ask, "Hey, do you have a Harley?" As I snap my head around, I proudly answer, "Heck yeah I do!" Then we go through the details of what I ride and what each of them ride (it's what you do in the world of bikers) but picking on the tall guy (pictured) because he doesn't know how to choose a decent bike.

One of them whispers to me that I need to tell the tall guy that I've seen a lady rider on an orange flying deuce screaming eagle (guess it's an inside joke). I wait for the moment. The tall guy asks if I have lady rider friends (note the smaller pic). "Yes, and one has an orange bike too, but it's not a softail like mine; it's a flying deuce screaming eagle." Harharhar all the guys bust up and he realizes he's been had (bigger picture). Then he asks...

Tall guy: Why are you taking my picture?

Me: Because I'm a professional.

Tall guy: What are they for?

Me: They're for a magazine. (still snapping pics)

Tall guy: What kind of magazine? (the friends are on pins and needles)

Me: It's called "Guys Who Don't Know How to Pick a Better Motorcycle."

Harharhar, the guys are dyin'. He's a good sport and chuckles along. One of them points his beer at me and shouts (for everyone to hear) "Marry me, Marry ME!" as I wave and move on to do more shooting and shopping.

Q: Don't you love when you say something clever at the exact moment instead of thinking about what you COULD HAVE said later?