Las Vegas

I suspect that John-Adrian and Jocelyn's wedding will be my only visit to Las Vegas.  We were there 48 hours, with about 9 hours of travel on each end. The wedding was at one of the little chapels, very simple and not at all irritating, as I had feared it would be.  They do know how to keep you moving along, and remind you what your time constraints are, but it is very cheery and polite. The woman performing the ceremony did not seem artificial - she seems to be genuinely excited by people getting married and being part of it all. They are her garden, maybe. She seems easily sentimental and this is her dream job.

I have been crying at weddings for a decade now, and I started in quite early on this one.  We joked and teased beforehand, but the moment we did actually have to be silent, it took about 45 seconds before things got misty.  Tracy held out with just moisture, but we both ramped up when JA repeated his vowed, and when Jocie's voice started to break as she said hers I had no defenses left and the tears simply came down.  I didn't bother to dab them. When the officiant mentioned when they were born as part of her little homily, my nerd-mapping went into play and calculated that Jocelyn was about 7,000 miles west and Ionut about 7,000 miles east in 1985 and I thought "What are the odds?" and teared up more. I'm tearing up again.  Some things are impossibly beautiful, but they happen anyway. He is now a husband, as I hoped he might be.  Their daughter Quinn Elena Wyman will be born in November.

The wedding and reception were our reason for going, but seem only a small island in the trip.  That is due to the bride's and groom's personalities, I think. The don't get out of Nome much, and wanted to continue on with serious shopping in Vegas, both the trinkets and the expensive. Eating at nice places is also a draw, and they stuffed it down hard at the Filipino market/restaurant. We also ate out, and walked around in those expensive malls which connect each of the casinos to each other in a long line.  Yes, there is a half-size Eiffel Tower and indoor canals with gondola rides and all that.  The Bellagio Fountains are remarkable.  There's not much distance  between these displays, so they look a bit cramped, but for what they are, they're nice enough.

I could dwell on how much it celebrates itself as sin city. Gambling, sex, and booze the big three, but you knew that. John-Adrian likes to go because in addition to the shopping and the eating, tends to win at poker. He also trundles down to Foxwoods when he visits here and succeeds in paying for his flights two times out of three. The noise is tough to handle for one such as I. As with all bright places, much is made of excitement qua excitement.