Wedding in the Desert with Elvis - Time Out #236

"The King" is alive and well in Las Vegas (LV), aka, Sin City.

I know he "hasn't left the building" because he married our youngest, son Robbie, and his lady, CeCe Noland, during the recent Super Bowl weekend.

The gathering totaled about 30 folks, and was held in the famous Little Church of the West, constructed in 1942, and on the national register of historic places. The weather was spectacular for the event, and the festivities all memorable.

My bride, Debbie, and I gladly utilized Stillwater Regional Airport (SWO) for the 13th time since American Airlines began scheduled commercial service in August, 2016. Once again, we were impressed with the ease of getting out and returning to Our Town, via the friendly, local airline service. We departed the early morning flight going out, and were in LV by 10 a.m., and in our Paris Las Vegas Hotel/Casino room on The Strip before noon. Not wanting the hassle of renting a car, we rode Uber everywhere during our 5-day adventure. Ride sharing (Uber) is a wonderful, modern method of going from Point A to Point B in big cities all over Planet Earth. We highly endorse this method of transportation.

Since my bride and I had not been to LV in about a dozen years, we had to get somewhat re-acquainted with this incredible "Disneyland for Adults" in the middle of our American desert.

We had never previously stayed at Paris Las Vegas, a large, centrally-located hotel/casino, directly east across Las Vegas Boulevard from the remarkable Bellagio Hotel/Casino. We had a 5th floor room with a direct view of their on-property Eiffel Tour, via our large room windows. This famous structure is half the size of the original one in Paris, France. Most of the wedding party stayed in this hotel, and our favorite (and only) daughter, Michelle, only 2 doors away from our room.

What a city in the middle of Nowhere! Ms. Debbie and I took about a day to re-connect with the place, since it had been so long since we last been there. As I have stated in the past, LV is a people-watching paradise! The colorful wedding ceremony was early Saturday afternoon, and the bride and groom were, of course, the center-of-attention. However, "The King" (i.e., Elvis) was highly noticed, too. Not only did he actually marry the lovely couple, he sang two of his signature songs, along with throwing out various witty barbs to the entertained wedding audience, during the 15-minute affair. And, yes, Mr. Presley looked every bit the part, with his long sideburns and swept-back black, ducktail haircut. Anytime, we want to relive that little moment in time, we merely need to go to our cell phone's memory. The short ceremony was certainly a memorable family event!

Afterward, the wedding reception/dinner was held at the top of "The Strat", the famous 1,000' tall hotel and casino at the far north end of The Strip. This was a special. 5-hour happening, complete with delicious food/drink, and topped off with access to their 4 incredible thrill rides, also located on the top. It was very interesting to watch the guests challenge each other to ride the rides; most did, including my bride and me, but a few were scared to even watch or get near the daring rides. Like an amusement park feature, we purchased on-site photos, providing we did defy gravity! We even held our arms up on one ride, as we gazed down at the ground, far, far below.

Another powerful plus to this location was viewing the city/desert undergoing the gradual transformation from daylight to twilight to darkness, with the city/area's nighttime lights twinkling far below, all witnessed during ideal weather conditions.

Super Bowl Sunday afternoon, the newlyweds flew away for week in far off Bora Bora (Tahiti, French Polynesia), while my bride and I stayed in the city a couple of extra days. We spent some tourist hours in the impressive Mob Museum, located downtown, and the Neon Museum, located north of downtown. I can also report we did some small wagering, via both the casino machines and sports betting books. Yes, fortunately, we did leave 'Vegas with a little more $ than we originally brought with us, less our credit card expenditures, of course.

Not sure when we will return to Sin City, but really did add to our memory bank of the American desert city that is really a one-of-a kind, special place! Just sayin...