One of my favorite places is Las Vegas. Not necessarily to gamble, but to see the area and appreciate the history. Years ago, we located the green fabric-lined, fenced-in area where old casino and Vegas signs were kept by using our GPS as we Geocached the strip and surrounding areas in 2004. We had to park on an iffy side street and peek through the holes in the fabric. Wow! All that history, just sitting there piled up, one sign on top of another! The days of light-bulbed and neon signs with hinged moving parts. Nothing like today’s computer graphic signs!

Years later, the Neon Boneyard was created. Signs were refurbished and displayed both near Downtown Las Vegas as well as in the Boneyard. Signs from hotels, casinos, restaurants and more were everywhere! I didn’t know where to look first! Karen and I were also able to visit the Boneyard at night for a guided tour, where select signs that had been refurbished were illuminated once again. Loving Vegas, and visiting there for many years before moving there, I found all the signs fascinating. Below are some of my favorite signs. Travel vicariously with me through the maze of old Las Vegas signage.

“…The Neon Museum collection chronicles changes and trends in sign design and technology through pieces ranging from the 1930s to the present day.”

I hope you enjoyed this virtual private photo tour and information about this iconic site. For additional information on tickets and the Neon Museum and Boneyard, check out their website at neonmuseum.org.

As I often do, I created a Shutterfly book to showcase many of the pictures taken on several visits to “the Boneyard.”

Sometimes you have to just stop thinking so much,
and go where your heart takes you.
My heart takes me to Las Vegas.

During these days when we are sheltering at home, we’ve still been able to travel — through the eyes of others, such as Rick Steves. We’ve enjoyed several of his travel films about European cities, many that we have visited on our own travels. These ‘tour’ films have brought back many memories for us during a time when we cannot travel and have had to cancel our travel plans. Rick Steves “brings the world into people’s living room who couldn’t otherwise travel.”

Today, we traveled back to one of my favorite trips – Salzburg, Austria. My daughter, Karen, put together a grand Sound of Music vacation to help celebrate my 60th birthday, which started with a themed tea party stateside and ended visiting several of the actual movie sites in Austria. We also traveled to Hallstatt, Austria. A place we looked into purchasing and running a B&B at one time. A wrong turn took us through a quaint Bavarian town, where a shop keeper kept her store open for us as we shopped for just the right Christmas ornament to bring home. Mmm! The beer, the pretzels, the brats, the oompah music of the Hofbraushaus. We saw famous castles such as Neuschwanstein, which was beautiful, if a bit of a walk on a rainy day. We’ve visited churches with beautiful fresco paintings, gorgeous stained glass windows, huge organs with multiple pipes, and lots of golden gilt decorating. We cruised the Wachau Valley on a longboat, glimpsed art galleries and always heard a bit of history as we traveled with Rick.

Below are a few pictures that Karen has taken on our wonderful vacations abroad. It’s amazing the sites we’ve visited! Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would see so much of the world outside my window…20 steps at a time.

Rick Steves is a great tour guide. He writes tour travel books that contain suggestions, a bit of educational history and humorous content. He knows the side streets and little known areas to visit that you might otherwise miss on an “organized” tour. His books are available to purchase and also to borrow from your library. If it’s your first time traveling across the pond, I recommend seeing his travel films and reading his books – ricksteves.com. You’ll be happy that you did!

Another trip down memory lane found us looking through our Shutterfly books, which were put together after many momentous trips such as,

In the Wake of Vikings – a transatlantic cruise
Iconic Western Mediterranean – Rome, Barcelona and more
Danube Waltz – for the Christmas markets
Empires of the Mediterranean – Venice, Athens and more
Christmas in New York City
Oceania Pacific Coast Christmas
Lighthouses of the East Coast
Las Vegas’ Neon Boneyard
and more

So, even though we are exercising restraint in all things during this pandemic, everyone can still travel, go to museums, visit historic places near and far, listen to music…whatever makes you happy to be home and have these wonderful opportunities available from your easy chair. Hopefully, once the crisis is passed, some of these virtual trips will incite you to get out there and experience them first hand, instead of vicariously! Travel is a wonderful experience!

“Until next time, keep on travellin'”
Rick Steves

Karen and I have had lots of time to talk about our canceled March cruise and all the things that our recent pandemic has brought to our door. We will be getting a voucher for a future cruise from Viking that we can use within the next 24 months. So, of course, we are also talking about where we want to go and what we want to see in 2021. In the meantime, however, once restrictions are lifted, we will begin to enjoy our resident season passes to Sea World Orlando and Disney World.

Up for consideration are:
Russia and the Baltic Sea (Ocean Cruise) – 11 days; 6 guided tours; 4 countries
Discover Stockholm’s maze of waterways as you explore its archipelago. Marvel at St. Petersburg’s art and architecture, and enjoy more during a three-day stay. Visit the charming medieval trading ports of Tallinn and Visby, see the exquisitely beautiful Bornholm and find out why so many visitors return to the island year after year. Embrace the relaxed atmosphere of Copenhagen and experience firsthand why the Danes are considered among the world’s happiest people.

Viking Homelands (Ocean Cruise) – 15 days; 11 guided tours; 8 countries
Sail the clear waters of Scandinavia and the Baltic on this 15-day cruise. Enjoy overnights in cosmopolitan Stockholm, majestic St. Petersburg and scenic Bergen, and explore charming historic city centers in Tallinn and Gdańsk. Visit Helsinki, Berlin and Copenhagen and witness breathtaking scenery from your ship as she glides through majestic Norwegian fjords in the legendary homelands of the Vikings.

Africa Serengeti – Four Seasons ‘road trip’ getaway on our own.

Russia – St. Petersburg to Moscow – Four Seasons ‘road and train trip’ getaway on our own.

So, once again, we are reaching out to all of you to ask for your opinion on which vacation to plan for 2021. The first person to correctly guess will receive a bit of encouragement from us to plan your own vacation, in the form of a Viking luggage tag! So, leave a comment with your best guess by April 30th for a chance to win this lovely new red leather luggage tag, which will be mailed to your home address once the virus is safely passed.

I travel because it makes me realize how much I haven’t seen,
how much I’m not going to see,
and how much I still need to see.”
– Carew Papritz

While living in Las Vegas, I was able to enjoy many live shows and performances with my daughter, Karen. I sure do miss those days! I enjoyed writing about these shows in my now closed Las Vegas Show Stoppers group page on Facebook. Between Karen’s ‘plus 1’ invitations and my Houseseats membership, we were very busy theater goers! I lived in Las Vegas from Fall 2005 to Summer 2013. That’s a lot of shows!!! Variety shows, concerts, musicals, comedy, outdoor theater – you name it, I probably saw it!

Gotta love technology! I had this post almost done and then poof! It disappeared! So, time to recreate it, maybe a bit differently this time. The theatrical shows and musicals I’ve seen are pretty much represented below in the Playbill listing. I’ve also pulled out the many musical performances that I enjoyed while living in Las Vegas (wonder who I missed on this list?).

Musical Performances (in no particular order):
Human Nature – Sands Showroom
Veronic Voices – Bally’s Las Vegas
Under the Streetlamp – Smith Center
Barry Manilow – Hilton Las Vegas
Boyz II Men – Mirage
Taylor Hicks – Paris Las Vegas
Michael Cavanaugh – Smith Center
Danny Wright – Smith Center
Tim McGraw & Faith Hill – Venetian
Garth Brooks – Wynn
Michael Grimm – Red Rock
Shania – The Colosseum
Mannheim Steamroller – Palazzo
Broadway Celebrations – NYNY
Foreigner, Journey and Night Rider – MGM
Society of Seven – Eastside Cannery
Phil Vassar – Eastside Cannery
ABBA – Eastside Cannery
Recycled Percussion – Tropicana
Gladys Knight – Tropicana
Wayne Newton – Tropicana
The Platters, Cornell Gunters Coaster and The Marvelettes – Rio
Rod Stewart – Caesars Palace
Greg London’s Icons – Riviera
Roy Rivers – Tribute To John Denver – Suncoast 
Cheap Trick & Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band – Paris 
Matt Goss – Caesars Palace
Bette Midler – Colosseum
Cher – Colosseum
Wes Winters
Wynonna’s Classic Christmas – LV Hilton
Jay White as Neil Diamond – Riviera
Donny & Marie – Flamingo
Elton John -Colosseum
Wayne Brady – Venetian
Gordi Brown – Venetian
Big Elvis – Barbary Coast
Celine Dion – Colosseum

Misc. tidbits posted on my original FB Show Stoppers page:
1. Autographed ticket from Earl Turner’s November 22, 2001 show at the Rio. I was his ‘towel girl’. 
2. Original Playbill for Menopause the Musical, playing at Playhouse 91 in NYC. 
3. Stage Magazine’s Starlight Express playbill AND my safety goggles; played at the Las Vegas Hilton mid 90’s. 
4. Ticket stub from EFX Alive, starring Rick Springfield, MGM, November 24, 2001 AND the show program including my 3D glasses!
5. Show flyer to Manilow’s Music and Passion, Las Vegas Hilton
and finally
6. Sigfried & Roy’s program, Mirage – never saw the show but found this discarded.

Phantom Phacts!
– There are 267 candles in the Phantom’s lair, more than in any other production worldwide.
– The Grand Staircase for “Masquerade” weighs 14,000 pounds!
– The dazzling 2000 pound chandelier is 15 feet tall and over 16 feet in diameter.
– The chandelier is strung with 29,444 individual crystal beads and 116 lighting globes in four sections. 
– The sculptural angels and various decorative ladies around the stage and opera boxes are wearing a total of 88 pieces of handmade custom jewelry all designed specifically for this production. 
– More than 3000 yards of fabric make up the set drapes, which are adorned with 1000 yards of fringe and hand-decorated with 15,000 small wooden balls. 
– There are more than 250 automated effects during the performance. WOW! I love knowing stuff like this! And now, hopefully so do you! (Info provided by Phantom Phacts sheet)

I’ve also been in the audience for a few Cirque du Soliel performances in Las Vegas, Orlando and Washington, D.C. area. Definitely a 3-ring circus trying to catch all the acts and watch all the actors do their amazing acrobatics.

I still have many of my original Playbills from the performances I’ve attended including: Hairspray, The Full Monty, Mama Mia, Phantom (again), West Side Story, Les Miserables, Lion King (Toronto), Blast, The Nutcracker, Kraft Country Tour Starring Lorrie Morgan, Pam Tillis and Carlese Carter, July 96; Crazy For You, Royal Alexandra Theatre, Toronto, October 95; Showboat North York Performing Arts Centre, Toronto June 1994; Miss Saigon, Princess of Wales Theatre, Toronto, November 1993; Phantom of the Opera, Pantages Theatre, Toronto, March 1993 and Plaid Tidings, Gold Coast, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Rochester; Crowns; Wynonna, A Classic Christmas; Tom Stevens; Wayne Newton, Once Before I Go; Fame; America’s Got Talent Live; Phantom of the Opera, Las Vegas; Phantom of the Opera, Toronto; Phantom of the Opera, Rochester; Elton John, Red Piano; Cher, Las Vegas; Bette Midler, Las Vegas; Ka’; Mystere; Love; Gordie Brown; Nathan Burton; Wes Winters; Garth Brooks: Frank Marino’s Divas; Hats, The Musical, Las Vegas; Hats the Musical, New Orleans; The Nutcracker (again), Frank Caliendo; The Music Man; Blue Man Group; Donny & Marie; The King and I; Ultimate Manilow, The Hits; Thoroughly Modern Millie, Las Vegas; Hairspray; 42nd Street, Ford Centre; 42nd Street, Tuacahn; Menopause the Musical, Las Vegas; Shag with a Twist; Grease; Les Miserables;The Sound of Music; A Chorus Line; Jesus Christ Superstar; Movin Out; Voices; Cats; Terry Fator; The Producers; Radio City Christmas Spectacular, The Rockettes; 42nd Street, Rochester; The King and I, Rochester; Jekyll & Hyde; The Lion King, NYC; Chicago; Jersey Boys. 

As soon as our COVID-19 restrictions are over, I hope you will go see a live performance and love it as much as I do! It’s been a bit of a dry spell for me, so I’m more than ready!

See also Loving Live Theater – Part I

“Music is a language that doesn’t speak in particular words…”
Keith Richards