Viva Las Vegas!

Our mini-vacation to Las Vegas got off to a bad start last Thursday night, when our flight from Philly to Phoenix was delayed and we missed our connecting flight to Las Vegas. The airline put us up in a hotel and got us on the first morning flight, so we didn’t end up losing too much, other than a good night’s sleep and the cost of the hotel that I had prepaid in Vegas.

In the morning we rented a car and headed out towards the Hoover Dam. Luckily for us, it was a beautiful day and the Bureau of Reclamation had, that very day, opened up a new exhibit and allowed visitors to see the underground power plant generators for the first time since September 11. The dam is amazing from both an engineering and aesthetic standpoint, and they have done a wonderful job of building the tourist sites to blend with the art deco styling of the original structures and the beautiful natural setting.



Seeing the actual dam made the story of how it was built particularly vivid. As part of the tour, you walk through a 250-foot long tunnel, one of four that was drilled out of rock to divert the Colorado River around the dam site during the construction process. The vision of the engineers who planned this process is inspiring. Through some neat tricks (e.g., building a cooling system into the newly poured concrete so it would cure more quickly), they managed to complete construction of the dam some 2 years ahead of schedule, something that is hard to fathom in this day and age. I was equally fascinated with the political history of the dam, built during the Depression when people really needed both jobs and a symbol of good old American know-how. I couldn’t help but wonder about the thousands of men who sacrificed their health and hearing, working long days in abysmal conditions for an average of 62.5 cents per hour (a good wage at the time). Six companies joined forces to construct the dam. It’s hard to imagine that kind of collaboration today.


After our visit to the dam, we drove West to see the Red Rock Canyon. What we should have done was head north of the dam to see the Valley of Fire, which I heard is spectacular. But Red Rock Canyon is also pretty interesting.


Finally, we checked into The Venetian Resort. Our trip was possible because I was covering a meeting for the Hereditary Disease Foundation and Keep Memory Alive, a Las Vegas organization that is working to find a cure for Alzheimer’s disease. The organizers of the meeting went all out to make our visit special. Shortly after we arrived, a “gift” arrived, which consisted of a mirrored tray holding a lot of chocolate: chocolate candies, a chocolate pillar, and a chocolate card from KMA. There was one non-chocolate thing on the tray… a spun sugar “flame” erupting from behind the card. Wow! Like everything else in Las Vegas, it was over the top.


The organizers of the meeting fed us very well. Saturday’s sessions were held at a place called Southern Wine and Spirits, which is the largest distributor of wine in Nevada. Their facilities for educating and showcasing their wines (and accompanying food) are amazing. Breakfast and lunch were both delicious and healthful, and at the end of the day we were treated to a tour and wine tasting. The booklet they handed out at the tasting included a short article, “Wine compound attacks Alzheimer’s agent.” Now there’s a line of research I would like to pursue!

For dinner, we were treated to a special dinner at the Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill, which was excellent; and following that we got tickets to see Ka by Cirque du Soleil. Unfortunately, most of the meeting participants were exhausted after flying to Las Vegas, spending the day in a meeting, and doing a lot of eating and drinking. Garrett, who had been lounging by the pool all day after sleeping late, was the only one who was alert enough to really enjoy the show.

Our meeting on Sunday was held at Postrio, another Wolfgang Puck restaurant, this one at the Venetian. Lunch was excellent and the meeting concluded a little early. Since we hadn’t been able to get anything other than a red-eye flight home on Sunday, we were forced to stay an additional day. Not knowing we were going to get tickets to Ka, we had reserved tickets for another Cirque Du Soleil show, Mystere. It was fabulous. After that we wandered around looking at the various restaurants, and finally settled on Thomas Keller’s Bouchon. Thomas Keller is the owner and chef of two renowned restaurants in the Napa Valley: The French Laundry and Bouchon. The menu at the Las Vegas Bouchon was nothing unusual, but the food was to die for. After a starter of oysters, I had Saumon aux Poireaux, sautéed Salmon with melted leeks, fines herbs, and beurre blanc. Garrett had Gigot d’Agneau, roasted leg of lamb with garlic braised swiss chard, rosemary roasted sweet carrots, and lamb jus. What made everything so good was that it was prepared perfectly. Garrett’s lamb was rosy pink all the way through with a caramelized crust on the outside. My salmon was slightly crisp on the outside, but moist and delicate all the way through. With these dishes, we had a yummy Hop Kiln Big Red (chosen partly because it was one of the cheapest wines on the menu, and because we visited Hop Kiln and enjoyed their wines a few years ago.).

So all in all, we had a great time, but I still think Las Vegas is about the weirdest place I’ve ever been. The Venetian was probably the nicest hotel we’ve stayed in, but the faux Venice stuff (including the gondolas in an indoor grand canal, which is made to look as if it’s outdoors, with a painted sky, etc.) is just bizarre. People sit at slot machines with vacant looks in their eyes, pressing a button over and over as they watch their money dwindle down to nothing. I was told that 100,000 people a year are moving to Las Vegas, and about 60% of them are over 65. Outside of the strip, new developments are popping up everywhere. Though I won’t be moving out there, I guess there truly is something for everyone. For me, it’s the restaurants.

A Good Read

I just finished Broken for You by Stephanie Kallos, a wonderful debut novel by a very promising author. It’s not a perfect book, but I found it easy to overlook the few things I found annoying (for example, too many coincidences) because the characters were fascinating and the story compelling. On top of all that, it has a (relatively) happy ending, which I don’t seem to see too much of these days.

The main characters in this novel are two women with deep emotional scars, one 75 (Margaret) and one 34 (Wanda) years old. Together, and with a host of other interesting characters, they find a way to confront their demons and create lives full of love and forgiveness. It all sounds so trite, but Kallos has written a truly original novel. Scenes that deliver pathos at the same time deliver humor and compassion. Margaret’s long-dead mother makes frequent appearances, both in her daily activities and in her dreams.

"The dead, Margaret thought. They can be so loud."

By shifting quickly in time, space, and realities, Kallos tells the saddest of stories without being maudlin and the most joyous stories without syrup. As the novel opens, Margaret is diagnosed with a brain tumor, so her frequent sojourns between past, present, and future seem totally in keeping with a malfunctioning brain.

Kallos describes the feelings of her characters in a way that feels totally right for the personalities she has created. Here is a scene when Wanda is confronting Troy, a man who is deeply in love with her despite her unwillingness to open up to him:

“Her breathing slowed. She checked in with her heart. She could picture it in there, in its calcified condition, encased in the bodice of her dress. Maybe it hung suspended, caught in something that had once been liquid – like a wooly mammoth in ice, or a dragonfly in amber. Or maybe it bore fossilized impressions. If someone were to autopsy her heart, they’d find traces of life, evidence of eons gone by. Times when she’d been able to feel and the feelings left imprints…”

There are no surprises in this novel, save the fact that, in the end, people make good decisions rather than destructive ones. I find it impossible to convey the richness of the story without giving it all away (and writing for a very long time), so all I can say is, read it!