After our month in Iowa and Minnesota seeing friends and family, we were off to Las Vegas to see the Wizard (of Oz). Our flight out of Minneapolis was on Frontier Airlines and it was direct to Las Vegas. After I had booked our flights, I learned that one of my favorite bands would be playing in Las Vegas the night we arrived, but the show started at 7:30pm and we weren’t landing until 9:15pm. When we landed, I called the venue and they said that the second band was just finishing and Stabbing Westward should take the stage in about 30 minutes. We quickly booked an Uber to take me to the Brooklyn Bowl and then to take Sandy to the Palazzo at Venetian. The Uber driver was a little slow in getting us to the venue, but I managed to make it to the show, only having missed the first two songs. They did not charge me to get in, which was nice and the sound and show were fantastic.

Sandy got us checked in and by the time she got that done, the show was ending and I walked over to the Palazzo and we met a little after 11pm to get a late bite to eat at the Grand Lux Café in the Palazzo. I had a breakfast quesadilla and Sandy had a chicken quesadilla. We then walked around the hotel to see the various fitness centers before finally getting to sleep at 2:15am.

We were up six hours later on Friday, excited because our friends from Sarasota, Beth and Steve were meeting us in Las Vegas this afternoon to come out and see The Wizard of Oz at the Sphere with us. We had added on an extra night at the Palazzo, so we needed to check out this morning, store our bags, and then move into our new room for the next couple of nights later in the day. After storing our luggage, we walked over to the Wynn and had pancakes, French toast, eggs, and cappuccinos at Urth Café – it’s Vegas prices, but the breakfast was delicious. We then went back to the Palazzo and did a test run of getting over to the Sphere for tomorrow’s show so that we knew where to go and how much time we should allocate. We got our tickets on our phone while we were at the Sphere and then took an Uber to the airport to meet Beth and Steve. They arrived right on time at 3:15 and we Uber’d back to the Palazzo to get us each checked in for the next couple of nights. For dinner on Friday night, we decided to check out the Bacchanal Buffet at Caesar’s Palace. It’s rated as one of Las Vegas’s better buffets and it was very impressive. We all tried way too many things – I think we tried between 15 and 24 items each and they have more than 250 items, so we had lots more work we could have done. It was a very fun experience. After dinner we walked through the Bellagio gardens and then watched the fountain show.

On our way back to the Palazzo, we explored the Venetian shops and the Grand Canal shops. The Venetian and Palazzo are connected with the Sphere and have a gorgeous Wizard of Oz display area, where we took some pictures and then we called it a night.

Yesterday morning (Saturday), I did a short workout at the main fitness center at the Venetian and then we got coffees to enjoy while we took a walk around the pool areas at each hotel (Palazzo and Venetian). We met Beth and Steve for the buffet breakfast at Grand Lux Café – excellent food and the waffles were amazing. We checked on Shin Lim tickets because he does a magic show at the Palazzo but ended up deciding to head down to Fremont Street in downtown Vegas on Saturday night instead. The four of us walked over to the Sphere and did some shopping at the merchandise areas inside the atrium. The Sphere is an incredible venue, really. I don’t think it would matter what performance someone was going to see – the venue would make sure that the experience was incredible. It was no different for the Wizard of Oz. Seeing it on that size screen, with the sound treatment and the effects that they have made for an unforgettable experience for all four of us. We even caught one of their special golden apples during the apple tree scene. After the show we soaked in more of the atrium, which was decorated in brownish colors before the show and then vibrant green after the show.

After the Sphere we walked over to Gilley’s for burgers, wings, and Sam Adams Octoberfest beers and then took an Uber up to Fremont Street. We walked the street and saw two of the hourly performances under the light tunnel. It was fun to take Steve and Beth to the downtown area and see more of the classic old-school Las Vegas, but in hindsight, I think all of us would have chosen Shin Lim’s show. That’s ok – it’s always good to have a reason to go back.

Back at the Palazzo, we had ice cream and donut desserts, played a little craps and then headed to our rooms around 10pm.

This morning, we met for breakfast at Grand Lux Café again, this time a little earlier so that Beth and Steve could get a taxi to the airport at 10am for their flight back to Florida. We left our room at Noon and hung out at the hotel – I watched the USF football game and the Bucs game. The USF game was great – a last-minute win against Army, while the Bucs kicked off the season with a loss to the Bengals. We went to the airport at 2:30 and then hung out in the Capital One lounge there. Our flight was delayed, so we ended up landing in Salt Lake City at 8pm, a little late. We picked up our rental car, got groceries, and arrived at our Airbnb in Salt Lake around 11pm.

It was a fantastic few days in Las Vegas with our friends. Beth is a huge fan of the Wizard of Oz and we knew that when it was announced that it was going to be showing at the Sphere that it would be so much fun to see it with her there. It’s awesome that we were all able to make it happen.