I got away! With the opportunity to break out of my personal Hotel California I had a short sojourn in Las Vegas two weeks ago. Fun. Well, except for the flights. Not one empty seat, no chance to upgrade. And my film monitor did not work on the trip west.

I got a break from my home to learn about the ins and outs of event planning and collect information on venues for the organization I was representing – the International Committee of Museums of Ethnography (ICME). This is the second time that I was invited to attend IMEX. Interesting people, interesting conversations, fun swag (see Sept. 17, 2019 for an indication of my previous participation).

I took advantage of an early arrival the first day to walk the distance from my hotel, Caesar’s Palace, to the meeting venue, Mandalay Bay.

Among the sites I passed along the way were “Paris” and some show girls picking up some extra money posing for photos.

Some real show girls graced the conference floor one afternoon!

Also some culture with this Claes Oldenburg sculpture (Typewriter Eraser) outside of City Center along the way. I cheated by taking the tram from Excalibur for the last stage of the hike.

I was actually practicing for the daily health competition after so many sedentary month; I averaged 16,000 steps daily. Did not win the big prize. Many of us were awarded passes to the big wheel, thank you again Caesar’s Palace!

One memorable activity was a tour of Caesar’s Forum. It’s a huge meeting space offering everything you can think of state of the art. Our hosts offered us a taste of their amazing catering afterward. More noteworthy was the breathtaking sugar art the accompanied the tasty sweets.

All-in-all, my break from home was a refreshing get away just before the annual, very enjoyable madness of Art Week engulfs us after Thanksgiving/Hanukah weekend.