Explosive Millennium
Few events draw as much of a crowd as the annual celebration of the passing of the old year and ringing in of the new, and no place is better to celebrate the New Year than in the city of celebration, Las Vegas, Nevada. We had a big day planned so I got up early to play a little video poker. I was perfectly executing my strategy of avoiding any big taxable wins until midnight and indeed managed to get hoovered big time. Hunnybear soon arrived and brought excellent luck though and I won back a good portion of it before lunch.
Chris, Gretchen, and Catman arrived and we had lunch at Wolfgang Puck’s Café again. I tried the excellent rosemary chicken this time while Chris, who lives on steak and butter, had a passable rib-eye. As a rule I don’t eat dessert and the rest of us all passed as well, saving room for the big banquet tonight.
After lunch Hunnybear had a spa appointment so Catman, Gretchen and I took the monorail to meet up with Danny and Jacey at Paris. Danny was tearing up the blackjack tables and Jacey was next door at Bally’s playing Pai Gow Poker. We picked her up and headed across the street to Bellagio to show Gretchen the Chihuly ceiling piece and the conservatory. The fountain show wasn’t running yet so we walked back to MGM Grand and I played a little video poker while Gretchen got her hair done. This time my luck was outstanding and I won back almost all the morning’s losses.
It was time to dress for the big party so I went up and changed into my new tuxedo with my new lion cufflinks given to me by Catman. The rest of the gang met us, all dressed up, and we walked a couple miles to the MGM conference center to the VIP party. It was an interesting mix of folks of all nationalities dressed to the nines with a few folks who looked like they just came off the golf course and some young men in sweats hanging around looking like they didn’t belong and didn’t want to belong.
Waitresses filtered through the crowd with trays of appetizers: carpaccio, caviar, shrimp, gazpacho canapés. Then the doors opened and we took our assigned table near the front to one side. A large and excellent band was playing jitterbug music as the first stage of “2001: A Musical Odyssey” with dancers constantly performing to the sides and on the dance floor. Video units projected space-themed decorations over the entire side walls. Already open on the table were three bottles of Francis Coppola wine and an open bar was only steps away against the wall. Former movie star Tony Curtis was sitting at the next table and video-poker legend Bob Dancer and his wife were just to the side of us.
Dinner began with a large portion of perfect and fresh sea bass. This was followed by a salad of Belgian endive in a toasted parmesan bowl with hearts of palm beside, each containing a single lightly candied walnut. The main course was filet mignon and lobster claws, out of the shell. After switching a couple plates among people with different temperature preferences we all ate happily. Meanwhile the band progressed from jitterbug to sixties pop to disco, finishing with classics of the eighties and nineties. As a rule I don’t eat dessert but they brought each of us a platter of assorted treats: a triangular chocolate orgasm, a planet Saturn filled with strawberry mousse, and some wonderful Framboise-soaked berries. I made a good dent in it and when they brought a mammoth chocolate hatbox filled with assorted truffles and petit fours I couldn’t even touch it. Instead I danced with Hunnybear and then with Jacey and before we knew it it was time to head upstairs to watch the fireworks.
My host had sent up three bottles of Asti to the suite so we pulled the chilled glasses out of the ice buckets they arrived in and popped the corks in preparation for midnight. The view from the terrace encompassed almost all the hotels participating in the fireworks display. At 10 till midnight a single burst from all the rooftops signaled the 10-minute warning. The process was then repeated at 11:55. Soon we heard the countdown roar from the crowd of hundreds of thousands assembled below on the Strip. At midnight all the rooftops exploded in unison with a long and spectacular fireworks display. The MGM’s show was right above our heads and the sight of looking straight up at the bombs bursting in air was simply unforgettable. I had slipped out of my tuxedo and into a robe and while everyone was distracted I shucked the robe and jumped into the hot tub to watch the dawn of the new millennium as man had come into this world. This was the best New Year’s celebration ever.
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