AMAZING

DeAnn and I left Elba around 7:00 Thursday evening.  We were flying out of the new airport at the beach so we decided to stay at Mom's condo.  We got down there and turned the A/C on because it was some kind of hot.  After it cooled down enough to sleep we both nodded off.  I woke up real early because I wanted to get an earlier flight.  There wasn't one so we had to wait and leave at 4:30 pm.

We had a full day ahead of us so I let DeAnn sleep until a little after 10.  We decided to go to Pier Park and get something to eat and kill time.  We had a pizza and window shopped until it was time to move.  We got to the airport at 3.  With me being in a wheelchair, I go through security immediately anywhere and it being a small airport we had plenty of time.  The flight to Memphis was uneventful and we had a small layover.  The Memphis airport is small, but since we are used to Atlanta I guess my image is distorted.  After boarding for Vegas, I settled in for the 3 hour flight and starting reading a book.

We landed at McCarron, and I called a cab driver that I have been following through his blog.  Andrew  picked us up and took us to Aria.  He was such a nice guy, and it was great to meet the man behind the computer.  We got to Aria and WOW.  This is the newest of MGM's hotels at CityCenter.  We checked in and went to drop our bags in the room.  Our room was the nicest room I have ever been in much less stayed in.  The casino is huge and had about 20 restaurants.  As it was pushing 2 am (4 in Elba) we decided to call it a night.

 My eyes opened at 7 am the next morning, and I couldn't go back to sleep.  I decided that I would go down stairs and let DeAnn sleep.  I played a little 3 card/craps until 10 and DeAnn decided it was time to eat breakfast.  We went to the brunch buffet which was very good. With our first show, Viva Elvis, starting at 7 we had to eat supper around 5.  Our first choice was not available so we ate at American Fish.  The chef was Michael Mina.  That meant nothing to me, but it was a solid meal.

Elvis was very good.  There was live music which is different from Love (the Beatles show) and there wasn't as much acrobatics.  It was a different kind of show but entertaining nonetheless.  After that show was over we had 2 hours to get to the next show.

We arrived at the Wynn in no time and went to find the box office so we could pick up our tickets for Garth.  We got them and had a hour to kill.  We walked around the casino, and it is very nice.  The show started about 10:30 so around 10 we went to get in line.  The line was literally a half mile long the way they had it set up.  We went to the back of the line and even though I was in my chair a nice security guard insisted we follow him to the front. 

We found our seats and the show got started a little late, but Garth walked out and said "Let's start from the beginning", and played "Much Too Young".  It was different than I expected.  He went back to when he was a kid and talked about his musical influences as he was telling the stories he would sing covers from Don McClean to James Taylor to Bob Seger.  He brought out Trisha Yearwood in the middle and then did a full set of his songs at the end.  We finally left, completely floored, at 1:30 AM.

The sun rose on Sunday morning, and it was time to head south.  Our flight left at 11 and when we got to Atlanta a massive thunderstorm delayed our flight for over an hour.  We got back to Panama City around 9:30, and I pulled into 773 N. Claxton at 11.

I hope DeAnn enjoyed her birthday, valentines, anniversary trip as much as I did.  I wish we would have stayed an extra day but other than that it was perfect.

I'm sorry this is so long, but I really wanted you to hopefully see this trip through our eyes.  Hope you Enjoy!

Fins Up,
Jr