Friday, September 21, 2012

Remember Vegas

Twenty-five years ago this month, four good friends went to Las Vegas.  We were to attend a ski show and pass out brochures. None of us had been to Vegas - ever.  On the drive to Albuquerque to catch the plane, we made a pact: what goes on the road stays on the road.  I was 29 years old.

We hit the town dressed to kill or at least have a grand time.  Our first night in Vegas we went to Bally's to see George Carlin.  The opening act was Paul Revere and the Raiders.  Janetta tipped everyone involved in selling tickets and seating us.  We sat front  and center as if we were the show ourselves. These pictures were taken at Bally's while we were having our champagne.
  Pictured here: Jodie (who kept closing her eyes and then held them wide open) Me, Joy, and Janetta. Then the photographer took individual shots. After Bally's we went to some dance club.  That is when we found out that the Navy Tailhook Association was having a convention in Vegas.  There were Navy and Marines everywhere.  No lack of dance partners!  We met up with some Navy pilots (weren't they all pilots?) who escorted us to the third floor of the Hilton.  My claim to fame is that I walked the gauntlet and kept all my clothes on. Well, except for my dressy cowgirl boot, which got removed when several young men sang to me, poured liquor down my leg, and, well, that stays in Vegas (Okay,they drank from my leg).

It was an fun vacation - one that bound my friends and I ever tighter.  My friend, Joy, is coming to visit me this weekend. I am looking forward to seeing her and her husband and daughter.  Last year we went to RR together for a girls trip.
There will always be VEGAS to remember. And I got this cool T-shirt.

11 comments:

Buck said...

And four years later the infamous Tailhook took place. Lex (my blogfather) was there and wrote about it, in retrospect... including having to fly to Washington and testify at a board of inquiry. So what happens in Vegas doesn't ALWAYS stay in Vegas.

I love that shirt!

Bag Blog said...

I had never read the Wiki article on the Tailhook incident. It was interesting. I also never knew how destructive it was to so many officers' careers. Witch hunt comes to mind, but the term used in the article "McCarthyism" works well. I don't doubt that there was some sorts of misconduct, but not the kind that ruins careers. In 1987, I had a great time at the Tailhook convention. There was some drinkin' going on and lots of silliness, but it was pretty mutual between the sexes that I saw. If that makes sense?

Andy said...

Well...Buck's eyes are better than mine. I can't make out what the shirt says for the life of me.

And...I've tried to multiply the pixels and everything.

And...I've got my reading glasses on, too.

Lou, I would have loved to see George Carlin live! Paul Revere & The Raiders...well, not so much. But, Carlin would have been one on my bucket list if he was still alive now. But, he's dead.

I guess you know that...kinda' like you know about the Tailhook scandal deal...

They drank from your leg? Really?

That is WAY cool!

Never been to Vegas myself.

Never intend to go there, either.

Dang... Y'all are hot!

Bag Blog said...

Andy, the shirt says, "Don't try to lay no boogie woogie on the king of rock and roll.

I knew that Carlin was dead - sad, but I'm glad I got to see him live - up close. Although, I kind of liked Siegfried and Roy just as well.

And yes, we were hot.

Buck said...

There was some drinkin' going on and lots of silliness, but it was pretty mutual between the sexes that I saw. If that makes sense?

Makes sense to me. There are those... who were there... that think Tailhook '91 WAS a witch hunt. Lex seemed to be on the fence, in that he was disapproving of bona fide harassment yet felt the Navy carried things a lot further than it should have.

And that "don't try to lay no boogie woogie" thang? It comes from this, which is the original.

Bag Blog said...

Thanks for the original - that was awesome.

Andy said...

The comments on the original say that it was "Dr. John" on the peeanur.

Sounds about right.

Gotta love the "Boobie Woojie" deal...

Andy said...

Oooops, meant, "Boojie Woojie."

Not Boobie.

I guess some therapist could 'splain my typing.

Maybe.

Buck said...

Heh. I ain't gonna touch that.

Apropos o' not much, that whole LJ Baldry album is spectacular but it might be out o' print. My copy is old vinyl, acquired back in the early '80s.

Bag Blog said...

I'm thinking Andy's slip was some sort of Freudian thang.

Andy said...

I started to use a high-fallutin' word like that, but couldn't remember what it was at the time.

Thanks, Lou.

Nyuk....