Why did we go to Vegas?

Surely not for antiques?!

Paintings rolled and ready to go to the room.

We headed out to Las Vegas at the end of January to attend the West Coast Art and Frame Expo and Trade Show. The West Coast Art and Frame Show is the largest trade show in the framing industry and it is happens once a year in Las Vegas. We stayed at the Paris Hotel and Casino where the convention was held. The last few years, we had not been able to attend the expo because of our antiquing travels in Europe and we were long past overdue for updated inventory.

Piles of decorative oil paintings. We found some great dogs!

The West Coast Art and Frame Show is our go-to market for items for our picture framing gallery. Vendors from all over the globe set up their merchandise in the expo. We spent two and a half days visiting booths and placing orders for the gallery portion of our store. We were hoping to buy some quality oil paintings and complimentary wood carved frames. In addition, we looked for other supplies and took advance of show specials. Vendors showcase their latest merchandise and offered deals on discounted stock. We skipped the classes held throughout the week, because if Philip doesn’t know how to do something after 40 years in the business, chances are he’s not going to try it now.

New frame style: looks like leather. Will look great in a men’s club room.

We liked our hotel. The Paris is a typical theme Vegas resort. The Arc de Triomphe and Eiffel Tower aren’t quite the same as the originals that we’ve seen in Paris France while shopping for antiques. But we liked staying close to the convention and the hotel is in a good location on the strip. In addition, there is a mailing facility in the hotel, so we were able to ship home the oversized oil paintings.

It would have been easier to climb to the top of this Arc than the original one we climbed in Paris.

Our last two days were spent kicking around Vegas, both on the strip and downtown. The weather cooperated and we wore down the traction on our shoes. This was our fifth trip together to Vegas and we noticed a few changes. Food is the entertainment now. Cooking shows have made the chefs celebrities in Vegas. Lounge singers are gone and over-priced restaurants have taken over. Seriously, $200 plus a tip for spaghetti and one meatball??!!!

Not many people go to the downtown area during the day, so that’s where we headed.

Some of the downtown casinos have undergone attempted transformations, none of which were interesting. And the price of a colossal shrimp cocktail has increased from $.99 to $3.99 at the Golden Gate Casino. Our age is starting to show! We did have fun watching two non-English speaking Japanese ladies try to figure out how to play roulette at the California Club. Chances are that dealer took some Advil during her break. We know we did.

Yummy Shrimp Cocktail.

Best part of the vacation was the Cirque du Soleil’s performance of “Love”, a celebration of the Beatles music. Cool and groovy! Do people still say cool, or groovy? Well, they should! And they would if they saw “Love”.