An adrenaline junkie in the desert
EDITOR’S NOTE: It’s that time of the year again when Robin takes off for his monthlong family trip to Europe. He’s already visited Athens and Santorini in Greece and has spent the week in the beautiful Cinque Terre area of Liguria, Italy. Now, he’s headed south to explore the delights of Tuscany from a tiny village between Cortona and Montepulciano where Frances Mayes wrote her best-selling book “Under the Tuscan Sun,” which went on to become an all-time favorite movie starring Diane Lane.
In his absence, a great number of showbiz entertainers, celebrity VIPs, chefs, restaurateurs and our Vegas dignitaries have stepped forward to write their guest columns. Today, the spotlight falls on two entertainers with perhaps the most unusual approaches to entertainment on the Strip. First up is David O’Mer, known as the bathtub boy from Absinthe at Caesars Palace and then Jade Simone who plays second fiddle nightly to PIff the Magic Dragon at his Flamingo show.
Here’s David who makes such a splash with his act that most people in the front rows cover themselves in plastic raincoats!
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A few months after I first arrived in Las Vegas to start my contract with “Absinthe” at Caesars Palace, I decided to pack my gear and drive out into the desert to go skydiving. As an adrenaline junkie, this is just one of the ways I clear my head.
I’m all set. The little light by the roll-up door changes from red to green. I do my last gear check and open the door. My friend is strapped to the tandem pilot behind him. I’m hanging off the side of the plane, grinning at my Russian acrobat buddy, whose face I’d never seen with fear in it before. They drop, and I soon let go and dive after them. For 60 seconds, it’s just my body and the atmosphere to navigate through; high-speed meditation.
Back on the ground, packing my parachute in the heat, I already look forward to taking my bath on stage later that night, and as I look over to my friend it occurs to me that what he’s just experienced is like arriving in Vegas — rushing adrenaline, hot desert air in your face, sensory overload in every direction. It’s exciting and a little dangerous.
Vegas has been created around and designed for the weekend visitor. Three days of anything and everything you want. It’s a wild and intense ride. I’m fortunate enough to be a part of that experience now for thousands of people. Ten times a week I fly through the beautifully designed Spiegeltent in front of Caesars Palace, performing over wonderment-intoxicated faces, dousing the unprepared with water. And then they go back home and digest their experience. But we live here. This is home.
Where do I go to digest my experience? Process the input of this mad city? It took me a while to figure out but it turns out that Vegas has a lot more to offer than I expected. Similar to the visitor designing their weekend to fulfill their sensory needs, as a resident you have to carefully plan little trips for your free time, find out where the hidden gems are in a town made of strip malls and the Strip. In other places like Berlin, Paris, New York or Sydney you can just join the flow and the rhythm of the city and see where it takes you that day.
There is downtown Las Vegas, which is really fun to explore. Walking between excellent coffee shops, historic buildings and art galleries almost makes it feel like a big city. But it is the beauty of the desert that made me fall in love with life in Vegas. After a 20-minute drive westward, the city ends and you’re in Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. It’s 10 degrees cooler, quiet and stunning. For me, it’s close enough to just take my dog out there for a recharging walk before work.
Wandering into the canyon from Spring Mountain Ranch, you’ll find an unexpected creek and swimming holes framed by lush trees for a nice little getaway. I take my friends to the neon-colored Seven Magic Mountains and the original Wild West Pioneer Saloon in Goodsprings. We play a game of pool on their charmingly crooked table while we wait for the most delicious rack of ribs in Nevada.
At 6 p.m. I have to get ready for the show. And, with the word count for this column in mind — and in no particular order — I recommend: finding the secret cave in Red Rock, watching the sunset from the top of the Stratosphere, drink naked beers in Melody Sweets’ pool, eat at Other Mama, play pool at Griff’s, take your love to California and surf, and, of course…see “Absinthe!”
It’s show time!
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Don’t miss our other guest column today (July 19) from Piff the Magic Dragon’s showgirl sidekick, Jade Simone. And, follow along all this week and next with more guest columns as Robin begins to wind down his Italian travels with a truffle hunt outside of Rome followed by a tour of the Vatican and the Sistine Chapel.
