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Farewell to one of the great fixtures on The Strip but for me The Mirage in Vegas was all a dream. From which I woke up but felt I was still hallucinating.

No, not from a trip on the Strip but the effects of the jet lag from the flight from Dublin.

In my defence I wasn’t the only one who nodded off during the Cirque du Soleil Beatles Love show.

With veteran of Vegas and the travel scene, Gerry Benson, also in slumber during the show.

Of course the Cirque du Soliel show was an acrobatic and musical assault on the senses and prepared me well for Neon City.

Eruption of joy

The Strip, or Las Vegas Boulevard, is like no other stretch of entertainment real estate.

And gives new meaning to the term ‘keeping up with the Joneses’.

Particularly when you have to compete with Sphinxes, Eiffel Towers and gondolas.

But the Mirage fair held its own with its $30million volcano spewing out ‘lava’ in hourly eruptions since 1989.

All of which we witnessed from our hotel The Venetian across the Strip.

Where gondoliers plied their trade on the Grand Canal and under the Rialto Bridge.

Vegas can be a bit of a blur and that probably means that you’re doing it right.

Bridging the continents

Glamour set: Miss America meets Mr Scotland in Vegas

And so following the Beatles Love show I decided to take 40 winks in my room only to be woken by a call saying I was expected for the group dinner downstairs.

And so groggy and on autodrive I stumbled my way past the Grand Canal and into a fresco-filled room in the Venetian.

Who needs hallucinogens when you have these alternate universes all around you.

Sadly, now The Mirage is to be replaced by a Hard Rock and some of the magic will be lost.

Neon Museum is a blinder

Signs of the times: At the Neon Museum with Beverley

Not that it will be lost for ever with the lettering and fixtures probably being rehoused now in the lovingly preserved Neon Museum.

Where Beverley Saperstein guided us around the lot where old Vegas resorts and their signs go to rest.

No resting though for Beverley, then voted Vegas’s Senior Citizen of the Year.

All dangly Liberace earrings, given to her by the great showman.

So next time we’re back we’ll be expecting to see a new addition at the Neon Museum.

The Mirage in Vegas was all a dream. But one I lived through… or so I was told.

The Irish are coming… well, in truth, they’ve always been there but the new Aer Lingus direct route from Dublin to Neon City means we’ll all be livin’ devil me Aer in Las Vegas now.

Now if you can’t channel your inner Elvis in Vegas…

And The King is everywhere with impersonators milling around the airport and all around the Strip.

Not to mention at the Graceland Wedding Chapel where Elvis himself will invite you on to say Love Me Tender and it’s Now or Never.

As two of the lads in our party did just that with a stunt-up service conducted by chapel owner Brendan Paul.

Brendan became the first fully licensed by Elvis Presley Enterprises, LLC. to conduct Elvis-themed ceremonies two years ago.

Lads and Lassies Vegas

Good luck charm: With Brendan at Graceland Chapel

As with all the best things in life, there is a Scottish-Irish link to the Graceland Wedding Chapel.

Through Irish-American Brendan and further back to the founder of the chapel.

Scottish immigrants called McKee put their stamp on what would become the jewel of Nevada with one of the first chapels in 1939.

And they took a little bit from home by renaming it the Gretna Green Wedding Chapel after the Scottish town.

Renowned for its runaway brides and grooms.

Whether that was what drew Elvis to its door has been lost to the mists of time.

But the King did visit in 1967 as he planned his coming nuptials with Priscilla.

Bon shook up

Going to the chapel: Graceland Wedding Chapel

Alas, Elvis found the chapel too small for his 250-person guest list but the link had been forged.

And ten years later the chapel set the trend for the funnest weddings ever.

By performing the world’s first Elvis-themed service to commemorate the King’s life.

Now, we know the rest and how Jon Bon Jovi eloped to Vegas and married Dorothea Hurley at Graceland Wedding Chapel a dozen years later.

And then held a concert behind the chapel with 75 couples who renewed their vows along with him two years later.

Now, whatever you get up to, and I still don’t know if I wed Cami here from Utah after meeting on the dance floor at Harrah’s off the Strip.

Bet on Aer Lingus

Remember what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.

Apart, of course, from Ireland’s national airline carrier, Aer Lingus which takes you out there with pre-clearance and back to Dublin.

Because it’s all about livin’ devil me Aer in Las Vegas.

Aer Lingus will fly direct to Las Vegas from October 25, three times a week, on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

Flights are priced from €499 return including taxes and charges, and are now on sale.

Tag: https://neonmuseum.org/

The Mirage in Vegas was all a dream