So the real reason we were in Las Vegas was not to traipse around Lake Mead, but to attend the wedding of my college friend Alice and her now husband, Mike.

After our failed camping attempt on Sunday night, we made a beeline to the Golden Nugget and extended our reservation by a day. How nice it was to shower and sleep in a bed! On Monday we checked out Fremont Street (since the Nugget is downtown, not on the Strip) and pretty much took it easy, knowing that Alice and Mike were having a pre-wedding reception in their suite that night.

I think the cake topper on their Vegas-themed cake pretty well captures their sense of humor.

On Tuesday we got to ride with them in their limo to the ceremony, which was quite lovely, short and sweet with perfect weather. As you can see, Mike takes a serious picture.

They had the reception at the Main Street Station casino, just down from the Golden Nugget, where we ate, drank, laughed, and talked. I chatted with Mike’s dad about North Carolina pottery, his brother about pulled pork barbecue and otherwise made sure I sampled a little bit of everything at the buffet. Afterwards folks met up at the poker tables, which was about as close to gambling as I got the whole week.