When it comes to refrigerator magnet souvenirs, I have two favorites: the Pope John Paul II magnets that I bought from the Filippini nuns who run the gift shop at the Vatican, and the ones I bought of “the highest paid pianist in the world” at the Liberace Foundation and Museum in Las Vegas. Each is laughable and vulgar in its own way. (Though the papal magnet pales in comparison to the JP2 bottle opener I bought on the same visit.) I declined the entry fee to the Liberace Museum (now sadly closed), figuring I didn’t need to see any more glitz than the gift shop afforded me. The building itself seems to have been a former drive-thru bank in a strip mall (where I also saw slot machines near the supermarket checkout registers and showgirls in high heels, sequins and pasties buying groceries -- Cheerios! -- at 10am on a Tuesday morning), somehow fitting in its way. The walk to the museum (I was the only pedestrian as is often the case) along East Tropicana Avenue took me past trailer parks, long-closed stripper bars, sleepy yard sales, an empty Jack-in-the Box and the University of Nevada campus. All this within blocks of the glittering hotels and casinos along The Strip. And it’s this unpredictably weird mix that’s exactly what I love about “Fabulous Las Vegas.”
Sandy, a friend and I actually PAID to go into the Liberace Museum. We joked that they should have made it FREE
ReplyDeleteto get in.. but you would have to PAY TO GET OUT!