Published Friday, January 25, 2008 2:42 PM
Updated Friday, January 25, 2008 2:43 PM

 

Watts Line

Surfer Dude plans manly Vegas vacation


There are certain things about my manchildren that I admire. Each is blessed with an endearing trait (or two) that seem singular to them.

For instance, our firstborn, Surfer Dude works hard, but loves to play.

I've always admired his ability to find joy in his life and to celebrate every possible occasion. He works hard, but as he told me when he was a five-year-old walking in the door from his first day at school, "School's okay, but it cuts into my play time."

He made it plain that if it came down to a decision, school would lose out.

When Dude applied for his first job at the excruciatingly young age of 16, he was thrilled with the idea of making money. After the first week of balancing school followed by a few hours of work, he announced the work thing was destroying his roller-blading opportunities. The fun factor of making money had worn off.

Which brings me to the plans our oldest Manchild has for early March.

He and his future brother-in-law and an assortment of their mutual friends have decided to take a vacation. An all guy vacation.

They will travel from several states including Kentucky and Oregon (where my member of the vacation troupe lives) and they will all rendezvous in Las Vegas.

The vacation has a title - kind of like a rock concert tour, but without the music.

They've dubbed it: Mancation-2008.

The whole thing sounds a little scary to me. A bunch of wild and crazy guys, loose on Las Vegas, without the tempering effect of their women. Kind of like a bunch of cowboys in an 1800s remote western town (which in some ways is what Las Vegas is) before the mail order brides arrived - a little rough and reckless for my taste.

But there;s more to L.V. than the obvious. I recalled my sister's recent trip with her husband and the trip my friends Lotte and John took this fall.

"You should plan to go see the Cirque du Soleil Beatles thing, 'Love.' Your Aunt Janice and Uncle Jim went and they said it was great. And do you remember when Miss Lotte and Mr. John went? They liked it so much they went back and saw it again the next day."

"Yeah, right, Mom," he said. "You're kidding. That's a joke isn't it?"

Well, it wasn't a joke, but I had to relent. They are, after all, a posse of guys who are probably thinking more about watching a roulette wheel than they are a musical.

"I guess you have a point," I said. "So what are ya'll planning to do with yourselves for four days?" (I wasn't at all sure I wanted to know the answer.)

This was his response:

"I don't have any specific plans except I plan to gamble. And have a few drinks."

(Not exactly what I was hoping to hear, but at the same time, not a surprising answer.)

"How about Hoover Dam," I asked hopefully. "People love to go see Hoover Dam."

"I have a few hours to kill on Saturday before my flight home. I guess I could go do something like that," he said. "I've already seen the Grand Canyon, so I don't need to do that again."

"I'm sure I'll have lots of stories about what happened when I get back," he said jovially.

"That's what I'm afraid of," I replied.

"What about your beloved. What does she think of this Mancation?"

"She's fine with it . She's glad I get go." (Young women apparently have evolved to a higher plain than I and my peers were at that age.)

So, I'm resigned that instead of having fun touring Hoover Dam he'll be touring the blackjack tables.

Like I said, the very name of the event, Mancation-2008, makes me a little queasy.

Contact Judy Watts at journalscene.com or 873-9424 ext. 220.