Friday 4 April 2008

Las Vegas, San Francisco (and fabric!)

Nobody wants to see other people's holiday photos, not even that person's family, But we had such a FABULOUS holiday that I have to share a couple of images (alright, three) with you.
Las Vegas is an amazing place - should be tacky and horrid but manages to be clean, safe and amazing. We stayed in the 'Excalibur' (clean, quiet, comfortable) but visited all the other hotels. My favourites were the 'Wynn' and the 'Bellagio'. Both had superb decors, but here is the reception ceiling in the 'Bellagio'. It looks wonderful here, but when we first saw it, the sun was shining through the flowers and it looked stupendous.

Next stop was San Francisco, which was as chilled and laid back as I had remembered it. Here is a photo of DH drinking coffee in Union Square, and enjoying the sunshine. (He actually enjoyed it too much and had a very red face by the end of our stay!)

And just to prove that we did actually get there, here's a view of the Golden Gate Bridge, across which DH and I walked, and then caught the ferry back to Fisherman's Wharf from lovely Sausalito. And now to the important bit - the fabric. I had spent a little time researching quilt shops in both destinations (but evidently not enough). All the quilt shops seemed to be out of both towns, but I found two qhich seemed fairly near to each other in Las Vegas. Unfortunately, when I had spent the best part of a morning to get there, I found that one had closed, and the other was a furnishing fabrics store! Never mind, I visited Borders and bought an American quilting magazine, so all was not lost.

In San Francisco, the best quilt shop was a long way away from our hotel in Fisherman's Wharf, but I did manage a visit to Britex Fabrics just off Union Square, and Mendels Far Out Fabrics on Haight Street (obviously my kind of shop!) where I picked up a few little items. My favourite was the 'Day of the Dead' fabric, which I have no idea how to use. It just called to me!

DH was initially impressed when I said all the fabric was half the UK price, but when he found out how much fabric I got for the £ (or $) he became less impressed. (Note to self : don't let DH spend time looking at my stash, or divorce might ensue!)

3 comments:

Fiona said...

Looks like you had a great time, that ceiling looks so pretty.

sewkalico said...

Love the pic of your DH. Cool fabrics and ceiling too. I used to go to SF on business, but didn't quilt shop too much then....

Janet said...

So glad you had a great holiday! I don't remember visiting any quilt shops in SF - I find that some of the smaller places have great shops. Las Vegas is a really bizarre place - you are convinced that you will hate it for your tackiness - but after 24 hours you're hooked!
Lovely to see the golden gate bridge again - I am using it for one of my city and guilds samples which I am working on at the moment.