On May 25th, I boarded a flight to Las Vegas, Nevada, for a three-day, two-night "Dream Vacation of a Lifetime" at the beautiful Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. My sister and I won a trip to the Academy of Country Music Awards Show. Thanks to J.D. Haas Entertainment and Clear Channel Radio, two fun-filled days and nights followed. We first attended the ACM New Artists Show which featured Josh Turner, Jimmy Wayne, Buddy Jewell, Dierks Bentley, and Pat Green.

During a walk through the casino, we made an exciting discovery via a marquee sign that Paul Pace was playing at the Coral Reef that evening. Now what are the chances of there being two country artists with the name of Paul Pace, so I excitedly dialed Paul's cell phone number. Sure enough, Paul was performing at 10:30 PST. What icing on the cake to get to hear some "down home" traditional music, and Paul let the audience know what country music is about and was well received. Sedona, a very upbeat group, did the vocals for Paul, and he had a great back-up band. On a scale of one to ten, of course, the concert was a ten. By this time, I had been awake for 22 hours in the "city that never sleeps."

It was great to see Tony Ramey, another "hometown artist," and successful Nashville songwriter and performer, attending Paul's show and then performing at the House of Blues the following morning at a breakfast/concert J.D. Haas had arranged for the 200 contest winners and their guests.

Attending the ACM Awards show and the post-awards show reception and "jam" was next on our agenda. Another quality evening of entertainment with several well-known artists including Joe Nichols, Montgomery/Gentry, Sara Evans, Tracy Lawrence, Dierks Bentley, and many other artists performing at this "jam session."

We got the opportunity to meet several artists, and the most memorable was meeting and conversing with Dick Clark. He has a pleasant personality and was very accommodating to share his time for autographs and pictures.

Thanks to J.D. Haas Entertainment and WTCR Clear Channel for your hospitality and to Paul Pace for a surprise that made our vacation a "keeper."